6G isn’t even close to being standardized, but work is already underway to figure out what it might look like. And when it comes to what spectrum that future 6G systems will use, the path is clear: Spectrally speaking, the only place to go is up. Meaning, even higher in the radio frequency spectrum than the millimeter-wave airwaves that are coming into use in 5G.
What’s higher than millimeter wave? Terahertz spectrum. The terahertz (THz) range is defined by IEEE and the ITU as between 300 GHz to 3 THz. But as often happens in wireless communications, an informal definition is also emerging. Industry discussions and research literature often consider anything beyond 100 GHz to be terahertz territory.
