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CEA-Leti has demonstrated a custom D-band radio architecture intended to carry more than 100 Gb/s wirelessly. It combines up to four 60 GHz integrated circuits with a 140 GHz final-stage chip, and is aimed at high-capacity links such as telecom backhaul—not at a consumer product you can buy today.
What CEA-Leti demonstrated
The core idea is to combine several lower-frequency signal channels, then convert them together into D band for transmission and convert them back for reception. CEA-Leti describes an architecture that uses up to four identical 60 GHz ICs, covering up to 16 channels, and a 140 GHz final-stage IC for both transmit and receive. The design builds on CMOS radio-frequency silicon-on-insulator (RFSOI) processes and is intended to scale with channel count.
In 2023, CEA-Leti said the system could achieve data rates above 100 Gb/s. A current CEA-Leti demonstrator description gives additional operating figures, including a 116 Gb/s configuration using 16-QAM across 16 aggregated 2 GHz channels. Those are reported demonstrator results, not a guarantee of throughput in a deployed network.
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Aggregate channels before the D-band stage
The 60 GHz ICs handle the individual channels. Up to four can be bonded, with coverage for as many as 16 channels. A final-stage IC then converts the bonded channels to or from a 140 GHz carrier. In practical terms, the design lets the system combine multiple signal paths without requiring a separate D-band conversion stage for every channel.
#1 Best Overall
Why use CMOS RFSOI
CEA-Leti presents the use of existing CMOS RFSOI processes as a route to a scalable design with more manageable cost and energy use than a wholly bespoke approach might imply. That is an engineering rationale, not evidence of a retail price or mass-production economics. CEA’s 2021 technical material also notes that CMOS can be used in the lower part of D band, while describing the technology as having reached its limits there; the roadmap therefore considers other technologies, including III-V, alongside CMOS/RFSOI.
Reported bandwidth, throughput and energy figures
| Report | Reported result | How to interpret it |
|---|---|---|
| CEA-Leti, 2023 | Above 100 Gb/s; 20–30 pJ/bit for the complete RF/mmWave transceiver; less than 2 W for more than 100 Gb/s | Figures reported for the system described in the 2023 announcement. The source does not establish that these energy and power figures apply to every later configuration. |
| CEA-Leti, current demonstrator description | Up to 30 GHz bandwidth; 100 Gb/s-class links; 116 Gb/s at 50 pJ/bit using 16-QAM over 16 aggregated 2 GHz channels | The page gives both an up-to-30-GHz bandwidth figure and a 16-channel, 2-GHz-per-channel configuration. It does not explain how the bandwidth figure relates to that channel configuration, so they should not be combined into a single inferred result. |
| CEA, 2021 technical material | 100 Gb/s demonstrator | A separate milestone in the D-band roadmap; it is not the same stated configuration as the later 116 Gb/s result. |
The energy-per-bit figures are not directly interchangeable: the 2023 announcement reports 20–30 pJ/bit, while the current demonstrator description reports 50 pJ/bit for a specified 116 Gb/s setup. The sources do not provide enough detail to normalize those measurements to identical operating conditions or system boundaries.
Rank #2
Where a D-band link could be useful—and what can stop it
Potential uses
CEA-Leti identifies telecom fronthaul and backhaul, data-center links, point-to-point and device-to-device communications, and low-latency industrial robotics or smart-factory connections as target applications. A high-capacity wireless hop could replace a particular fiber run where installing cable is expensive or impractical; that does not mean D band generally replaces fiber infrastructure.
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Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →CEA-Leti’s 2020 work also described multi-gigabit device-to-device throughput using spatial multiplexing and a simple RF architecture. This is a related research result, not a claim that every D-band application will reach the later demonstrator’s 100 Gb/s-class rates.
Propagation, blockage and alignment
D-band links face high free-space loss and can be blocked by walls, trees, windows or equipment. Their narrow, directional beams also make antenna alignment important. These constraints favor carefully planned links rather than treating D band like broad-coverage mobile service.
CEA-Leti points to high-gain, electronically steerable antennas, antenna arrays and signal processing as ways to address link performance and steering. These techniques can help maintain a link, but they do not make obstacles disappear or establish universal coverage. The deployment must still account for the path between radios and the required antenna placement.
Rank #4
How it fits the wider 6G roadmap
CEA’s 2021 technical material describes D band as the 110–170 GHz range and a candidate for 6G research. A candidate band and laboratory demonstration are not the same as a finalized 6G standard or a scheduled commercial rollout.
The broader sub-THz research ecosystem has also advanced beyond this 140 GHz architecture. In December 2024, Fraunhofer IAF, Fraunhofer HHI and LG described a 160 GHz dual-beam, dual-user trial, reporting more than 2 GHz of experimental bandwidth and a radio head with over 50 dBm EIRP. That is a separate trial, not a head-to-head comparison with CEA-Leti’s system: the available figures do not establish equivalent configurations, throughput, energy use, range or blockage performance.
Best Value
Is there a CEA-Leti D-band product to buy?
No consumer product implementing this architecture is identified in the cited materials. They describe an institutional demonstrator, custom RF and antenna hardware, and industrial collaboration—not a retail device, published price, consumer launch date or guaranteed interoperability with a named base station. The practical route for organizations interested in the technology is to pursue an appropriate industrial collaboration or technology-partnership discussion with CEA-Leti, rather than look for a consumer router or generic wireless product.
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