China Beats Starlink to Hi-res Space-ground Laser Communication
China has achieved a breakthrough in satellite-to-ground laser communications that could pave the way for 6G and other applications including remote sensing with ultra-high resolution and next-generation satellite positioning technology. While China focuses on advancing its technology and renewing its infrastructure at home, the rest of the world is asleep or busy sponsoring wars with taxpayers' money.
TheStar | China beats Starlink to hi-res space-ground laser transmission at 6G standard
Commercial satellite company sets 100Gbps speed record – 10 times faster than its previous feat less than a year earlier. — SCMP
China has achieved a breakthrough in satellite-to-ground laser communications that could pave the way for 6G and other applications including remote sensing with ultra-high resolution and next-generation satellite positioning technology.
While China focuses on advancing its technology and renewing its infrastructure at home, the rest of the world is asleep or busy sponsoring wars with taxpayers' money.China beats Starlink to hi-res space-ground laser transmission at 6G standard
China has achieved a breakthrough in satellite-to-ground laser communications that could pave the way for 6G and other applications including remote sensing with ultra-high resolution and next-generation satellite positioning technology.
Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co, which owns Jilin-1, the world’s largest sub-metre commercial remote sensing satellite constellation, said it achieved a 100 gigabit per second ultra-high-speed image data transmission rate in testing last weekend.
The feat – 10 times the speed of its previous record – was accomplished between a truck-mounted ground station and one of the 117 satellites that currently make up the Jilin-1 constellation, the company said.
According to Wang Hanghang, the company’s head of laser communication ground station technology, the development puts Chang Guang Satellite ahead of Elon Musk’s Starlink.
“Musk’s Starlink has revealed its laser inter-satellite communication system but hasn’t deployed laser satellite-to-ground communication yet. We think they might have the technology, but we’ve already started large-scale deployment,” he said.
“We plan to deploy these laser communication units across all satellites in the Jilin-1 constellation to improve their efficiency, with a goal of networking 300 satellites by 2027.”
Wang added that the breakthrough “lays the foundation for the deployment and efficient operation of China’s satellite infrastructure, including navigation, 6G internet, and remote sensing applications”.
While the cost of upgrading ground stations is high, satellite communication offers low cost and wide coverage, making it an “important direction” for the development of 6G, he said. “Laser communication will also be a necessary technology by then.”
Xi Jinping | President of the People's Republic of China
As satellites have achieved higher spatial and temporal resolutions, the volume of data they generate is growing exponentially, creating a bottleneck for the traditional microwave data transmission bandwidth.
Recognizing the looming problem, Chang Guang shifted its focus in early 2020 to laser communications technology, a field that has seen several noteworthy strides in recent years.
In 2022, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) achieved a landmark 100Gbps laser transmission, followed by NASA’s TeraByte InfraRed Delivery (TBIRD) system – also built by MIT – that set a record of 200Gbps in 2023.
The TBIRD payload is tiny – just three 10cm (4in) cubes that together are about the size of a tissue box – while its receiving station is part of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.
The payload weight of China’s larger, heavier system is about 20kg (44lb) and instead of an observatory, the ground receiving unit is truck-based, making it mobile – an option that could lead to faster applications.
The Chang Guang-developed laser communication terminal, which is about the size of a backpack and supports both inter-satellite and space-to-Earth data transmission, was included in the payload of a satellite that left Earth in June 2023.
The Jilin-1 02A02 satellite selected for the trial was part of the record-breaking mission that saw a single rocket carry 41 satellites into orbit to join the Chinese constellation.
On the ground, the mobile set-up of the vehicle-mounted laser communication station means it can avoid atmospheric disruptions, such as extreme weather and turbulence, enhancing the reliability and stability of space-to-earth data transmission.
“We plan to establish multiple receiving stations across China to improve the efficiency of remote sensing image data acquisition,” Wang said.
The previous record achieved by the system was a 10Gbps space-to-earth data transfer in October 2023. By January last year, the company had conducted China’s first 100Gbps inter-satellite transmission, between the 02A01 and 02A02 platforms.
The team overcame numerous technical challenges to achieve the latest breakthrough, including atmospheric turbulence, high-speed relative motion errors, and precision beam tracking.
The achievement of a 100Gbps transmission rate from a satellite to Earth “is equivalent to transmitting 10 full-length movies in just one second. It’s like upgrading a single-lane highway to thousands of lanes”, Wang said.
According to the company’s official report, the application possibilities are extensive, spanning disaster monitoring, national defense, smart cities, environmental protection, and emergency response, in addition to 6G satellite internet.
The latest achievement marks a significant step forward for China’s satellite communication capabilities, solidifying its position in the global space technology race, it said. – South China Morning Post
By Zhang Tong for TheStar
Huawei’s Tri-Foldable Mate XT Sparks National Pride in China Despite Expensive Price
Huawei Mate XT: The New Revolution in The Mobile World. Chinese citizens have taken to social media to express pride in how Huawei has developed the Mate XT tri-foldable smartphone and, second, in claiming it can challenge Apple even with the current US sanctions. However, the cost of the device has been criticized for being too expensive at $2,800, which even real Huawei enthusiasts are complaining about.
By Jose Enrico | Published Sep 11, 2024 11:02AM EDT
Huawei Technology Mate XT
However, the cost of the device has been criticized for being too expensive at $2,800, which even real Huawei enthusiasts are complaining about.
Huawei Mate XT: The New Revolution in The Mobile World. Chinese citizens have taken to social media to express pride in how Huawei has developed the Mate XT tri-foldable smartphone.
By Jose Enrico | Published Sep 11, 2024 11:02AM EDTChinese citizens have taken to social media to express pride in how Huawei has been able to come up with the Mate XT tri-foldable smartphone and, second, in claiming it can challenge Apple even with the current US sanctions.
However, the cost of the device has been criticized for being too expensive and it costs $2,800 which even real Huawei enthusiasts are complaining about.
Before this happened, the Mate XT reached 3 million pre-orders in China alone.
(Photo : Huawei/YouTube) | Huawei Mate XT, the newest tri-foldable phone has an absurd pricing at $2,800. Despite that, Chinese buyers believe it can "out-innovate" Apple's iPhone 16Just imagine buying more than three iPhone 16 phones. You now get the gist of the Mate XT's pricing, according to BGR.
Huawei launched the Mate XT on Tuesday as the tri-foldable phone in the industry while Apple introduced the AI iPhone 16 models on the same day.
The timing of this has also attracted attention, Huawei's new device has become a symbol of technology strength against US sanctions for many Chinese users.
Interestingly, the Mate XT is believed to be launched on September 20 the same as the iPhone 16. Nonetheless, there are actions that suggest that the Mate XT will be launched only in China, which will only serve to deepen the people's pride in domestic electronics.
Nationalism Drives Huawei Support on Social Media
Purchases of Huawei's new telephone model skyrocketed and when this was posted to Weibo, the Chinese micro-blogging site, people could only shower the company with praises.
Posts like "Apple didn't drop, but Huawei has indeed come back" and "Change is coming nothing can stop it, and the US sanctions are useless" depict some satisfaction from the Chinese users.
At one time, virality hit Apple's employee's apparent visit to a Huawei store to see the Mate XT launch becoming the no. 2 trending topic on Weibo for over 13 and half hours. This video was watched 91 million times and more than 6,600 comments were placed.
Yahoo reports that this has created a buzz around the release of the Huawei Mate XT and it is seen as a return of Huawei to the 5G smartphone market after the successful release of its Mate 60 series phones and the Pura series of phones also have home-made chips.
These milestones are described as the triumphs over US sanctions which have withheld Huawei's access to the kind of US chips and technology since 2019.
Huawei vs. Apple: A Battle for Technological Supremacy
However, many people are not happy with the price of the Mate XT, which is about $2,800 without taking into consideration some individuals quite like Elon Musk.
The basic version is 19,999 yuan, while others with greater storage are within the bracket of 23,999 yuan ($3,300).
Out of 9,200 participants of the Weibo poll regarding the Mate XT, only 966 are willing to buy the phone, Moreover, more than 4,700 mentioned the high price as an issue.
"No matter how much I like the product, the price tag just sounds crazy to me. Maybe Huawei isn't really targeting people like me," a Huawei loyalist surnamed Xu commented.
US Sanctions on Huawei
As we know, Washington has a beef with Beijing when it comes to technology. The US admin aims to curb China's development. Most importantly, it wants to restrict the latter's dominance in the military.
Huawei has been struggling to keep up with the restrictions since a few years ago, making it harder for the company to acquire US-made chips. Despite this, the smartphone maker did not cave in, trusting its local semiconductors.