Opticore, National Project Lead Company for 6G Technology Development to Create Intelligent Optical Transceivers

Opticore, a specialized company in optical communication solutions, announced on the 2nd that it has been selected as the lead company for the national project on next-generation network (6G) industrial technology development to develop intelligent optical transceivers.

This project will run until December 31, 2028, with a total budget of 16 billion KRW. As the overall lead company, Opticore will conduct joint research with the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) and Posem. It will receive government-supported R&D funding amounting to 5.9 billion KRW.

Opticore, telecommunications equipment companies, and national research institutes will divide and carry out various tasks necessary to develop 6G fronthaul optical link and optical transmission system technologies. The detailed tasks include developing core technologies for 6G flexible mobile optical access systems, 100/200Gbps optical component parts and optical links per wavelength for 6G wireless access fronthaul optical links, and intelligent 50/100Gbps wavelength-variable optical components and optical transceivers for 6G wireless access.

Currently, the 10/25Gbps per wavelength optical link technology used in 5G mobile fronthaul and the 500Gbps-class optical access system technology have limitations in supporting large-capacity wireless data and ultra-low latency 6G base station fronthaul with latency below 0.1 msec. Therefore, there is a demand for large-capacity flexible fronthaul optical transmission system technology supporting various interfaces at 100/200Gbps per wavelength.

Through this project, Opticore aims to develop 20nm wavelength-variable intelligent optical transceivers for 50Gbps-20km transmission and 100Gbps-20km transmission per wavelength. It also plans to demonstrate Pre-6G technologies related to TOSA, APD, ROSA, and TRx, as well as integrated 6G technologies related to TOSA and TRx.

Opticore expects that by developing 50/100Gbps-class high-speed optical components and successfully completing 6G demonstrations, it will be able to secure supply chain leadership in the global optical components market for mobile communication base stations.

An Opticore representative stated, “As 6G is emerging as a hot topic in the global telecommunications market recently, the company is focusing on strengthening future growth engines through related technology development. We will continue to enhance intelligent 50/100Gbps wavelength-variable optical component and optical transceiver technologies for 6G wireless access while carrying out the project.”