Physics Practical Magic

Turns out, the tech that’s going to beam 6G to your phone is basically the same stuff we use to run quantum computers.

March 23, 2026

Original Paper

Direct Digital-to-Physical Synthesis: From mmWave Transmitter to Qubit Control

Najme Ebrahimi, Haoling Li, Gun Suer, Kin Chung Fong, Leonardo Ranzani

arXiv · 2603.19580

The Takeaway

While cell towers and quantum labs seem worlds apart, they both rely on turning digital data directly into physical radio waves at extreme frequencies. This unified architecture means that breakthroughs in ultra-fast wireless communication can now be used to directly speed up the development of quantum processors.

From the abstract

The increasing demand for high-speed wireless connectivity and scalable quantum information processing has driven parallel advancements in millimeter-wave (MMW) communication transmitters and cryogenic qubit controllers. Despite serving different applications, both systems rely on the precise generation of radio frequency (RF) waveforms with stringent requirements on spectral purity, timing, and amplitude control. Recent architecture eliminates conventional methods by embedding digital signal ge