Huawei has applied a new chip design principle it introduced to respond to U.S. restrictions on exports of advanced semiconductors to next-generation wireless base stations, the South China Morning Post reported on Oct. 28.

Huawei said it has incorporated a time compression concept based on its "Tau scaling law" into next-generation wireless base station products and is already seeing improvements in performance and efficiency.

The move marks the first time Huawei has introduced the new semiconductor design framework to its base station product line. Huawei said applying the time compression concept to its latest UBBPi baseband product raised average perceived network quality by 1.3 times and cut energy consumption by 40 percent.

The Tau scaling law is a design principle that focuses on time compression and structural efficiency at the system level rather than physical miniaturisation of chips. It has been highlighted as a strategic solution for Chinese companies seeking to respond to U.S. restrictions that have blocked access to advanced lithography equipment. Huawei first unveiled the Tau scaling law and its logic folding architecture in May, setting a goal of achieving transistor performance at the 1.4-nanometre process level by 2031 without advanced lithography equipment.

Huawei has in recent months rapidly expanded the design principle to smartphones and computing infrastructure. In September, it unveiled the Kirin 9050 Pro, the first commercial chip based on the logic folding architecture. The chip was installed in the Mate XT 2 tri-fold smartphone, and Huawei said overall performance rose 42 percent from the previous model and power efficiency also improved.

The range of applications is expected to widen further. Huawei said it plans to apply the logic folding architecture to its flagship Ascend 990 AI chip around 2030. As it extends the same design principle across smartphones, AI chips and telecoms equipment, a trend has become clear toward continuing performance improvements across products despite semiconductor constraints.

The latest telecoms equipment unveiling also aligns with China's preparations for early commercialisation of 6G. China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in September released a five-year plan containing a roadmap through 2030 aimed at becoming a global leader in next-generation communications networks. In this environment, Huawei also unveiled "VitaAAU" alongside its UBBPi broadband series. Huawei introduced the equipment as the world's first commercial upper 6GHz device.

The upper 6GHz band has been presented as a frequency range that boosts 5G-Advanced performance and serves as a foundation for building 6G. Huawei said VitaAAU is already being commercially deployed in places including the United Arab Emirates and supports maximum download speeds above 10Gbps.

As Huawei extends the new chip design principle to telecoms equipment, it is also detailing a strategy to reduce reliance on advanced processes blocked by U.S. restrictions. In particular, applying the same technology axis to base stations, smartphones and AI chips has become a point for gauging both Huawei's semiconductor self-reliance and the competitiveness of its next-generation network equipment.