Chinese government-backed institute Purple Mountain Laboratories said that a research team had achieved a 6G-level wireless transmission up to a speed of 206.25 gigabits per second for the first time in a lab environment, South China Morning Post reported.
According to the report, the test was supported by a special government project on as-yet-unstandardized 6G systems and achieved in collaboration with telecoms carrier China Mobile and Fudan University. The speed achieved claims to be a world record for real-time wireless transmission within the terahertz frequency band, which is considered to be the base for future 6G mobile communications, according to the Purple Mountain Laboratories.
The laboratory noted that the achievement has a wide range of application prospects, as it can be integrated with existing fiber optical networks to expand 100-1000 Gbps outdoor and indoor ultra-high-speed wireless access, replace the existing mobile network fiber optical networks to achieve rapid deployment, and replace the huge amount of cables in the data center to significantly reduce costs and power consumption, according to a report by Chinese paper Global Times.
China is responsible for 40.3% of global 6G patent filings, followed by the U.S. with 35.2%. Japan with 9.9%, Europe with 8.9% and South Korea with 4.2%, according to a recent report by Nikkei.
Nikkei worked with Tokyo-based research firm Cyber Creative Institute to survey nearly 20,000 patent applications for nine core technologies in the 6G field, including communications, quantum technology, base stations and artificial intelligence.
According to the report, China’s 6G patent applications are mostly related to mobile infrastructure technology. Many of the latest patents have been filed by Chinese vendor Huawei, while other key Chinese patent holders include state-run companies including State Grid Corporation of China and China Aerospace Science and Technology.
Huawei expects to launch 6G products around 2030, the company’s rotating chairman Eric Xu Zhiju, had previously said.
According to a article written by Xu, not-yet-standardized 6G has a more complicated technology environment than 5G, with impact likely to come from multiple technologies like cloud computing, blockchain and big data.
The executive noted that the vendor had started investment in 6G research in 2017.
The Chinese government has already begun researching 6G technology. According to previous reports by Chinese state media, government ministries and research institutes have had initial meetings with the aim of establishing a national 6G technology research and development group. The Ministry of Science and Technology said that it will set up two working groups to carry out the 6G research activities.
RCR Wireless News published an editorial report about future 6G technology dubbed “Is it really time to start talking about 6G?”, in which key industry leaders and analysts talk about the initial efforts towards the future development of 6G. Click here to access the report.
