The 6G research facility aims to expand not only to the Asia-Pacific region but also to universities in Europe and the Americas
South Korea’s Yonsei University has announced that it will host a “6G Open Hub” research and development center with U.S. company NI, the former said in a release.
Yonsei University noted that the Korean government selected 6G technology as one of its national strategic technologies in December 2021 and plans to demonstrate as-yet-unstandardized 6G as soon as 2026.
NI decided to establish the 6G Open Hub at Yonsei University as a representative research center in the Asia-Pacific region, with the aim of demonstrating future 6G systems, according to the university. NI’s authorized distributor Nubicom will support research projects and technology development activities of the 6G Open Hub.
In the future, the research facility aims to expand not only to the Asia-Pacific region but also to universities in Europe and the Americas.
“Communication network is a key technology for companies to provide services based on advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud, and autonomous driving. Yonsei University’s technical and educational capabilities will be greatly strengthened through the 6G Open Hub. Yonsei will also fully support to foster convergent talents based on 6G and AI,” said Seoung Hwan Suh, president of Yonsei University.
“6G will be a key technology that determines future industrial competitiveness along with artificial intelligence,” said Joseph Soo, VP at NI. “Active industry-academic cooperation is needed to prepare for this future society. We will continue supporting human resources development that contributes to future industries through the 6G Open Hub,” he added.
In January, the Korean government announced that it was working on next-generation network development strategies together with local carriers and tech firms SK Telecom, KT, LG Uplus, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics.
The government and the companies aim to carry out cooperation activities for the development and innovation of 5G backbone and as-yet-unstandardized future 6G networks, the Internet of Things (IoT) and satellite communication.
The new government of South Korea has previously said it was expecting to come up with a 6G communications prototype in 2026, according to press reports.
The government is expecting 6G to be commercialized between 2028 and 2030.
Other Korean companies are heavily involved in 6G R&D. Samsung Electronics has previously announced it will collaborate with Korea University to establish a department dedicated to the research and development of next-generation technologies such as 6G. Starting in 2023, 30 students will be able to study in Korea University’s next-gen tech department.
In 2019, LG established the LG-KAIST 6G Research Center in partnership with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).
LG and KAIST had previously partnered with U.S.-based test and measurement firm Keysight Technologies with the aim of carrying out research on future 6G technologies.
Under the terms of the agreement, the three partners will cooperate in developing technologies related to terahertz frequencies, widely seen a key frequency band for 6G communications, which have not yet been standardized. The partners aim to complete 6G research by 2024.
RCR Wireless News published an editorial report about future 6G technology dubbed “What problems will the next generation of cellular solve and how?” in which key industry leaders talk about the future development of 6G technology. Click here to access the report.
