Look for 6G in the 2030 timeframe, Huawei exec says
Chinese vendor Huawei Technologies has started research on future 6G mobile technology at its research facility in Ottawa, Canada, tech site The Logic reported.
Song Zhang, Huawei Canada’s vice-president of research strategy and partnerships, reportedly said that Huawei has begun talks with academics at some of Canada’s top research universities about the development of the technology.
Yang Chaobin, the president of Huawei’s 5G products, said that 6G would not be viable until 2030.
According to the report, Huawei’s Ottawa facility is strategically important, as wireless technology researchers were hired away from Nortel in 2009 to begin research on 5G technology.
During Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2019, Huawei announced that it has already inked 50 5G commercial contracts and shipped more than 150,000 base stations globally. The firm also said it aims to ship to over 500,000 5G bases stations by end-2019. However, the company is facing challenges as some key markets such as the U.S and Australia have banned the company from participating in 5G deployment over security allegations and some others, such as the U.K and Canada are still in process to define whether the company will be allowed to take part in 5G contracts.
Other vendors are also carrying out research activities to explore new technologies beyond 5G.
During Mobile World Congress 2019, which took place in February in Barcelona, Spain, ZTE’s Chief Scientist Xiang Jiying told reporters that the Chinese vendor was already researching on future 6G technologies. “We have a research group focusing on that. This group is called advanced technologies, which would be those technologies beyond 5G,” the executive said.
“This group started to research on what technologies will appear after 5G two or three years ago,” he added.
In the advanced technology research group, a total of 100-200 researchers are currently working to identify new technologies. However, this research group is expected to gradually expand in the medium term, the executive added.
Earlier this month, Keysight Technologies announced that the company has joined the multi-party 6G Flagship Program – supported by the Academy of Finland and led by the University of Oulu, Finland – as a co-creator to advance wireless communications research beyond 5G.
Keysight Technologies said that the eight-year program envisages a society that by year 2030 is data-driven, enabled by near-instant, unlimited wireless connectivity. Fundamental research begins 10-15 years prior to the development of industrial standards. 6G will build on, and greatly expand, the capability that 5G is expected to deliver for vertical industries that rely on connectivity in healthcare, manufacturing, energy, transportation, and public safety, the company said.
The 6G program’s main goals include supporting the industry in finalizing the adoption of 5G across verticals and developing fundamental technologies needed to enable 6G such as artificial intelligence (AI) and intelligent UX, and speeding digitalization in society.
Keysight also said that the next generation of wireless communications is expected to leverage spectrum above millimeter waves called terahertz waves, from 300 GHz to 3 THz. These frequencies form an important component in delivering data rates of up to one tera bit per second and ultra-low latencies.
