Finland’s University of Oulu said it is cooperating with Jio Estonia OU, part of Reliance Industries, in the research of future 6G technologies.
The partners say they will combine expertise from industry and academia in aerial and space communication, holographic beamforming, 3D connected intelligence in cybersecurity, microelectronics, photonics. Applications will target different areas including defense, the automotive sector, white goods, industrial machinery, consumer goods, manufacturing, personal smart device environments, urban computing and autonomous traffic settings.
The University of Oulu noted that as-yet-unstandardized 6G is expected to build on top of 5G and extend digitization through unique capabilities such as cell-free MIMO, intelligent surfaces and higher capacities through terahertz frequencies. Both 5G and 6G will co-exist and cover a broad range of consumer and enterprise use cases.
“We are delighted to deepen our collaboration with Jio Estonia,” said Professor Matti Latva-aho, director of the 6G Flagship. “As the leader of the world’s first major 6G research program, the University of Oulu focuses on wireless communications leading to 6G technologies. We are looking forward to collaborating with Jio Estonia and the entire Reliance Group on targeted research initiatives that will enable future wireless end-to-end solutions for a wide range of end-user requirements.”
“Jio has more than 400 million subscribers in India, and their experience shows that building capacity to transmit large amounts of data is becoming critical. Especially given the development of digital services and virtual worlds,” said Taavi Kotka, CEO of Jio Estonia. “With this collaboration with the University of Oulu, we can make sure that we keep growing and developing as a world region of the future,” he added.
“6G promises to build upon 5G capabilities to deeply integrate technology as a digital twin in our daily lives. Cutting edge areas such as the internet of nano-things and pervasive AI have tremendous business potential. Early investments in 6G research and capabilities with the University of Oulu can complement Jio Lab’s capabilities in 5G and bring 6G to life,” said Aayush Bhatnagar, Senior Vice President of Jio Platforms.
The initial 6G testbeds are expected to occur by 2026 while the first standards of this technology will be around 2028, Matti Latva-aho, Director of the 6G Flagship, had recently told RCR Wireless News.
“Now is the time for 6G research, to identify promising technologies and define directions and requirements for future, as it takes several years to identify, to verify and to propose such technologies. The industry has already started collaborating with leading 6G academic research programs. As the next step, we must jointly define the directions both for technology solutions and technical and other requirements for 6G. Hopefully, 6G will not get overhyped as it happened with 3G and 5G in the past,” Larva-aho said.
Commenting on what would be the potential main features of 6G technology and what future use cases will be enabled by this technology, Latva-aho noted that he sees two main directions for 6G. Mobile broadband beyond 5G to enable immersive user experience, and massive machine type connectivity solutions to be available also for consumer markets. “The latter is needed for massive automation of future digital societies also supporting sustainable development. Global connectivity for remote areas has remained unsolved, and it has to be taken into account from a service continuity point of view in addition to sustainable development perspectives. Professional use cases come first, but businesses will scale up only with services and applications offered for consumers. Maybe the entertainment industry will play an important role in the consumer sector. In professional use, critical infrastructures are likely to lead the way,” he said.
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.
