Ericsson Antenna Technology Germany will lead the development of this project at the Rosenheim R&D site in Germany
Swedish vendor Ericsson said is set to receive a five-year funding award from Germany’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action for its European Microelectronics and Communication Technologies for 6G (EMCT) project.
The European vendor explained that this project aims to drive semiconductor technology advancements and foundation needed to develop energy-efficient and sustainable microelectronics and communication technologies for 6G Massive MIMO radios together with partners in Europe.
Ericsson Antenna Technology Germany will lead the development of this project at the Rosenheim R&D site in Germany.
The project is part of the European Union’s Important Project of Common European Interest on Microelectronics and Communication Technologies (IPCEI-ME/CT) initiative, which will provide up to EUR 8.1 billion ($8.65 billion) in public funding to support research and development projects across the whole ecosystem of microelectronics and communication technologies.
Ericsson also noted that the IPCEI ME/CT projects also aim to enable digital and green transformation by creating innovative microelectronics and communication solutions and developing energy-efficient and resource-saving electronic systems and manufacturing methods.
The main aim of Ericsson’s project is to extend the current radio microelectronics development by establishing early technology development of 6G radio microelectronics in cooperation with European partners, with a particular focus on early technology development of 6G Massive MIMO radios.
Freddie Södergren, head of technology and strategy at Ericsson Networks, said: “The introduction of the 5G mobile communications standard already opened up a multitude of new applications beyond voice and mobile data. Upcoming 6G mobile networks need to meet the ever-increasing demand for communication in the areas of human-to-human, human-to-machine, and machine-to-machine in a highly energy-efficient way.”
“We’re excited to gain this opportunity, which allows us to pave the way for developing highly efficient Massive MIMO radios by completing the value chain in microelectronics and communication technologies. Ericsson’s R&D site in Rosenheim plays an important role in building competencies in microelectronics for Massive MIMO radios and the semiconductor industry in Germany,” the executive added.
As-yet-unstandardized 6G systems are expected to be commercially launched by 2030, while the first phase of standardization will likely start from 2025, leading to the first 6G specification in 3GPP Release 21 by 2028.
