Nokia Bell Labs is at the forefront of technological innovation. In our centennial year we have selected nine ongoing Bell Labs research projects, each painting a vivid picture of the future and showcasing the breadth and depth of our work. These demonstrations span a range of pivotal research areas, including AI, sensing technologies, quantum, space exploration and foundational technologies. Each demonstration not only highlights our cutting-edge research but also illustrates how Nokia Bell Labs turns imaginative concepts into innovations with real-world impact.
By pushing the boundaries of what is possible, Nokia Bell Labs is shaping the future of technology and society. But we’re not doing it alone. As these research projects show, we are working with the companies, research institutes and academia across the globe, and we are always looking for more collaborators.
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Explore the intricacies of the human heart
Nokia Bell Labs is exploring the structural properties of synthetic diamonds to create a quantum electromagnetic field sensor. Such a sensor has the potential to detect the very weak electrical impulses generated by the human body. By analyzing the minute variations in these impulses, we could obtain highly detailed information about neural activity patterns. This would allow us to measure heart, brain and nerve functions to degrees that have been impossible in the past and create 3-dimensional models of the human nervous system.
Discover new life-saving drugs
Nokia Bell Labs is developing a topological quantum computer based on decades of revolutionary research in condensed matter physics. This revolutionary approach to quantum computing could produce highly stable qubits that enable extremely powerful quantum computers capable of simulating hypercomplex physical systems no classical computer could tackle. Such computers could transform the way drugs are designed by accurately modeling how molecules interact at the smallest scales. By working together, AI and quantum computing could help pharmaceutical companies develop more effective and resilient medicines, including next-generation antibiotics, by streamlining the design and selection of new candidate drugs with unparalleled precision.
Track the minutest changes in weather
Nokia Bell Labs is a working on 6G Integrated Sensing and Communication systems. These fine-grained systems can predict the weather by utilizing high-frequency signals that interact with atmospheric particles, providing real-time data on changes in wind, humidity and pressure. When integrated with AI models, the 6G system can perform nowcasting, delivering highly accurate, localized weather forecasts and detect and analyze fine-scale meteorological phenomena like rain, fog, snow or storm patterns.
Extend connectivity well beyond Earth
Nokia Bell Labs is collaborating with Airbus Defense & Space and Thales Alenia Space, to develop free-space optics technology that will link geostationary satellites to Earth with a speed of 1 Tbps. The 36,000 km-long link uses coherent optics, which overcomes atmospheric turbulence and enables efficient data transmission over great distances with minimal losses. This technology can facilitate the transmission of data from high-earth-orbit space observatories back to Earth. It can provide terabit connectivity to ocean-going vessels. And eventually it could be used to create a 100-Gbps link between Earth and the Moon. As Bell Labs adds quantum communication capabilities to free-space optics, we could venture even further, linking Earth to the far reaches of our solar system.
Manage a warehouse through natural language
Nokia Bell Labs is developing systems capable of creating dynamic digital twins of entire environments such as factories, ports and warehouses. These digital twins would capture intricate details like temperature changes and the interactions between humans and objects. Large World Models, combined with real-time digital twins, enable intuitive interactions with the physical world. This "Industrial GPT" utilizes spatial intelligence to support natural language interactions, improving our understanding and navigation of the environment around us.
Monitor the Earth’s seismic activity
Nokia Bell Labs is pioneering a technology that transforms telecom fibers into a vast network of sensors. By integrating advanced sensing capabilities into telecom systems, these fibers can detect seismic activity, ocean currents, and temperature changes. This breakthrough enables global seismic monitoring, improving geophysical models and understanding of seismic activity. A commercial subsea cable from Iceland to Ireland already provides real-time seismic data, demonstrating the potential to enhance early warning systems. Such advancements could significantly improve tsunami prediction and response, offering a cost-effective, scalable solution for environmental monitoring and disaster preparedness.
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Empower the 6G network through AI
Nokia Bell Labs is developing 6G networks capable of autonomously managing themselves, dynamically optimizing performance and addressing issues in real time. These networks can prevent, detect and resolve problems, conserve energy by powering down when not needed, and even predict future demands, such as the need for upgrades or additional capacity.
Together with NTT DoCoMo and SK Telecom, Nokia Bell Labs has demonstrated how the a 6G AI-native air interface can improve communication speeds up to 18% indoors compared to conventional methods. This proof of concept has won multiple innovation awards.
Network the future lunar economy
Nokia Bell Labs is working with Axiom Space to integrate cellular technologies into the next-generation Axiom Space AxEMU spacesuits. These spacesuits will be used by astronauts on the Artemis III mission, which will return humans to the Moon’s surface for the first time in over 50 years. Advanced cellular communication networks will allow Artemis III astronauts to communicate seamlessly with voice and video, as well as share biometric and telemetry data while exploring the lunar surface. Nokia intends to prove that cellular networks can provide the critical communications for the future lunar economy as well as missions to Mars and beyond.
Re-imagine the energy grid
Imagine a future where quantum computers ensured there were no more blackouts. Everyone in the world had access to low-cost power when they needed it and where they needed it, while lowering the environmental impact of our global energy infrastructure.
Nokia Bell Labs is developing a topological quantum computer. This revolutionary approach could produce highly stable and extremely powerful quantum computing technologies capable of solving hypercomplex optimization problems no classical computer could tackle. Such computers could transform the way electricity grids are managed, balancing supply against demand in real time, while minimizing energy loss. These quantum-optimized grids could account for the fluctuations in renewable energy sources and even anticipate shifting demand due to weather.
The stories behind Bell Labs innovations that changed the world and how we communicate.
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