6G technology leadership in the US
Even though 5G networks are rolling out at a rapid pace around the world, the race to 6G has already begun. But this race is a marathon, not a sprint.
As an avid technologist, I believe that this is an exciting time as the industry is gearing up for 6G research while simultaneously enhancing 5G capabilities with 3GPP releases. Technology research is shifting focus towards 6G with a view of commercialization around 2030.
Research in emerging technology is essential for technology evolution since it drives new revenue segments for businesses and ultimately delivers ample benefits, services and more choices to end consumers. In fact, all around the world, governments, research agencies and technology companies are joining forces to establish national technology research and development groups that are focused on 6G.
In the US, collaborative research initiatives are needed to provide leadership in key 6G technologies and establish strong end-to-end security needed to protect critical infrastructure and next-generation superiority of US technology. In addition, it will create an opportunity to leverage the US government, industry, and academia’s research capabilities and innovativeness, and capitalize on 6G innovation with US technology leadership in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), software, webscale and cloud.
Objectives: establish leadership, protect critical infrastructure, create efficiency and scale, and accelerate innovation
The Next G Alliance brings together leading industry players driving innovation in the mobile ecosystem and communication technology to set the course and advance US technology leadership into the future. It should also accelerate innovation by leveraging available research funding and offer a prospect to cooperate with other international organizations and 6G research efforts.
Nokia is a founding member of the Next G Alliance, leveraging its strong role in deploying 5G in the US to shape the direction along with the other founding members. It is imperative for the organization to:
- Develop a vision, roadmap and timeline for 6G
- Put together a roadmap of the overall technology direction for the future and its potential interaction with communications
- Facilitate interaction with US Government agencies that will fund 6G research
- Provide visibility of external US 6G research projects in order to track the fulfillment of the Next G research roadmap
- Enable interactions with global research organizations
As a wise person once said, “If you want to go fast, go alone but if you need to go far, go together.”
The 6G marathon is just beginning, but by working together, we can accelerate innovation, leverage research to solve industry challenges and help attain 6G technology leadership in the US. Now is the time for foundational 6G research.
Further reading
[1] Nokia Bell Labs Communications in the 6G Era
https://onestore.nokia.com/asset/207766
[2] 6G Indicators of Value and Performance
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9083885
[3] 6G Architecture to Connect the Worlds:
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/9200631
[4] Nokia in North America:
https://www.nokia.com/about-us/worldwide/north-america/
