The 6G Network: 100 Times Faster than 5G

The speed of 5G amazed in many parts of the world. The maximum speed of 5G can be 10Gbps. While 6G can support one terabit per second. 6G will be the successor to 5G communications technologies. 6G will not only be focused around optimizing the connection speed of mobile phones, we already have achieved an optimum result. 6G will be more developed to support IoT and automation related technologies including automated cars, smart home and next generation industries.

Because of the hardware bottlenecks, commercial realization of 6G can take place around 2030. That is too far and 5G likely to be improved across the earth in a step-wise manner. However, the developments around 6G already has started.

Basics About 6G Network

Several major companies (Nokia, Samsung, Huawei and LG) have expressed interest in 6G. South Korea and Japan are also reportedly interested. 6G will likely become available on the market in the 2030s. According to Samsung, the differences in expected network performance (latency, reliability, data rates, power saving, density of supported terminals) between 5G and 6G are significant. Speeds would increase from 20 Gbit/s to 1,000 Gbit/s, at peak, in practice mobile terminals will have a speed of 1 Gbit/s, against 0.1 Gbit/s (100 Mbit/s) in 5G. Latency would drop to 0.1ms, from 1ms.

On October 13, 2020, the players in the US telecom industry launched the “Next G Alliance”, ATIS (Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions) with the aim of defining the strategy on 6G by positioning themselves on standardization, technical specifications, equipment manufacturing and operational commissioning. It includes mobile telecommunications operators AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, technology and software providers Ciena, Qualcomm, VMware, Cisco, Intel, Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft. Telecom equipment manufacturers Nokia, Ericsson and Samsung are associated.

On November 6, 2020, the Tianyan 05 satellite is sent into space to carry out transmission tests in technology planned for 6G with Earth. China will experiment with terahertz frequencies, between 0.1 and 10 THz.

On 8 December 2020, the European Union launched the Hexa-X project involving telecom equipment manufacturers including Nokia, Ericsson, and telecommunications operators Orange and Telefonica to define the roadmap and guide future developments in 6G. The Hexa-X project has received funding from the European Commission.

Recent studies have contributed to marked progress in the 6G industry. A group at the University of California, Santa Barbara has announced the manufacture of a device accelerating its development and design. They reported on the main aspects of the device, including an “n-polar” transistor with high electron mobility made of gallium nitride. This technology is known as the “high electronic mobility transistor” (MODFET). The presence of this charge gives the device the ability to operate at high frequencies, as electrons are free to move quickly through without obstruction. Although the data has not yet been published, the researchers say they show promising results and they plan to test the new devices at even higher frequencies than before (140 and 230 GHz, two frequencies belonging to the so-called “terahertz frequency band”).