Compared with 5G, which is opening the “picture scroll”, 6G appears to be “faint”. We don’t know what 6G is. Nonetheless, all countries are reluctant to fall behind, rushing to fumble and start the battle quietly. Of course, for operators, 5G network coverage construction is the current focus.
6G patents: China accounts for up to 35%
Recently, the Intellectual Property Development Research Center of the State Intellectual Property Office released the “6G Communication Technology Patent Development Report”.
The report shows that: at present, the number of global patent applications is generally on the rise, and the global patent applications in the field of 6G communication technology exceed 38,000. Among them, China is the main source country for patent applications, accounting for 35% of patent applications, ranking first in the world.
In fact, as early as November 2019, the Ministry of Science and Technology of my country launched the 6G technology research and development IMT-2030 promotion group with the participation of 37 industry-university-research institutions and held a number of 6G seminars.
The standards organizations ITU and 3GPP in the communication field have The formulation of relevant standards also gave a planned timetable, and my country’s 6G research and development were officially launched.
U.S. and Japan jointly develop 6G mobile communication technology
A few days ago, the United States and Japan announced a joint investment of 4.5 billion U.S. dollars for the development of the next-generation communications technology known as 6G or “beyond 5G.” Among them, the United States promised to provide 2.5 billion U.S. dollars, and Japan promised to provide 2 billion U.S. dollars.
Moreover, in order to further catch up with China’s development in the field of communications infrastructure, the United States and Japan have also recruited Australia to cooperate and prepare to lay submarine communications cables in the Pacific. According to Japanese media reports, Japan is preparing to showcase its 6G development results during the 2025 World Expo in Osaka, Kansai, Japan.
To this end, Japanese companies have accelerated their response speed: For example, NEC and other companies cooperate to promote the standardization of related technical specifications, mainly through Open RAN, that is, combined use of base stations that do not rely on specific manufacturers, Kaidi Diai announced that it will invest 3 trillion yen in 6G construction by 2030.
Toyota Motor will strengthen its relationship with Kaidi Diai through capital cooperation and make an early deployment for the 6G era, Softbank cooperated with research institutions such as Gifu University to establish Wireless communication has been successfully realized using micro antennas on the 6G frequency band.
It is understood that Japan is preparing to commercialize 6G networks before 2030 to provide a market for Japanese suppliers and reduce dependence on overseas. Japan divides its 6G roadmap into two major stages, namely the “advanced implementation stage” and the “acceleration stage.” Especially in the advanced implementation stage, many successful model cases should be developed within 5 years at the latest to realize the 6G environment.
South Korea: 6G will be piloted in 2026
It is understood that Japan and South Korea have certain advantages in key technologies such as 6G communication, orbital angular momentum technology, satellite technology, and high-altitude platform communication.
Unlike the US-Japan cooperation, the South Korean government plans to invest a total of 200 billion won (US$169 million) from 2021 to 2026 and to launch an unstandardized 6G mobile service pilot project in 2026.
It is expected that 6G services will be available in 2028. Commercially available in South Korea until 2030. According to reports, its 6G pilot projects include digital medical immersive content, autonomous vehicles, smart cities, and smart factories.
Germany: Mainly conduct 6G research before 2025
Let’s take a look at Germany’s schedule again. The German government plans to provide up to 700 million euros (833 million US dollars) of funds for 6G technology research by 2025.
German Federal Research Minister Anja Karliczek said, “We must now invest heavily in 6G research. Only in this way can we strengthen the technological sovereignty of Germany and Europe in the long-term.
We don’t want to rely on others in the future. For this, we need ten years of innovation Starting point, and need to invest heavily in the technology of tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.” At present, Germany has launched the first research program related to 6G technology.
The three major operators set out to deploy 6G at different paces
Recently, the “6G Driving Force and Vision White Paper” jointly led by China Mobile, US Cellular of the United States, and Vodafone of Europe was officially released in NGMN. This white paper focuses on the driving force, vision, and future challenges of 6G, expounds the outlook of global operators for future mobile networks and provides important guidance for the development of the mobile communication industry.
In April 2021, the 6G network (architecture/security/air interface/high-frequency) project kick-off meeting and 6GANA (6G Network AI) seminar was held. It is understood that 6GANA is an initiative of 18 industry-university-research institutes such as Huawei and China Mobile for 6G An innovative communication platform for network architecture, and 6GANA focuses on research on the needs, scenarios, architecture, data, theory/algorithm, verification, and operation/management of 6G Network AI.
China Unicom has also released a 6G white paper. The white paper points out that China Unicom is still in its infancy in 6G research. At this stage, China Unicom’s 6G vision is: smart, integrated, green, and credible.
In the future, China Unicom will carry out a 6G technology research layout around the above vision, build a 6G full technology system and a research team including vision and requirements, network architecture and enabling technology, follow the industry development dynamics and situation, and continue to carry out key research on 6G enabling technology.
China Telecom also put 6G on the agenda. On March 18, China Telecom announced on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to re-list the A shares. The number of A shares to be publicly issued will not exceed 12.09 billion shares.
The initial use of raised funds for investment in the next three years The amount will reach 54.4 billion yuan, and the raised funds will be used for 5G industrial Internet construction projects, cloud-network integration new information infrastructure projects, and scientific and technological innovation research and development projects.
Huawei: Satellites may be launched in July this year
Huawei’s rotating chairman Xu Zhijun said at the Huawei Global Analyst Conference that 6G should be introduced to the market around 2030, and Huawei will also release a 6G white paper.
According to Xu Zhijun, Huawei is currently doing two things: First, working with the industry to define what 6G is. Second, focus on the vision and the definition of 6G, do some basic research and research on cutting-edge technologies, hoping to realize the 6G that we jointly define.
“In short, we look forward to 6G, but there may not necessarily be 6G. But we still have to prepare, do research, and invest for the possible arrival of 6G.” As early as August 2019, Huawei’s laboratory in Ottawa began to research and development of 6G network technology.
It is reported that Huawei will launch two satellites jointly with China Aerospace and China Mobile in July 2021. If successful, the news will be announced at the Huawei Developer Conference in September. You know, 6G networks are highly dependent on satellites.
(Via)
