Information Technology | Everyday life goes better when there is more time for everything, believes the developer of a high-speed mobile network – All this in 6g

in Finland The University of Oulu is leading the 6g project, which is perhaps the top project in the whole world. At least it is the first big 6g project that started in 2018.

So what is 6g? Professor in charge of the national 6g project Matti Latva-Aho Responsible for the University of Oulu.

5g networks are just becoming common, but 6g technology is already being developed at a fast pace – why?

Every ten years, a new mobile standard is always born.

This is because the needs of wireless networks are growing. They quickly spread to new areas of application.

5g was only the first step for a new breakthrough in mobile technology. 6g is the next step from that. And the story doesn’t end there. 7g will also come in time.

What improves in normal use?

Transmission speed and transmission delay. 6g locates more accurately than GPS even indoors. Terminals will be renewed and they will have graphically attractive applications.

Hopefully we can also take broadband connections to remote areas so that their quality is good. The digitized society of the future especially needs this.

How does the user notice the difference?

Yes, those are core issues. 5g has not yet revolutionized our everyday life in any way.

Along with the development of technology, applications for consumers are needed, the kind that are in demand in the export market.

Now the main interest is still in professional use. Therefore, the real benefits of 5g for consumers have taken a back seat.

Increasing the data speed has taken the most important role in operators’ marketing.

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“The vision is a highly automated society, where many daily routines are managed hidden from view.”

How will everyday life and work change?

Now we are researching and developing digital twins. They are as realistic as possible copies of machines, industrial processes and maybe sometimes also people.

With these prospects, they make everyday life considerably smoother. We get to work in limited cases and applications genuinely remotely in real time.

For example, we can perform even demanding surgery or we can repair complicated devices remotely. This way, the need to move from one place to another is reduced.

Everyday runs better so that there is more time for everything else.

Do real-feeling virtual meetings come true?

Yes, it is in sight. The much-talked-about metaverse in the world is partly just that.

What about robot cars, a car without a driver?

This is an example of the fact that, in addition to new technology, we need major reforms to legislation and other regulations.

Now, driverless driving is not widely permitted. It will still take time for the robot cars to work reliably, for example in snowy conditions.

What about smart homes?

It depends on what is meant by smart homes. In many respects, this is already possible with current technologies.

There are still few available for affordable and easy applications.

5g and 6g bring new applications to this field as well.

The only limit here is imagination: in what different ways could the home environment be improved with the help of automation?

When will 6g come to mobile phones?

The 6g standard is expected to be completed in 2028. The products would be on the market by 2030, including smartphones.

Where does this happen and why?

It works globally. The standardization of 6g is international cooperation.

All parties and states developing mobile technologies are strongly committed to it.

What is a society like where the majority use 6g devices?

It is about a broad industrial revolution in which 6g technology is one important factor among many others.

Others include, for example, the development of artificial intelligence or, for example, robotization.

A highly automated society is on the horizon, where many daily routines are managed hidden from view.

They are handled by smart devices. The person does not actively participate in them.

You can watch the University of Oulu’s video about the project at this link.

Will 6g networks only be enjoyed by city dwellers?

I do not believe. One of the goals of 6g is global coverage so that even remote areas around the world have sufficiently high-quality wireless connections.

Of course, it is the case that where there are the most people, that is also where the biggest investments fall. Networks are mainly built on market terms.

In the research, we have made it an important goal that remote areas and poor regions of the world could also become part of the digital services of the 6g era.

Does 6g include artificial intelligence?

Artificial intelligence algorithms are one key part of technology in making 6g networks work as well as possible in different uses in different environments and for different purposes.

With the help of artificial intelligence, the network is automatically tuned to be as good as possible, whether it’s data transfer or, for example, energy efficiency.

Will it bring the Internet of Things?

The Internet of Things (IoT) perhaps came into focus with 5G. 6g continues where 5g gets to in IoT.

Of course, development will be carried forward in this area as well. One important area is reliable communication between devices. There is no room for mistakes in new applications.

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“It was precisely in Finland that the world’s first 6g research program was launched.”

Why was the project started in Oulu?

The University of Oulu has a long tradition and a strong track record in wireless communication research for a very long time.

The university decided to apply to the national research flagship competition in this field. We won that in 2018 with our own 6g research program.

The start of 6g research in 2018 caused confusion. Even 5g wasn’t ready yet. We got a lot of attention around the world on the topic. This way we also got many collaborators from companies as well as other research groups.

The results and attention on social media have been downright deafening.

Will Finland become the world’s first 6g country?

Share. This depends on many factors.

It can be affected by the agility of the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency, or Traficom. Is it aiming to be among the first?

National programs could also take 6g as their top goal. Mobile operators build the networks. Ultimately, it all depends on their ability to invest.

I don’t know how important it would be to be first. In my opinion, the most important thing is that investments in 6g are made in a timely manner in Finland.

The research was launched in 2018 with public funding. This year saw the start of the first projects started with public funding in cooperation with companies.

The next important step is to invest in industry so that Finland has the necessary technological know-how at the end of the 2020s, when 6g products start to be properly commercialized.

What is Finland’s role in the global development of 6g?

The world’s first 6g research program was launched specifically in Finland. That says a lot.

From the very beginning, we have created the 6g vision of Western democracies. Since then, it has gained wide acceptance. The UN’s sustainable development goals are one key driver in the development of 6g.

They manifest themselves, for example, in the way that we develop new service and business models based on consumer needs.

We are looking for solutions to improve network coverage in remote areas cheaply.

We also aim for the energy consumption of mobile networks to remain moderate.

It is important that the key EU countries create a 6g standard together on a broad front.

6g is made in accordance with European values, in cooperation with like-minded nations.

Will 6g spread everywhere?

Of course. First, it will spread where there is the ability to pay and the desire to invest and develop society’s key digital services, for example the smart cities of the future.

What is the superiority of 6g based on?

We need new frequency bands to fuel 6g.

It enables a significant increase in network capacity and transmission speed.

In 5g, we introduced part of the millimeter wave range. It is a few tens of gigahertz. The use of a frequency range of up to a few hundred gigahertz is now planned for 6g.

In addition, the mobile use of lower frequency bands will be increased from the current one.

Wireless technology is developing a lot all the time. With their help, we can increase speeds and new mobile applications.

They are related, for example, to the fact that we use radio signals to sense and image the environment.

How does 6g differ technically?

Nobody knows this yet. We are now actively researching 6g.

Many new ideas have been presented. It should be clear that the transmission bandwidth used in 6g will increase even more.

In medium frequencies, we will go to significantly higher frequencies than the current ones.

Smart antenna technologies are also developing at breakneck speed. They are enhanced with artificial intelligence algorithms.

Our challenges include, for example, the energy efficiency of networks and devices. In them, the current 5g has not been successful in the best way.