The communication technology of the fifth generation 5G, although not yet widely implemented, has already become a meme and fear of supporters of conspiracies and conspiracy theories. It was even accused of involvement in the pandemic of 2020, and in Transcarpathia local residents even opposed the installation of a mobile tower on their territory, believing that it causes cancer.
While networks 5G is being launched in some countries, in particular in China, and in Ukraine they plan to launch a local pilot in 2024. Meanwhile, the world is already preparing for sixth generation networks.
About how 6G networks will work and what is revolutionary about them – read in the article 24 Channel.
What are they planning in China
Interesting! In China, by the end of 2024, more than half of mobile communications will be provided by fifth-generation networks. This is stated in a report of the global association of mobile operators GSMA.
The contribution of 5G to China's GDP is expected to reach almost 260 billion dollars in 2030. This will account for 23% of the total annual economic impact of mobile communications in China. Also, by 2030, the volume of 5G connections in China will account for almost a third of the total volume of connections in the world.
Meanwhile, China is developing the next generation of communications. In early April, the Shanghai Communications Authority announced plans for research and development of 5G-Advanced and 6G. The document published by the department provides 12 action plans focused on expanding 5G application scenarios and testing 6G in various industries.
By 2023, Shanghai has installed 92,000 5G base stations. They ensure the operation of unmanned vehicles, help in the latest medicine, communications in industry.
What is the difference between 6G and 5G?
The fifth generation of communications, following the generations that occurred in the 1980s – 2010s, unfolding from 2019. It has download speeds of up to 10 Gigabits per second.
The sixth generation is expected to be deployed in the second half of the 2020s and will provide much higher download speeds of up to 1 Tbit/s.
According to Japanese companies DOCOMO, NTT, NEC and Fujitsu, the high speed of 6G will be able to accelerate the emergence of new technologies – in particular, holographic communication, as well as improve the experience of virtual and mixed reality.
At the same time, 6G deployment will require new infrastructure for much higher frequency bands and devices will need 6G antennas.
6G with light
Even light can become the infrastructure for the sixth generation. This is stated in a study by scientists from a number of American universities.
It's a method of “twisting” light beams in mid-air to enable incredibly high-speed wireless communications, avoiding the need for a line-of-sight between transmitter and receiver.
In a study published March 30 in the journal Nature's Communications Engineering, the researchers explained, how they developed a transmitter that can dynamically adjust the waves to support future 6G signals.
6G is expected to be thousands of times faster than 5G.
- The common problem of both generations – the need for a direct line of sight between the transmitter and the receiver.
- In experiments, scientists found that signals can be effectively “bent” around buildings and other obstacles.
This is the world's first curved data channel, an important milestone in realizing the 6G vision of high data transfer speed and high reliability,
– said Edward Knightley, co-author of the study and a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Rice University in the US.
Photons tend to travel in straight lines unless space and time are distorted by massive gravitational forces — such as black holes. But the researchers found that the self-accelerating beams of light, first demonstrated in a 2007 study, form special configurations of electromagnetic waves that can bend or warp to one side as they travel through space.
This is how scientists learned to form a light beam that adapts to any objects in its path and remains unchanged, even if its path is blocked by an object. While the photons are still traveling in a straight line, the terahertz electromagnetic wave signal itself actually wraps around the object.
How 6G is getting closer to reality
A new study by American scientists brings 6G networks closer to practical implementation.
For reference! Millimeter wave 5G currently offers the fastest network bandwidth, using radio frequencies between 24 GHz and 100 GHz, giving peak download speeds of 10 to 50 Gbps.
Terahertz beams to be used in the sixth generation , are at frequencies between 100 GHz and 10,000 GHz (10 THz), providing data rates of one terabit per second, nearly 5,000 times faster than the average 5G speed in the US.
We want more data per second. But that requires more bandwidth, and that bandwidth simply doesn't exist when using conventional frequency bands,
– says one of the authors of the study, Daniel Mittleman, a professor at Brown's School of Engineering.
The scientists' discovery removes one important problem – no need for direct line of sight between transmitter and receiver. That is, in the future, cities will not be covered by many 6G antennas. The beams will be able to bend around buildings and terrain.
However, further research is needed to realize these possibilities, as the technology is still in its infancy and so far provides a deflection of about 10 meters from the transmitter to the receiver. It's not suitable for city-wide 6G, but it may be practical for next-generation Wi-Fi networks.
“One of the key questions we're all asking is how much and how far you can bend the waves,” &ndash ; summarizes Mittleman. To create high-speed mobile networks of the future, scientists need to work further.