It’s been typical for a new mobile network standard to take the spotlight every decade or so. That means that 6G networks might roll out sometime around 2030, or at least that’s when most telecom companies will be running 6G trials and when we’ll see phone manufacturers tease 6G-capable phones.
However, it’s common for work to start as long as a decade prior to any real implementation of a new network technology, which might be why you’ll start hearing about 6G before you even have your hands on a 5G phones!
Progress won’t start and finish overnight, though. For the same reasons 5G rollout are slow, 6G networks might not come out as quickly as we’d like. There are frequency bands to debate over, spectrum licenses to purchase, and rules to deal with.
Despite 6G being just a decade away, few telecom companies are actually looking into it seriously right now, but 6G experimentation is expected to really kick into high gear as we identify where 5G fails. 6G will improve on the inevitable weaknesses and limitations of 5G, so it won't take long for the powers that be to start deciding what to do next.
Here are some clues that 6G development is already in its early stages:
The FCC has taken the first steps of opening up terahertz wave spectrum (frequencies between 95 GHz and 3 THz), citing that it will "expedite the deployment of new services in the spectrum above 95 GHz."In early 2018, the University of Oulu in Finland announced the funding of their 6G Flagship program to research materials, antennas, software, and more that will be required to launch 6G. The idea is to start developing the hardware needed to implement 6G and explore how the new technology might be used.6G research has begun from Virginia Tech and companies like Samsung and LG.Shortly after China launched 5G in 2019, the Ministry of Science and Technology announced that they'd be starting 6G research and development through the help of government departments, research institutes, universities, and enterprises.Japan is planning to launch 6G by 2030
Differences Between 5G and 6G[]
Speed and latency will be the clearest distinction between 6G and 5G. This is what separates 5G and 4G in terms of performance, so we can also expect 6G to be magnitudes of times speedier than 5G.
How fast will 6G be? There’s no telling right now, but even with the first iterations of 5G, we’re seeing everyday speeds of up to 1 Gbps. 6G will absolutely top that, but how much is still in question. We might see several hundred gigabit per second speeds, or even ranges in the terabytes.
As for how 6G will be faster than 5G is still up in the air, but we can assume it will involve using ultrahigh frequencies (millimeter waves) of the radio spectrum. 5G’s bandwidth capacity lies in the fact that it uses high radio frequencies; the higher you go up the radio spectrum, the more data you can carry. 6G might eventually approach the upper limits of the radio spectrum and reach extremely high frequency levels of 300 GHz, or even terahertz ranges.
However, just like we’re seeing now with 5G networks being extremely localized due to the inherent limits of millimeter waves, the same problem will be seen in 6G networks. For example, the range of terahertz radiation is around 10 meters, which is much too short for significant 6G coverage.
Perhaps by 2030 we'll have developed new ways to amplify signals far enough to avoid building thousands of new 6G cell towers. Or maybe we’ll have found better methods for transmitting huge amounts of data.
This blog use content from Lifewire official web-site.
Comments