Next the tests on 6G, prepare a metaverse and holograms – Hi-tech

Although the 5G connection is not yet widespread all over the globe, the tests for 6G, the standard of the future, have started. It promises to provide greater speed and facilitate continuity between the physical and digital worlds for the conduct of many of our activities, including in the metaverse. Artificial intelligence will then play a role in data collection and processing. Today, 5G can reach a maximum of 2 gigs per second. For the sixth generation connection we are talking about 1000 giga per second, 1 terabyte. For this reason, the advent of 6G is also defined as the transition from the ‘giga’ to the ‘tera’ economy. Discussions on 6G network standardization are expected to start around 2025, the commercialization of the technology is planned for 2029. Compared to 5G networks, the protocol will not only provide better data rates but also lower latency and greater reliability.

The tests on the 6G have already been started by various realities. In recent days, LG in collaboration with the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute and the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics has reached a milestone: it has demonstrated the possibility of transmitting data in the band between 155 and 175 GHz up to a distance of 320 meters ‘opened, beating his previous record of 100 meters. This is an important step towards testing 6G in real environments, given that the declared objective of the standard is to be able to exploit cells capable of covering, each, a radius of 250 meters to offer connection speeds in theory of 1000 giga per second. , 1 terabyte.

Concepts that allow us to think about the advent of applications and services for which response times will be zero. If today, when moving in virtual reality environments there is still a minimum interval between sending a command and the response, with 6G everything promises to become more natural, with greater integration between physical and digital. During the World 5G Convention which was held in August in Harbin, China, Zhang Yongtao, Deputy Director General of Ericsson China Technology Department, spoke about projects that 6G will be able to follow up, such as holograms. Holographic communication, which Ericsson is already working on, uses LiDAR sensors, such as those of the new generation iPhones, to map people in 3D and project them into virtual environments that can be accessed with viewers and goggles. An idea that will soon be realized by the Meta-Facebook metaverse but that will see, for Yongtao, full development only with the 6G network, capable of bringing the two dimensions closer together. Furthermore, according to Matti Latva-aho, director of the 6G Flagship of the University of Oulu, AI will play a fundamental role as it will have to avoid network congestion by efficiently sorting the enormous amount of data expected in 10 years.

Even Nokia, with its Bell Labs, has repeatedly focused its interest on commercial applications of 6G, especially for health and medicine. Ubiquitous computing, the presence of connected devices perfectly integrated with everyday life, will give man the opportunity to receive information at any moment, through digital interfaces that will be easy to access. Italy is no stranger to 6G trials. Tim, the Polytechnic of Turin, the University of Pisa and other universities are testing the new standard, joining the European Hexa-X program which is part of Horizon 2020.