A joint collaboration has started work on defining and developing the key technologies to shape the next generation of wireless connectivity technology: sixth-generation (6G).

Technology giant Nokia, Japan-based Docomo and parent company NTT have partnered through a joint 6G collaboration agreement to develop and implement an initial two proof of concepts for emerging 6G technologies, namely artificial intelligence (AI), native air interface and sub-THz radio access.

These aim to demonstrate a performance gain with an AI-based 6G air interface, compared with a conventional air interface, and to show that high-data rate beamformed access can be achieved in a high-frequency band at 140 GHz.

Providing high-rate access will be important in enabling enhanced and new use cases in the 6G era, such as multimodal mixed-reality telepresence and remote collaboration, massive twinning and collaborating robots.

The plan is to set up environments for experiments and demonstrations at Docomo and NTT premises in Japan and Nokia premises in Stuttgart, Germany, and to start performing the desired tests and measurements in 2022.

“Docomo has been collaborating with Nokia since 2014 to accelerate the experimental trials for fifth-generation (5G) wireless technology and promote the creation of new use cases,” says Docomo executive VP and CTO Naoki Tani.

“We are excited to work with Nokia to realise the 6G concept. Docomo and NTT will now start the experimental trials of two 6G proof-of-concepts for high-rate transmission in the sub-THz band and AI native air interface, and contribute to 6G commercialisation with vertical industry partners.”

Nokia believes that 6G will build on existing technologies and systems while expanding and transforming what a network can do, fusing the human, physical and digital worlds.

Nokia Bell Labs expects 6G to launch commercially by 2030. Standardisation Phase 1 will likely start from 2025, leading to the first 6G specification in the Third-generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 21 by 2028.

In addition, 3GPP develops and maintains the technical specifications and technical reports for evolved 3GPP technologies and uses a system of parallel releases to provide developers with a stable platform for implementation, while allowing the addition of new features.

The springboard for 6G will be 5G- Advanced, the next standard enhancements for 5G – a key focus for the 3GPP in Release 18 and 19 – which will unlock extended capabilities, improved efficiency and enhanced user experience.

Nokia envisages six key technologies that will be vital components of future 6G networks, including new spectrum technologies, AI native air interface, network as a sensor, extreme connectivity, cognitive, automated and specialised architectures and security and trust.

These technologies have the potential to improve deployment flexibility and increase network throughput beyond that of 5G in the respective spectrum bands and without necessarily increasing energy consumption.

“We envision that 6G will unify the human experience across the digital, physical and human worlds,” says Nokia Bell Labs Core Research president Peter Vetter.

The companies have long partnered for technology development, starting with third- generation in the 1990s, to fourth-generation and 5G.