Updated Feb. 15, 2024 at 5:00 p.m. *
OULU — It's a little paradise for studying and innovating. With its many cafés, huge beanbags for napping, fab lab for 3D printing and several hairdressers, the ultramodern university in Oulu, Finland, is not your typical university.
A private 5G network on the roof provides super-connectivity to the 14,000 students. Some 400 sensors monitor temperature, humidity, sunshine... crucial information in this snow-covered corner of Lapland, just 200 kilometers from the Arctic Circle. On this winter's day, the thermometer dips to minus 15 °C and the sun sets at 3 p.m.
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But another element puts the University of Oulu in a different league. While 5G is struggling to find its audience, the campus is one of the first in Europe and the world that is already working on 6G. Since 2018, the 6G Flagship’s 500 researchers of 54 nationalities have been outlining the next generation of mobile networks.
"This is the technology we'll be using for the whole of the 2030s, whatever form it takes," says Matti Latva-aho, director of the laboratory, which has a budget of €251 million. "We've got lots of ideas!"
Six benefits of 6G
The issue is crucial for Finland and Europe. The country that gave birth to Nokia (Europe's only telecommunications equipment manufacturer, along with Ericsson) was marked by the great crisis of 2013. That year, after missing the smartphone revolution, the former star company was forced to sell its mobile phone business to Microsoft for $5 billion, and to focus solely on equipment for operators. In Oulu, Finland's fifth largest city, thousands of employees lost their jobs.
Ten years later, with Nokia struggling once again (the group is set to lay off up to 14,000 employees worldwide in the next three years), Finland wants to get ahead of the game. The pressure is on, as mobile network generations only arrive every 10 years. The aim is to lay the theoretical foundations, before 6G is standardized in UN forums in 2028 and launched commercially in 2030, to reap the economic and commercial benefits first. The United States and China are also in pole position.
Virtual reality headsets may be the preferred way to use 6G, not smartphones
The outline of 6G still needs to be clarified. In Oulu, its designers imagine it as a hexagon, with six cardinal points, whereas 5G was more of a triangle. As a result, the three benefits of 5G will be amplified: 6G should offer data rates 10 times higher (around 1 gigabit per second), be 10 times faster (latency of around 0.1 milliseconds) and have the ability to connect more objects.
For the first time, 6G will also carry more than just data, TikTok videos or Netflix series. For example, 3D maps, digital twins, holograms... It will provide "ubiquitous" connectivity and move the computing process further into the cloud. Future devices will be lighter and smaller. "Virtual reality headsets may be the preferred way to use 6G, not smartphones. Today, these headsets are heavy and connected by cables. We need 6G to take all that away," says Mika Rantakokko of the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.
5G: a "waste of resources”
In addition to these recreational uses, 6G is also expected to promote practical uses, particularly in medicine. Researcher Mariella Särestöniemi, for example, wants to better detect breast or brain cancers using small antennas the size of fingernails. Placed in a headband or bra, these components would analyze the formation of tumors, and 6G could then transmit this information remotely. "In Finland, the public health system is very expensive, and some parts of the country are very remote," the researcher says.
Will 6G do better than 5G, which already promised such applications? Industries in Europe, particularly in France, have been slow to embrace 5G for many reasons: difficult access to frequencies, project costs, and uncertain economic benefits. "5G wasn't yet mature when it was launched, and then there was Covid," says Matti Latva-aho, director of 6G Flagship. What's more, operators missed the whole point of 5G by reducing it to a big pipe, when the role of industry should have been key."
"For 5G, too many architectures were authorized," says Olli Liinamaa, head of the 5G ecosystem for Nokia in Oulu, “It was a waste of resources." After this semi-failure, Finland wants to do better. There's no question of 6G becoming the "G" too many.
Updated Feb. 15, 2024 at 5:00 p.m. with audio version, and additional background material below*
What are the features of 6G?
Key features of 6G may include terahertz frequency bands, massive MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) antenna arrays, AI-driven networking, quantum cryptography for enhanced security, and seamless integration with satellite networks for global coverage.
How will 6G be used?
6G is anticipated to revolutionize various industries, including healthcare, transportation, manufacturing, entertainment, and more. Applications may include augmented reality (AR), autonomous vehicles, remote surgery, smart cities, and advanced IoT (Internet of Things) ecosystems.
What are the challenges in developing 6G?
Developing 6G poses several technical challenges, including spectrum allocation and management at terahertz frequencies, overcoming signal attenuation and propagation issues, ensuring energy efficiency, addressing cybersecurity concerns, and fostering international cooperation and standardization efforts.
