(Photo: REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay/File Photo)
6 G technology may already be starting to create some noise, but it is still in its infancy and must overcome several technical hurdles in basic research and hardware design before it becomes commercially available in 2030, the University of Oulu said.
In addition, some scientists are worried that the new infrastructure of 6 G, the increased convergence of space-air-ground-sea communication technologies, and the use of a wider frequency range to transmit data could affect space instruments or public health, or are too costly or unreliable to be used by researchers.
Sharing, analyzing and handling research data is critical for scientific and technological progress in today's big data era, Wang Ruidan, deputy director of the National Center for Science and Technology Infrastructure, said in December during a Beijing forum on digitized research.
In November, the Ministry of Science and Technology announced that China had joined the global 6 G race and set up two separate offices, one for relevant policy making and the other, made up of 37 experts from universities, research institutions and companies, to hammer out the technical details.
According to media reports, China Telecom, China Unicom and Huawei, as well as US, Russia, and Europe telecommunications companies have conducted related research on 6 G technologies.
Based on a blue paper research released by Springer Nature last month, telecommunications technologies, coupled with large-scale computing infrastructure, have played a crucial role in some of the largest scientific projects in China in recent years, especially those involving major scientific instruments.
As an example, scientists rely on high-tech communications equipment to hook up observatories from around China to provide key navigation data to help the Change-4 Probe land for the first time on the far side of the moon, said Wang Shuzhi, Chinese Academy of Sciences executive deputy director of the Leading Group of Cyberspace.
Better connections will improve the accuracy and effectiveness of utilizing secure data to carry out cross-regional, interdisciplinary mega-science projects, Wang said.
For Nigel Jefferies, chairman of the Wireless World Research Forum, he believes that though there has so far been no universally accepted definition of 6 G technology, its potential will have a profound impact on everyday life and how scientific research will be performed.
The speed of 6 G will be faster than 125 gigabytes per second, enabling virtual reality of ultra-high fidelity, zero latency for machine-to-machine communication and global high-speed internet coverage using extensive satellite networks, he said at the World 5 G Convention in Beijing in November.
