Lenovo Huang Ying: 6G will be a "super channel" connecting the virtual and real worlds under full intelligent applications​

On June 28, the MWC Shanghai World Mobile Communications Conference with the theme of "Time Waits for No One" officially opened. At the "6G Vision and Key Driving Forces" conference forum held that afternoon, Dr. Huang Ying, Vice President of Lenovo Group and Head of Lenovo Research Institute's 5G Laboratory, delivered a keynote speech entitled " Together for Brilliance: Thoughts and Prospects on 6G Technology and Applications". He believes that under the technological revolution, 6G , as the next generation of communication technology, has greater connectivity , lower latency , faster speed , stronger intelligence and security , and scalable and integrated perception capabilities , which will bring disruptive changes to the world .

Under the wave of technological change, technological breakthroughs in the field of wireless communications are constantly taking place. In June 2022, the International Telecommunication Union Radio Agency completed the first technical research report for 6G, marking a preliminary consensus on the direction of 6G in the world. The next 3-5 years will be a critical window period for 6G layout and position grabbing . As a typical representative of "dual-real enterprises", Lenovo will rely on the new IT technology architecture of "end-edge-cloud-network-intelligence" to continuously promote technological breakthroughs and application innovations in the field of communications, making the world more intelligent, convenient and efficient.

Full spectrum, full coverage, full application and strong intelligence 6G will bring disruptive changes to the world

At present, the degree of social digitization is deepening, and communication technology is developing by leaps and bounds. The 5G era has entered the "second half", and the global industry has started the next stage of research and exploration . 6G is the representative of the next generation of mobile communication technology . If 5G opens the door to the Internet of Everything, 6G is expected to evolve into a platform for the intelligent connection of everything. Dr. Huang Ying said that compared with previous mobile communication technologies, 6G has higher speed , lower latency , greater connection , higher intelligence, and the ability to integrate communication and perception , and AI and computing power will be everywhere .

First of all, it is a faster network rate. 6G can effectively tap the communication potential of the terahertz frequency band ( 100GHz~10THz) , and its peak rate can reach 1000Gbps. Users will experience a rate greater than 1Gbps in their daily lives . It is not a problem to download a movie in one second. In terms of network capacity, 6G will increase 100 times compared to 5G . Secondly , network latency has always been the key to breakthroughs in communication technology. For the future-oriented 6G technology , latency can be as low as 0.1 milliseconds , and reliability is greatly increased. Through technologies such as spatial multiplexing and dynamic spectrum sharing, 6G networks have extremely high connectivity and extremely low power consumption, allowing them to achieve large-scale machine-type communications in industrial scenarios. In addition, by leveraging technologies such as commercial global satellite communication systems and further integrating key technologies such as communications and network virtualization, 6G is expected to solve the problem of merging multiple types of network communications and promote full coverage of wireless networks. Finally, 6G will efficiently support ubiquitous artificial intelligence and innovate customized intelligent services. Through deep integration with AI, machine learning, etc., 6G will extend the connection between "human-machine-object" to the intelligent field and accelerate the upgrading of social intelligence.

Dr. Huang Ying believes that 6G will be a "super channel" for people to connect the virtual and real worlds under full intelligent applications . Compared with the existing 5G, 6G will lead people into a more ubiquitous intelligent world , which can effectively promote the intelligent upgrade of people's lives and work , and bring users more diversified, personalized and digital new experiences , including immersive XR experience , holographic communication, sensory interconnection, intelligent interaction, communication perception, inclusive intelligence, digital twins, collaborative robots , etc.

Dr. Huang Ying also proposed the concept of AICT for the first time, namely AI +IT+Communication , which integrates AI with IT and communications, completely connecting the three to serve as an intelligent computing and communication network platform, preparing for various applications in the future.

Combining traditional technology experience with emerging technology advantages to move towards the 6G era

6G will achieve a leap from serving people and people and things to supporting the efficient connection of intelligent bodies. It will meet the needs of high-quality economic and social development through intelligent interconnection and collaborative symbiosis between humans, machines and things.

Dr. Huang Ying said that to achieve these extremely advanced performance and functions of 6G, it is necessary to not only give full play to the potential of traditional technologies through evolution and upgrading, but also to introduce many emerging technologies into the field of communication technology, including new materials and new processes .

In terms of tapping into the advantages of traditional technologies, Dr. Huang Ying pointed out that while 5G provides features such as high speed, low latency, and large connections, it also faces problems such as over-commitment, over-configuration, and excessive costs, resulting in the commercial application of 5G not meeting expectations.

He believes that several lessons can be learned from the development experience of 5G . The first is to understand the real cost-effectiveness from the user's perspective and bring real value to customers, such as smart manufacturing, autonomous driving, games, etc. The second is the cooperation between the entire ecosystem, including standard organizations, equipment manufacturers, operators, consumers, industry users, etc. In addition, the industry must build a flexible and adaptable network to meet the customization of different needs; Finally, it is essential to establish an extensible framework that is forward-compatible and provides space for future growth.

At the same time, Dr. Huang Ying believes that in order to achieve these goals, 6G needs to explore new network architectures, new spectrum resources, new electromagnetic modes, new materials and equipment, new duplex modes and other new technologies, while further enhancing the comprehensive capabilities of native artificial intelligence, computing power, perception, trust, etc., and continue to innovate in traditional fields such as waveforms, multiple access, modulation, and channel coding .

Lenovo is actively accumulating technology and exploring cutting-edge technologies in the communications field. In the 5G field , Lenovo is committed to exploring 5G wireless protocols and algorithms, 5G testing and certification, and 5G network architecture, generating high-performance algorithms and wireless transmission systems, participating in the formulation of 5G international standards, and creating a competitive 5G standard essential patent pool . Currently, the number of Lenovo's 5G standard essential patent applications has exceeded 2,400 . In the 6G field , Lenovo is conducting 6G key technology research and prototype verification, focusing on key technologies such as terahertz, synaesthesia integration, semantic communication, intelligent endogenous networks, and reconfigurable smart surfaces.

The industry generally believes that 6G will begin commercialization in 2030. Looking to the future, Lenovo will continue to use its new IT full- stack technology capabilities to drive technological change in the communications field, and further promote the gradual implementation of new technologies in various scenarios such as production lines, factory parks, ports, transportation and smart city services , empowering thousands of industries, accelerating the integration of digital and real, and promoting the arrival of the era of intelligent interconnection of all things with new IT .