Why is 6G research and development important in the digital economy era?

5G’s unfinished business needs to be completed by 6G

Thanks to the comprehensive system construction of 5G, China is expected to be the first country in the world to realize the transformation from an information society to a digital society, thus taking the lead in leaping into the digital age as a follower of the industrial age.

For China, the digital society is not just a change in work and lifestyle, but also a leap in productivity levels, which will drive and promote the comprehensive upgrading of the manufacturing industry.

It is precisely because of this importance that China, from top to bottom, is full of expectations for digital transformation and has carried out systematic strategic planning. The infrastructure that carries all this is the new infrastructure including 5G networks.

5G has ushered in the digital era, but the huge demands in the digital process cannot be fully met by 5G. 5G must be upgraded with the times, and 6G is obviously the carrier of this important historical task. In a word, 5G's unfinished work needs 6G to take over.

6G is a new stage in the development of information technology and a new platform for promoting the upgrading of the digital economy. It can realize the vision that 5G has thought of but has not been able to achieve.

From the perspective of the development of communication technology, 6G will be a huge step forward and will definitely generate huge social value. According to the current research and development ideas, the 6G network will be a fully connected world integrating ground wireless and satellite communications, using the terahertz frequency band to achieve ultra-low latency and ultra-large capacity communication transmission, and can achieve seamless coverage anywhere in the world. It will also be fully integrated with the global satellite positioning system, telecommunications satellite system, and earth imaging satellite system, and remote control and real-time response will reach unprecedented levels.

As a result, 6G will strongly promote the improvement of capabilities in distance education, telemedicine, remote positioning, virtual reality interaction, etc., and will make many ideals of the metaverse currently envisioned a reality. People will truly realize an integrated online and offline digital life, which will bring about a qualitative revolution and will also help humans predict the weather, understand nature, respond quickly, and establish a more complete ecological network.

China's 6G research and development is still at the forefront of the world

China has already achieved leadership and surpassed in the 5G era. In the research and development of 6G, China is still at the forefront of the world. On November 3, 2019, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China held a 6G technology research and development kick-off meeting, established a national 6G technology research and development promotion working group and an overall expert group, and officially launched 6G research and development. At that time, China's 5G had just begun commercial use.

According to the 48th "2022 Internet Report" released by CNNIC on August 27, 2021, China has become the main applicant for 6G patents among all countries in the world. The number of 6G patent applications worldwide has reached 38,000, and China alone accounts for one-third of the world, accounting for as high as 35%, with the number of applications being about 13,000, ranking first in the world. In other words, China is already leading in the global 6G "patent war".

Operators have made great achievements in 6G research and development

In the research and development of 6G, several Chinese operators have made tremendous efforts and achieved great results. They are conducting joint experimental explorations with equipment vendors, terminal manufacturers and satellite operators.

Among the three operators, China Telecom proposed a vision for 6G network architecture, namely, forming a ubiquitous hyper-converged network architecture based on "three layers and three fans". It also led a number of national key 6G special research projects and participated in the research work of 6G domestic and foreign industry organizations such as Future Forum, IMT2030, and ANA. China Unicom also started research on 6G as early as 2019 and released a white paper. China Mobile has demonstrated a number of 6G innovations, including 6G vision, metaverse, 6G network, 6G air interface, new platform, new devices, and new applications.

It should be said that based on the large-scale development of 5G, China's operators and communication-related companies are more confident in the research and development of 6G. Compared with 5G, the scale and time invested in 6G research and development are increasing.