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Economic Observer reporter Shen Yiran On July 31, Chang Jiang, executive vice president and chief strategic technology officer of Nokia Bell Shanghai Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Nokia Bell"), told the Economic Observer that compared with the previous two generations of communication technology, the 6G network is revolutionary. It is an integrated information system that connects people, machines and objects. But in fact, its impact will go beyond this.

Nokia (NOK.NYSE) is a global information and communication technology provider and one of the leaders in the global unified 5G standards. Its only operating platform in China, Nokia Bell, has been providing advanced telecommunications network equipment and solutions to Chinese telecom operators.

Today, the communications industry is on the eve of the formulation of 6G standards. In October 2023, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) released the "Recommendation on the Framework and Overall Objectives of IMT for 2030 and Beyond", which pointed out the direction for the development of 6G technology. In simple terms, 6G technology is based on 5G and further integrates communication perception technology, artificial intelligence (AI) technology and satellite communication technology.

According to the plan of international organizations, the formulation of 6G standards will be officially launched in 2025, the technical roadmap will be determined and officially drafted in 2027, and finally global commercial use will be achieved in 2030. Currently, Nokia Bell is conducting 6G technology pre-research and technology reserves.

How is 6G different from previous generations of communication technology? How does the communication industry define 6G? What far-reaching impact will it have on human society? In an exclusive interview, Chang Jiang believes that 6G will greatly promote the fluency of human-computer interaction and the enhancement of human functions, and at the same time herald the arrival of a new era of deep integration of the physical world and the digital world. In this context, digital twin technology and virtual-real combination technology will be widely used. The depth and breadth of this application on future human production and lifestyle will be much greater than previous generations of communication networks.

|Dialogue|

Economic Observer: What kind of human society will 6G technology be aimed at?

Chang Jiang:In the 6G era, every corner of the real world is mapped into a digital mirror. The digital world can understand and predict changes in the real world and help solve many problems in the real world. In the process, data is no longer static, but flows through the network. Many devices and objects seem to have a "brain" to process these flowing data in real time. The whole society is like a super intelligent body.

Economic Observer: International organizations have formulated six capabilities for 6G, which are basically based on the enhancement of 5G's original capabilities, adding perception, artificial intelligence and satellite communication technology. Let's start with perception. How do you understand this design?

Chang Jiang:Since Maxwell revealed the principle of radio waves reflecting off objects in the 19th century, radio signals have become the key to the infrastructure of the perception world. Radar technology was originally developed to detect ships in fog, but its application soon expanded to many fields such as navigation, ranging and target identification. It can be said that combining perception technology with every unit and node of the wireless communication network is an inevitable choice for technological evolution.

6G will realize the combination of communication and perception technology, which means that the network will be able to locate and track objects, achieve centimeter-level or even lower trajectory tracking, and have very high positioning accuracy. In industrial environments, this network can achieve very reliable detection functions with extremely low detection error rates of less than 0.1%. It can also detect intrusions of multiple targets at the same time, which requires the network to have very high monitoring accuracy, reaching the accuracy level of commercial medical instruments, such as monitoring breathing without contacting the human body. In short, the integrated communication and perception technology has unprecedentedly built a bridge for full mapping of the physical and digital worlds and building digital twins.

Economic Observer: So why should AI be included in the 6G network?

Chang Jiang:In fact, the demand for artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies in communication networks has always existed. In the past, there was a method called Self-Optimizing Networks, which used automated algorithms to manage and optimize network performance to reduce some human intervention.

At this point in time, artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies represented by AIGC (generative artificial intelligence technology) have become more mature and can solve some complex problems in the network. Therefore, the industry uses AI in the research and development of 6G communication technology to make network signal processing more intelligent and efficient. Transmitters and receivers based on AI technology can make the data transmission speed of 6G networks more than 40% faster than traditional methods. At the same time, AI can also help to perceive and measure communication channels more accurately, which can reduce system operating costs by 40%-60%.

In short, AI can help network systems optimize themselves, thereby reducing network energy consumption and operating costs. Currently, Nokia Bell has completed the industry's first wireless air interface AI multi-task capability test, and has independently developed a "system-level large model" for the 6G field using the latest achievements of generative AI.

Economic Observer: Why should satellite communications be included in the 6G network?

Chang Jiang:The 6G network will be built according to the concept of "pan-connected network", which is also the third major innovation of 6G. Compared with the terrestrial network, the satellite network can provide network services to any place on the earth. The two complement each other to form a network without dead ends that integrates the earth and the sky. However, in order to enable users to use these two networks more smoothly and at a lower cost, some technical means are needed to make the terrestrial network and the satellite network work together. Nokia Bell has also made some breakthrough innovations in this regard, including innovative network architecture, development of long-range millimeter wave, and distributed MIMO technology.

Economic Observer: If 4G connects people, 5G connects people with things and things with things, and 6G connects people, machines and things, will 6G be very revolutionary compared to the previous two generations of communication technology?

Chang Jiang:It can be said that compared with the previous two generations of communication technology, the 6G system is revolutionary. In fact, it is an integrated information system that connects people, machines and objects. But not only that, it will also evolve into a comprehensive new generation of information infrastructure that deeply integrates communication, perception, intelligence, computing power and control capabilities.

A representative trend of 6G is that it will greatly promote the smoothness of human-computer interaction and the enhancement of human functions, and at the same time herald the arrival of a new era of deep integration of the physical world and the digital world. In this context, digital twin technology and virtual-real combination technology will be widely used. The depth and breadth of the impact of this application on future human production and lifestyle will be much greater than that of previous generations of communication networks.

Economic Observer: What more popular applications or new device connections will appear in the 6G era?

Chang Jiang:By 2030, some new types of connected devices may appear, of course, smartphones will still be the most popular. From 2027, some XR (extended reality) devices that are both ergonomic and affordable will make the Metaverse experience more popular in the mass market.

On the other hand, due to the realization of the Internet of Things and automation solutions, some low-cost, easy-to-deploy low-energy devices will become popular. These devices will make dense sensor networks more efficient. They can maintain their own energy and even reduce their dependence on traditional power sources through energy harvesting technology.

Economic Observer: What stage is the industry’s work on 6G at now?

Chang Jiang:The industry is currently on the eve of formulating 6G standards. In 2025, global communications companies will submit their own technical proposals to 3GPP. 3GPP will evaluate and test these proposals and form a globally recognized 6G standard in the next few years.

Economic Observer: Has Nokia Bell done any preliminary research and verification on the three new capabilities of 6G?

Chang Jiang:In fact, the company has put forward the relevant technical vision very early, and the basic work is already underway. Nokia also plays an important role in the world's leading 6G technology research and industrialization organizations, such as serving as the chairman of the EU 6G flagship project 6G-IA and the director of the technical committee of North America NextGAlliance. In China, Nokia Bell fully participated in the research, standardization and technical verification of 6G and established a good cooperative relationship with our customers and industry partners. In 2022 and 2023, it participated in the 6G key technology test organized by the China IMT-2030 (6G) Promotion Group for two consecutive years, and achieved good results in synaesthesia, terahertz, extreme network, AI endogenous air interface and mobile computing network. It is expected that the first batch of 6G networks will be put into commercial operation after 2030.

Economic Observer: The industry is still trying to reach a consensus on the role and importance of 6G networks in the future society. Some pessimists believe that such high-tech and high-performance 6G networks are not needed. What is Nokia Bell's attitude towards this?

Chang Jiang:We tend to look at the new generation of communication technology from a broader perspective, judging it by important values ​​such as sustainability, reliability and digital inclusion. Nokia Bell is fully optimistic about the realization of these values ​​in the future 6G network, and believes that its progress should not be simply measured by narrow technical indicators and efficiency indicators.

The huge role of 6G network will be reflected in our lives, work, cooperation and the protection of the sustainable development of our planet. With billions of people connected to the network, the increasing urbanization process, and the many problems in terms of energy and raw materials, 6G should play a huge role in these aspects. This is exactly what Nokia's vision pursues: leading technology and achieving world harmony and symbiosis.

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Shen Yiran, reporter of Economic Observer

Reporter of the Big Science and Technology News Department
Focus on hard technology, including robots and artificial intelligence, drones, virtual reality (VR/AR), smart wearables, and new materials. Good at in-depth corporate reports and analysis reports on listed companies. Discover cutting-edge technologies and development trends and investment value.