6G to be rolled out by 2030, says electronics giant

The sixth generation of cellular network technology, or 6G, is currently in development and will likely be rolled out by 2030, electronics giant Samsung said Friday.

Samsung is part of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), an agency within the United Nations that oversees telecommunications services like 6G. The corporation chairs the ITU-R 6G Vision Group, which is responsible for advising the ITU on how 6G should be designed and created. The ITU will ultimately decide how it should be formed.

6G is expected to be ten times faster than 5G, with an area twenty times wider that allows more users to connect simultaneously and with stronger reliability. The ITU has also specified that 6G should be capable of “ubiquitous connectivity” with “ubiquitous intelligence,” allowing the wireless network to connect to any communications device.

One of the mechanisms being explored to achieve these specifications is visible light communication (VLC), a method which uses rapid flashes of light — described as “a wireless version of fiber optics" — to communicate data. Instead of radio signals, LED lights would emit up to a million flashes per second which could transmit data to any device with a camera.

However, LED lights also leak side-channel radio-frequency signals. Earlier this year, researchers at University of Massachusetts Amherst found that turning the human body into an antenna can harvest this extra energy. By wearing a simple copper bracelet, a human body can collect ten times more energy than the copper bracelet alone. The human can then be used as a range extender or to power minor devices.

“I am diametrically opposed to this type of work, especially given the paucity of medical  research on using the human body as an RF antenna,” said Simpson University Biology Professor and Children’s Health Defense Senior Director of Science and Research Dr. Brian Hooker. “This type of technology makes the human body an RF collector and ignores the health implications of [electromagnetic radiation] altogether,” Dr. Hooker added. 

Using the VLC method would make 6G easier to integrate in smart cities, which use AI-powered surveillance LED lights. Signify, a leading lighting brand formerly known as Philips Lighting, sells LED lamps for smart cities which are outfitted with WiFi, can connect to the internet, and conduct surveillance.

Dallas, Houston, Edmonton, Buenos Aires, and many other cities have already begun retrofitting their streets with smart LED lights. 

Samsung says it is exploring how to build 6G to integrate with AI and connected objects, and how 6G can be used for location tracking.

“We’re pursuing research and development on how to integrate communication technologies into daily use cases such as location tracking or the speed estimation of an object,” said Samsung researcher Hyunjoong Lee, who helped draft the ITU specifications for 6G.