It's only been about five years since the fifth generation of cellular technology, or “5G” connectivity, became the standard for networks, but 6G is already on the horizon, and developers are looking to leverage the next generation's vast bandwidth. We're looking for ways to get the most out of it.
A technology demonstration conducted in Japan showed a prototype wireless device reaching data transfer speeds of 100 Gbps. This is 10 times faster than peak 5G and 500 times faster than the average 5G smartphone.
A 2-hour medium-quality Netflix movie streamed to your phone is about 1.5 GB in size, so you're actually looking at being able to shift 8 to 9 of these movies every second. Masu.
The result of extensive research and development by Japanese telecommunications company NTT, Japanese mobile operator Docomo, and electronics companies NEC and Fujitsu, the device utilizes high frequency bands in the 100 GHz and 300 GHz range. This made it possible to pack a large amount of space. More data than previous generation standards.
This is a work in progress and there are tradeoffs in terms of range, but experiments have shown stable connectivity over 100 meters (328 feet). Indeed, as 6G networks are eventually built out, advances in communications technology will require different forms of transmitters and receivers, many of which will rely on such innovations.
In terms of hardware, it's worth noting that this demo required a lot of state-of-the-art equipment. However, as technology develops, the size and cost of that equipment will gradually decrease.
It's also important to remember that under perfect conditions with the most powerful and well-optimized hardware, 5G's top speed of 10 Gbps is the technical limit. According to Opensignal, the average 5G speed for smartphones from T-Mobile in the US (the country's highest 5G speed carrier) is currently 186.3 Mbps.
In other words, 6G promises a significant increase in speed. Researchers say this could be useful for everything from downloading high-definition movies to communicating between self-driving cars.
Similar to 5G, there will be breakthroughs in bandwidth and network capacity, allowing more devices to stay connected at the same time. Anyone who's ever lost a phone signal during a crowded concert or sports game is familiar with network congestion, which 6G should largely eliminate.
In certain situations, 6G could make Wi-Fi significantly redundant, which is already starting to happen with 5G. You may not need to run physical cables all the way to the front door of your home or office.
More broadly, consider that more devices are coming online faster and packed with components and sensors that can communicate with the web (and with each other). Nokia estimates that his 6G could be commercially available by 2030.
In the meantime, we'll have to put up with a “new” 5G network that already looks mostly slow compared to upcoming networks.
