Nokia is partnering with Japanese networks DOCOMO and NTT to jointly develop 6G technologies.
The collaboration will focus on emerging technologies, comprising a so-called AI-native air interface and sub-terahertz radio access.
These aim to demonstrate the ability to achieve a high data rate in a high frequency band at 140 GHz.
Nokia expects 6G to launch commercially by 2030, with 5G to earlier be enhanced with 5G-Advanced technology from 2025.
Nokia and DOCOMO have a long history of working together, collaborating on 3G in the 1990s before moving on to 4G and 5G.
Nokia says that 6G will “fuse the human, physical and digital worlds to liberate our innate human potential” through the likes of new spectrum technologies, AI-native and network-as-a-sensor technology, and cognitive, automated and specialised architectures.
The vendor adds that the technologies involved in the partnership can help to substantially improve deployment flexibility and increase network throughput beyond that of 5G without necessarily increasing energy consumption.
The plan is to set up environments for tests and demonstrations in Japan and at Nokia premises in Stuttgart, Germany.
“DOCOMO has been collaborating with Nokia since 2014 on experimental trials for 5G and to promote new use cases,” said Naoki Tani, executive vice president and chief technology officer at DOCOMO. “We will now start the experimental trials of two 6G proof-of- concepts for high-rate transmission.”
Peter Vetter, president of Bell Labs Core Research at Nokia, added: “We envision that 6G will unify the human experience across the digital, physical and human worlds. We look forward to working together and validating key concepts and technologies to realise the 6G vision.”
