The race to fifth-generation (5G) wireless communication is approaching its ends as the world shifted into the 5G era. While world leaders are actively deploying robust 5G plans, researchers seem to have moved on to plan a future beyond 5G by holding the first global sixth-generation (6G) wireless communication system summit in March 2019. Held in Finland, experts from all around the world had drafted the world’s first 6G white paper, laying the foundation of 6G development, marking the start of a new race to 6G.
What is 6G?
As the name has suggested, 6G is the successor to 5G cellular technology where it is being developed in regards to the desire to take advantages of the terahertz (THz) spectrum and the increasingly distributed radio access network (RAN).
Such agenda has resulted in the 6G networks to take on higher frequencies than 5G network where its peak transmission speed (a.k.a network speed) is expected to support up to 1 terabyte per second (Tbps) speeds. This will substantially increase 6G’s network capacity and lower its latency. The higher frequencies will also enable much faster sampling rates. Moreover, it will also greatly enhance both the indoor and outdoor positioning system accuracy, which are expected to be 10cm and 1m respectively. In all, 6G is 10 to 100 times stronger in most of the performance indicators as compared to 5G, and the launch of 6G is expected to speed up the process of entering the era of Internet of Thing (IoT). Currently, 6G’s research and development (R&D) activities are in full swing around the world.
6G Global R&D Progression
As early as 2018, the United States’ Federal Communications Commission (FCC) officials had laid the prospect for the development of 6G system. In support of global 6G development, the United States has also opened up part of its terahertz frequency band for R&D purposes in 2019. Moreover, high-tech countries, such as United Kingdom, Japan and South Korea, have also joined the 6G race by formulating corresponding 6G R&D strategies.
However, it seems that Finland had taken the lead in the R&D race of 6G. As one of the leading countries in the Information Technology industry, Finland had jumped ahead of many countries by publishing 6G white papers with guiding significance while vigorously promoting 5G system.
Interestingly, the nature of 6G R&D differs from countries to countries. In the United States, the early stages of 6G technology research are mainly carried out in the form of University sponsorship. While China mainly relies on the parallel R&D system between the country and its corporates, like Huawei and Huaxun ark. Despite the research methods differences, the ultimate goal of R&D is the commercial operation of 6G, which is expected to revolutionise all walks of life when it launches.
The Role of Blockchain Technology in 6G
6G provides many potential advantages and one of them is providing endogenous security. To adapt to the current wireless network, the design of 6G’s security system will be adopting a distributed and decentralised structure. Having similar characteristics of marginalisation and distributed structure as 6G, blockchain technology is an essential tool in enhancing 6G’s endogenous security performance.
As such, tapping on the decentralised blockchain technology to build 6G distributed wireless network is thus an emerging and popular research direction. Such a development drive is reflected in various companies where the research had allowed them to build an enterprise blockchain platform. For example, to achieve efficiency and low-cost audit, Factom has designed a comprehensive and unchangeable auditing method based on blockchain technology. Besides that, IBM has also created a blockchain platform with services, like supply chain, food trust as well as scenario-based identity management of the government and enterprise. Lastly, there is also the cooperation between Gen and Philips Blockchain Lab to develop and optimize the safety management of the drug supply chain and medical data. The figure below shows the 6G scenario application workflow.
Advantages of 6G
Besides providing endogenous security, 6G will also be expected to meet the high demands of communication coverage. Under the joint efforts of global positioning system (GPS), telecommunication satellite system, earth image satellite system and 6G ground network, the earth will be able to connect with the satellite to create an era of IoT where intelligent is highly connected. Such connection will result in more base stations being set up for the 6G network, increasing the area coverage and thus ensuring the communication frequency.
Moreover, the breakthrough of terahertz technology is also another potential advantage 6G had over 5G. Such technology will not only benefit the field of communication, but will also benefit the development of medical devices greatly as experts believed that terahertz may become a radiation-free alternative to X-rays. In recent years, terahertz has been used in cancer diagnosis and treatment where it can detect cancer cells 6 months earlier as compared to the use of traditional technology.
Working based on the three main 5G application scenario, namely large bandwidth, massive connectivity and ultra-low latency, 6G will achieve performance enhancement and experience optimisation through continuous technological innovation and development. This will thus expand 6G service boundary from the physical world into the virtual world, where it will also apply to fields like information communication, Internet Bot and autonomous system (AS) as well as intelligent plant plus.
Prepare for a 6G Future in Advance
Surprisingly, among all the industries, the development of communication technology provides the most profitable benefits towards the financial industry in terms of efficiency, products, channels and data dimensions. With the introduction of 5G communication system, the high demands of communication coverage by the smart cities are gradually being met. Moreover, the development of DCEP will also be promoted and the financial services are expected to be fully digitised where bank accounts and personal utility bills will be fully electronic connected. This shows that digitalisation within the financial industry is inevitable. As such, to fully benefit from the IoT era, financial companies will need to accelerate their digitalised process and prepare ahead of the 6G era.
One way to do so is through the use of digital currency. As blockchain technology is gradually known and recognised by the public, coupled with the rapid development of digital currency with strong support from lawmakers, it is no doubt that the scale of the decentralised digital currency market is growing. Moreover, the compliance supervision and legal provisions of digital currency are also gradually improved and more favourable towards consumers. This has thus made the use of digital currency ever more attractive, especially under the backdrop of the race to a 6G era where IoT is the norm.
To understand more on how you can prepare ahead of the 6G era by acquiring a digital currency license, it is best to engage business consultancy experts like Desfran. Spearheaded by one of the world’s leading management teams, our team of seasoned experts have years of experience in providing financial regulatory licensing. We constantly stay on top of trends and movements in the financial markets to help your business grow by providing comprehensive customised solutions. Contact Desfran today to acquire your digital currency licensing now.
References
金色荐读 | 全球数字货币监管牌照全景图, Jinse.com
中国银河：卫星互联网纳入新基建 6G时代要来？(股), Sina.com.cn
关于6G的通讯技术和未来展望（转知乎）, Douban.com.cn
未来6G将使通信向空间发展，卫星通信将发挥重要甚至关键的作用, Elecfans.com
Definition 6G, Searchingnetwork.techtarget.com
