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NTT DOCOMO, INC. (DOCOMO) and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) announced today that they have added two new global partners to their collaborative 6G trials with the world's leading vendors and global operators: telecom operator SK Telecom Co., Ltd (SK Telecom) and Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG (Rohde & Schwarz), a manufacturer of high-frequency high-performance measurement instruments.
The two new companies join existing collaborators1,2 Fujitsu Limited (Fujitsu), NEC Corporation (NEC), Nokia, Ericsson and Keysight Technologies, Inc. (Keysight Technologies) to expand the joint effort with DOCOMO and NTT to seven companies participating in trials of potential frequency bands for 6G telecommunications.
The details of the cooperation between the two newly added companies are as follows. As part of its technical collaboration3 with DOCOMO and NTT, SK Telecom will participate in trials using AI technology to tailor radio interfaces for various propagation environments, which is being conducted jointly by DOCOMO with NTT and Nokia. The trial will now be expanded to include environments closer to envisioned uses, leveraging SK Telecom's expertise as a telecom operator and ecosystem creator, similar to DOCOMO. In addition, Rohde & Schwarz will use its measurement-system design technology in channel models to evaluate new wireless-sensing solutions beyond mobile communication technologies, and evaluate wireless-sensing performance using measurements and channel models in real-world environments.
Separately, DOCOMO and NTT also announced the results of trials4,5 using new wireless communication technologies and AI, which have been conducted since June 2022. This time, we achieved the following new results.
Nokia: Trial of wireless access technology for 140GHz
ResultsBeamforming trials were successfully conducted using Nokia's 140GHz-band radio system prototype and a 128-element phased-array antenna6 in Japan, confirming the effectiveness of phased-array beam steering in different directions to achieve good reception when the receiver is moving.Future PlansFurther trials will focus on more specific applications to confirm the practicality of sub-terahertz (sub-THz) signals7 in indoor environments.
Fujitsu: Trial of distributed MIMO at 100GHz and 300GHz
ResultsThe trial successfully acquired propagation channel information equivalent to a distributed MIMO system using Fujitsu's 100GHz phased-array antenna prototype and wireless circuit.Future PlansSimulations will be performed to analyze factors such as shielding resistance and distributed MIMO characteristics.
Keysight Technologies: Architecture for sub-THz propagation measurement, propagation measurement and channel model formulation
ResultsA device for real-time visualization of the spatial arrival of sub-THz radio waves was successfully realized by combining an 896-element super multi-element antenna developed by NTT and a receiving signal analyzer developed by Keysight Technologies. Also, combining a SISO channel sounder developed mainly by DOCOMO and a signal transceiver built by Keysight Technologies enabled ultra-high-resolution observation of the temporal arrival of sub-THz signals. Using this group of equipment, DOCOMO and NTT have successfully conducted radio propagation experiments for ultra-broadband communications in the sub-THz band.Future PlansChannel models with dynamic tracking capabilities in real-world environments will be further developed for the design of an efficient ultra-wideband 6G communication system.
Going forward, DOCOMO and NTT will continue to conduct trials in collaboration with major global and Japanese vendors as well as overseas telecom operators. They will further expand their partners and promote various initiatives that leverage their respective strengths, to research and develop various mobile communication technologies. Through these efforts, DOCOMO and NTT aim to accelerate research and development that will contribute to the global standardization and commercialization of 6G.
Various trials mentioned above will be showcased at DOCOMO's booth at MWC Barcelona 2024 in Barcelona, Spain, starting February 26.
