China has developed the world’s first 6G field test network, which integrates communication and artificial intelligence, demonstrating that 6G transmission capabilities can be achieved using 4G and 5G technologies. This marks the next generation of communication technology.
The breakthrough was led by Zhang Ping, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a professor at the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. According to the team at the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, this goal was achieved through “intelligent integration” in an experimental network, which China’s state news agency Xinhua called the world’s first of its kind. This network also demonstrated that 4G and 5G connections possess 6G transmission capabilities and achieved a tenfold improvement in key communication metrics, including capacity, coverage, and efficiency.
The sixth generation of wireless technology, known as 6G, is expected to revolutionize communication with data transmission speeds up to fifty times faster than 5G. According to the International Telecommunication Union under the UN, 6G could facilitate numerous advancements and make connectivity universal. However, current communication technology has reached its theoretical bandwidth limits, posing several challenges that need to be addressed.
These challenges include difficulties in increasing capacity, the high cost of coverage, and high energy consumption. The usual approach to overcoming these limitations involves accumulating more resources to boost network performance, which significantly increases the network’s complexity.
It operates quite differently from previous systems.
Zhang Ping, while presenting the team’s research at a Beijing conference, stated that achieving this new breakthrough requires a shift from “incremental innovation” to so-called “disruptive innovation.” In this case, the innovation was the application of the emerging technology of “semantic communication,” an intelligent system that transmits meaning rather than just data. Researchers believe this technology can potentially make transmission systems more efficient and reduce information processing costs.
The Chinese team’s experimental network demonstrated that semantic communication could achieve 6G transmission capabilities on existing 4G infrastructure. According to Zhang, the deep integration of communication and intelligence is an “important direction” for the development of communication technology. Artificial intelligence is transforming communication, and 6G could also promote the accelerated development of AI, potentially speeding up the creation of new digital economy business forms.
There is a global race to develop the next generation of communication technology. China aims to commercialize 6G around 2030, with the system’s standards expected to be determined next year. In February this year, the United States and nine other countries outlined the principles for 6G communication systems, including ensuring the development of reliable technology that protects national security.
