Nokia, DOCOMO and NTT say they have made a step forward in new immersive metaverse and extended reality (XR) experiences and a new generation of mobile applications.
The three companies have successfully implemented artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) into the 6G radio air interface, which they say effectively gives 6G radios the ability to learn.
By pairing an AI-based learned waveform in a transmitter with a deep-learning receiver, Nokia Bell Labs, DOCOMO and NTT researchers were able to design and implement a learning air interface that transmits data efficiently under many different scenarios.
This AI/ML-based implementation significantly reduces signaling overhead, producing up to a 30 per cent improvement in throughput, said the companies.
In addition, the AI-native air interface will grant 6G networks the flexibility to adapt to the type of connection demanded by an application, device or user, they added.
The companies have also utilised new sub-terahertz (sub-THz) spectrum to “dramatically” boost network capacity.
In their proof-of-concept, Nokia, DOCOMO and NTT were able to demonstrate a 25 Gbps connection on a single 256QAM stream over a carrier frequency of 144 GHz using beamforming. Accessing the sub-THz bands would “inject enormous capacity into 6G networks,” said the companies. The sub-THz bands would allow 6G networks to support the most bandwidth-intensive future use cases requiring multi-gigabit average connections.
Peter Vetter, president of Bell Labs Core Research, Nokia, said:“For the 6G era, we are using communication as a starting point. Networks will think, sense and act, and they will become the nexus point that bridges our digital and physical realities. DOCOMO and NTT share our 6G vision, and together we’re doing the fundamental research that will breath life into that future.”
