By Juan Pedro Tomás

A virtual research center, called 6G Futures, has been recently launched in the UK by the University of Bristol and King’s College

The new virtual hub groups over 400 world-renowned experts in telecommunications networks, artificial intelligence, social sciences and the arts from these two universities.

“The public is only beginning to see first-hand the enormous potential of 5G networks, an area which we have been working on for many years,” said director of the University of Bristol’s Smart Internet Lab and co-director of Bristol Digital Futures Institute, Professor Dimitra Simeonidou. “Through this new center, we will now focus on the next generation mobile networks – 6G and beyond – and the truly awe-inspiring capabilities these will bring. 6G will be inherently human-centric, and will establish a cyber-physical continuum by delivering real time sensory information, supporting haptics and holograms. This takes us far beyond future-forecasting: crucially, this is about having the specialist knowledge and expertise to transform visions into deliverable solutions, accelerate innovation, and make a positive difference to society worldwide.”

“As adoption of 5G accelerates around the world, it’s important the UK is prepared for 6G as the next generation mobile technology. The creation of this center is a notable moment for the UK technology sector. We will be developing novel architectures, incorporating federated exchange and self-synthesising mechanisms, advance the internet of skills, and embed blockchain, quantum and federated AI technologies. But it’s not just pure tech – we’ll be working on co-creation with verticals toward some truly exciting and societally impacting use-cases, while contributing to policy, alliances and global standards,” said  professor of wireless communications at King’s College, Professor Mischa Dohler.

Both institutions have an extended expertise in AI and machine learning. King’s specializes in mobile networks and the University of Bristol has particular expertise in wired/wireless technology and network layers.

“This multi-disciplinary center will fill a real national leadership gap on 6G here in the UK Not only will be the focus  on technology but also on the development of solutions that could transform sectors spanning health, energy and transport,” said pro vice-chancellor for research and rnterprise at the University of Bristol, Professor Phil Taylor.

The center builds on the Smart Internet Lab at the University of Bristol with 200 researchers working on 5G radio/wireless, optical communications and networks in areas such as IoT, 5G and beyond, future transport networks, smart cities, autonomous networks, machine learning, AI, network convergence, mobile edge computing and network software.

The Center for Telecommunication Research (CTR) at King’s College London also has 3,200 researchers working on applications domains including the automotive, healthcare, emergency services, and creative industries.

Many other countries, including China, the European Union, Finland, Korea, Japan and the United States have also launched projects, programmes, and alliances to shape the as-yet-unstandardized “6G” framework and main business focus. In February, a 6G research project involving major European operators was announced, while US carriers had previously committed to the Next G Alliance, a group established with the main goal of defining 6G technology. .