6G waves magazine : spring 2021

Abstract

<div lang="en" class="abs"><p class="abs_header">Foreword</p><p>We are happy to introduce already the third edition of our 6G Waves magazine which showcases the approach and achievements of our ambitious 6G Flagship research programme at University of Oulu. We were the first ones to jump into 6G research, big time, in May 2018 as 6G Flagship was launched in Finland. A lot has happened around the globe since, and we are observing the recent developments with great enthusiasm.</p><p>Year 2021 turns out to kick-start major global 6G research initiatives. Impressive research programmes have been launched with ambitious technical targets as well as national or regional goals in current global competition in the field. Horizon 2020 ICT-52 call resulted in nine 6G projects which started in January this year. Hexa-X, the European 6G Flagship project, is one of those. Our expectations are very high as European projects have many times before paved the way for the next generation mobile systems — FRAMES for 3G, WINNER for 4G, METIS for 5G and now Hexa-X potentially for 6G. Interestingly, there are two European universities besides Nokia and Ericsson who have participated in all these ground-breaking projects, namely Chalmers University of Technology and University of Oulu. Hopefully this is a good sign for the success of Hexa-X.</p><p>ITU-R has also increased activities on IMT systems towards 2030 and beyond by launching vision work at the recent ITU-R meeting. The activities include the defining of the framework and overall objectives, in addition to the on-going technology trends work on technical and operational characteristics. 6G Flagship will be closely watching and contributing to this work.</p><p>As we have been saying since the beginning of our program, sustainability and UN SDGs must be taken seriously when defining the 6G vision and requirements. Digitalization of societies must be extended to both wealthy and developing countries, and in metropoles and rural areas. Sufficient and affordable connectivity may offer ways out from poverty or inequality. We engineers must carry our responsibility and take these aspects into account as we define and design future solutions.</p><p>Covid-19 is staying with us longer than we wished. A year ago, we transformed 6G Wireless Summit to a fully virtual event over one weekend. This year, we are celebrating 6G Summit’s third anniversary together with EuCNC’s 30th. In fact, we are co-organizing three major events during the next six months: 6G Symposium in May, Joint EuCNC & 6G Summit in June and IEEE PIMRC in September. Due to continuing global restrictions, all will be virtual events. The positive side of the story is that remote participation is easy, affordable and environmentally friendly. Hopefully next year, physical events can be organized again and we’ll all meet at the Joint EuCNC & 6G Summit 2022!</p><p>In the meanwhile, I invite you to explore our visioning, innovations and collaborations introduced in this magazine which are taking place, every day, in numerous fronts. Enjoy the reading!</p><p>Matti Latva-Aho</p><p>Academy Professor, Professor of Communications Engineering, University of Oulu</p><p>Director of 6G Flagship</p></div>