Docomo, NTT add partners for 6G collaboration scheme

SK Telecom and Rohde & Schwarz are now part of this global 6G collaboration

Japanese companies NTT Docomo and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) have added two new partners to their collaborative 6G trials with global vendors and carriers.

The two Japanese companies said that Korean operator SK Telecom and German company Rohde & Schwarz are now part of this global 6G collaboration scheme.

The two new companies join existing collaborator Fujitsu, NEC Corporation, Nokia, Ericsson and Keysight Technologies to carry out trials of potential frequency bands for future 6G systems.

As part of its technical collaboration 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.

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 trials using new wireless communication technologies and AI, which have been conducted since June 2022.

The Japanese companies said that beamforming trials were successfully conducted using Nokia’s 140GHz-band radio system prototype and a 128-element phased-array antenna in Japan. The partners said that the results of the trial confirmed the effectiveness of phased-array beam steering in different directions to achieve good reception when the receiver is moving, adding that further trials will focus on more specific applications to confirm the practicality of sub-terahertz signals in indoor environments.

Another trial successfully acquired propagation channel information equivalent to a distributed MIMO system using Fujitsu’s 100GHz phased-array antenna prototype and wireless circuit. The partners said that simulations will be performed to analyze factors such as shielding resistance and distributed MIMO characteristics.

The companies also said they obtained positive results in a trial which tested architecture for sub-THz propagation measurement, propagation measurement and channel model formulation with Keysight Technologies.

“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,” the partners said.

“Through these efforts, Docomo and NTT aim to accelerate research and development that will contribute to the global standardization and commercialization of 6G,” the pair added.

Initial 6G networks are expected to be commercially launched around 2030.