In addition to advanced wireless research and development, Qualcomm is working to ensure the right spectrum is available for a 5G-Advanced and 6G future.
Technical standardization work for 5G-Advanced is progressing well, and work on 6G is also making significant progress. Assuming a 10-year generation upgrade cycle, 6G will reach some level of commercialization by 2030, if not earlier. However, the breadth, scale, and quality of these initial and subsequent deployments will depend in part on access to more spectrum. A lot more.
Qualcomm’s vice president looked at the big picture and recent developments from the World Radio Conference (WRC-23) and the Biden administration’s National Spectrum Strategy (NSS), as well as the company’s own technology R&D and standardization input. John Kuzin of the Policy and Regulation Council said: RCR wireless newHe is “cautiously optimistic” that technology and spectrum access will align to support commercial 6G deployment by 2030.
In an interview at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Kuzin said he was considering a number of short-term priorities, and that “they all need to happen at the same time.” The primary focus area for 6G is access to the upper midbands from 7 GHz to 16 GHz and the 400 MHz to 500 MHz channel widths within these bands required for 6G capacity demands.
At WRC-23, hosted by the United Nations’ International Telecommunication Union in November and December last year, parts of the upper midband from 7.1GHz to 8.4GHz were identified as future candidate bands for 6G mobile services. Kuzin said that part of the spectrum he said will “become prime band” for 6G, adding that “RF propagation in that range will allow us to reuse the same base stations that are used in lower frequency bands. It will be very important,” he said. band deployment and provide the same level of coverage. ”
He said some of Qualcomm’s research efforts on both modem RF systems and network infrastructure will help facilitate future deployment of the 7.1GHz to 8.4GHz band. Kuzin also noted that 6G channel widths will range from 400 MHz to 500 MHz. Compare this to 5G’s 100 MHz channel and 4G’s 20 MHz channel. “It’s going to be very difficult to open up this much spectrum in this range,” he says. But “we think it will be necessary to support the anticipated capacity demands for advanced technologies such as AR/VR glasses.”
Kuzin emphasized that currently deployed frequency bands, including sub-7 GHz and mmWave, as well as candidate 6G bands, will all play a role in next-generation cellular. ” emphasized the importance of Particularly in 6G and its spectrum bands, he said, opening up the bands will present a huge number of challenges. This is because critical federal governments will need to protect or potentially compartmentalize less spectrum in order to free up the spectrum. Mobile deployment. ”
Another aspect of current spectrum priorities is the Biden administration’s National Spectrum Strategy (NSS). This is a plan led by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and aims to “stimulate innovation in the private sector and advance the missions of federal ministries,” Kuzin reiterated. , the NSS includes an emphasis on 7.1 GHz to 8.4 GHz, provisions for unmanned air system connectivity in 1530 MHz to 1590 MHz, and sharing of the lower 37 GHz band with federal incumbents.
He said the big picture here is that 5G-Advanced and 6G will be rolled out. However, “there is no greenfield spectrum…the reason we started two years before him is because we knew the bands we were targeting with 6G were occupied…so” far away, things are moving . You will need something to pick up. More cooperation will be needed. We will need more openness and honesty. I think we can get there because we have to get there. ”
Kuzin said strong national security is tied to economic security. “Continuing the deployment of 5G, 5G-Advanced, and 6G is critical to continued economic growth in the United States. Our information economy is predicated on opening up additional spectrum bands.”
Read below to learn more about Qualcomm’s advanced wireless research and development.
