In northern Finland, well-known companies gather to support research into new wireless technologies. From well-known companies such as Nokia and Keysight, to well-known research institutions such as the University of Oulu and VTT, to more tactical companies such as KNL, a company specializing in shortwave radio for military applications, this small area has a wide range of We have a concentration of wireless expertise comparable to world.
Cutting out the old Nokia block? Nokia’s woes ultimately spurred the growth of Oulu’s tech startup sector, the city’s business leaders say.
It will also attract many companies whose products and applications will benefit from new wireless network capabilities. These are companies that develop smart eyeglass technology, automotive software, healthcare equipment, and other products. Many have been formed over the past decade, locals say, after Nokia’s flaming platform collapse in 2011 motivated thousands of laid-off staff to form start-ups and change jobs. It is said that it was formed as a result of giving.
6G Flagship
Wireless engineers work with long lead times. Work currently being done on the bench may not be exposed to commercial networks for another 5 to 10 years, if at all. That means researchers in Oulu are thinking about his 6G radio like the rest of the world, even though what is known as a 6G commercial network is likely to be operational until at least 2030. Become.
What makes Oulu a little different is that it is home to the 6G Flagship program, which was the first in the world to start asking questions about 6G. For example, why does society need 6G? What is it for? What are the technologies that enable those use cases, and how can we build them?
The University of Oulu is home to a 6G flagship and a 5G (and onward to 6G) test network.
The University of Oulu’s 6G flagship is one of 14 scientific research flagships selected for funding by the Finnish government. Reflecting the Finnish government’s strategic importance to communications research, this is the first project selected as a national research flagship and has been in existence since 2018, around the same time as the first pilot deployment. are doing. 5G network. Flagship initially leveraged €25 million in government seed funding, with a total budget of €250 million secured from private funding and EU-funded research grants.
Finland’s efforts to fund 6G research continue. The 6G Bridge program run by Business Finland has provided him with 130 million euros in funding for 30 projects from 2023 to 2025. Also, 6G Finland is a national 6G coalition formed in May 2022 to lead his 6G at a policy level. And Finland itself is also located within her EU research and funding framework. Following the 5G-PPP program, the EU under its 6G-SNS organization is implementing 62 projects within Hexa-X and Hexa-II.
The first 6G Flagship white paper was one of the first documents to consider the purpose of 6G, as one of the earliest, if not the earliest, formal 6G research projects. There were some standout items at the time. 6G needs to achieve social goals, and for that the researchers turned to the United Nations’ SDGs. We also need to transform energy efficiency.
Utilizing higher frequency bands at frequencies below terahertz could also enable use cases such as holographic communications. These necessarily rely on short-range networks, D2D and D2X networks.
As a result, there were also early statements that 6G wireless connectivity would not be controlled solely, or even mostly, by mobile carriers deploying networks in licensed frequency bands. This paper argues that in order to enable the deployment of alternative networks in unlicensed spectrum or in high-bandwidth spectrum with short-range propagation, 6G will require some form of regulatory regime to enable different deployment options. It also states that changes need to be included.
Since then, a further 12 white papers have been produced that expand on many areas, but some of these core themes remain.With the second phase starting in 2022, the flagship currently has 500 researchers from 50 countries divided into four strategic work areas. Of these, his work on wireless connectivity research is the largest and considers what his 6G RAN (or RAN) will look like in the future.
The second stream considers device and circuit technology. The third stream explores distributed wireless computing, and the final stream focuses on sustainable, human-centric services and applications.
In its laboratory, TMN studies the behavior of wireless signals in the 140 GHz band and uses reflective intelligent surfaces with beam-reflecting horn antennas to study the performance of signals propagating in such high bands. I was able to see the research done.
To learn more about 6G research efforts in Oulu and beyond, sign up to receive the February 2024 issue of TMN Quarterly.
In the chamber, the first sub-THz chip RF capabilities (300 GHz) were tested. Applications may include combinations of communications and sensing, as well as very high-bandwidth applications such as holographic communications. The chip designed here takes RF data, downconverts it to 1 GHz, and from there converts it into a digital signal.
A transmitter/receiver with a passive reflective surface and two horn antennas will experiment with 150 GHz signal propagation.
In the center, a prototype 300 GHz wireless chip is in action under a microscope.
Nokia mmWave unit overlooking the indoor open space at the University of Oulu.
The flagship also utilizes the University of Oulu’s test network, which is backed up by Nokia’s wireless research. The NSA and SA test networks currently include his 5G macro site at 3.5 GHz and indoor small cells including mmWave access points at 24 GHz. Outdoor mmWave is currently being planned. There is also a platform for connecting 400 IoT sensors, vEPC, 5G core network, and his MEC platform for edge processing. Until 2024, this architecture includes the deployment of his RIC platform and xApps on edge platforms.
The test network directly benefits from Nokia’s involvement (it is based on Nokia equipment and software), and Nokia can use the network as one of its testing grounds for its own research. Nokia may provide academics with interesting problems to solve and may incorporate the research results into the evolution of its own product portfolio.
Ecosystem
Importantly, the flagship is located within a broader wireless ecosystem, with a particular focus on Oulu and Finland. As a metropolitan area, Oulu is home to more than 1,000 technology companies, supported by a very young (for Finland) average age of less than 40 years and 25,000 students. . There are 12,000 non-Finnish residents from 120 countries. And today, the city’s population is growing by 3,000 people a year.
This ecosystem includes companies such as:
- KNL develops shortwave long-range radio technology, applications of which are already being adopted by the Finnish military. Indeed, with Finland joining NATO and worsening relations with Russia, with which it shares its only land border, military and secure communications could become one of the main drivers of wireless research in this cluster. There is enough sex.
- Another company with expertise in tactical and secure communications is Bittium. Bittium develops military software defined radio and tactical IP wireless solutions.
- Keysight and Orvis systems. Keysight provides emulation and test systems to developers who are researching radio operation at new frequencies or adding his AI technology to the air interface. Orbis is a provider of test systems including OTA chambers, shielded rooms, RF signal switching and functional test systems.
- Elektrobit’s software is integrated into the connected car’s module. The company aims to develop an open software architecture within the vehicle to provide a platform for software connectivity and development. As 5G and 6G networks enable deeper V2X connectivity outside the vehicle, the importance of in-vehicle software will increase as automotive OEMs compete to control and analyze dashboard functionality and data.
- Dispelix develops waveguide technology for smart glasses and AR/VR glasses that can look and feel like wearing regular glasses.
To learn more about 6G research efforts in Oulu and beyond, sign up to receive the February 2024 issue of TMN Quarterly.
Declaration: TMN’s trip to Oulu was paid for by Business Finland. Neither the featured companies nor Business Finland has any opinion or control over this article.
