Source: Strait Herald Greater Taiwan, Science Intelligence Think Tank, AMA585 Southeast Broadcasting, Hunan Daily
As we all know, the technical capabilities of the mainland's sixth-generation communication network are developing rapidly, and it is expected that the network will be put into commercial use as early as 2030.
There is one point we also need to face up, that is, since Trump started with the US government to impose sanctions on Huawei, the mainland's 6G development has indeed slowed down, but the mainland's capabilities in this field are still at the world's leading level.
This is supported by the 6G market research analysis report released by the market analysis company Market Research Future.
According to the report, the United States ranks second in the world with 35.2 percent, followed by Japan with 9.9 percent. What is the proportion of the continent, and what is its ranking in the world?
Ranking of the continents
Although 5G communication systems have only been deployed in recent years, and the technology is still in its infancy, it has revolutionized the way people connect to the world around them, enabling faster connectivity. This is an undeniable fact.
Even so, network experts around the world are actively engaged in research on its successor, 6G, which is expected to be launched in the early 2030s.
6G technology is expected to provide faster data transfer speeds, lower latency, higher bandwidth, and more reliable connections than 5G.
It's important to remember that 6G is not yet a viable technology and is still in the early stages of development.
Any country and organization can get a piece of the pie. Of course, many companies and organizations around the world are investing in research and development of 6G.
As the technology is still in the early stages of development, it is also difficult for experts to predict the exact timeline for the progress of 6G. However, some estimates suggest that early deployment of 6G will take place in 2028 and the technology is expected to be rolled out around 2030.
This timeline is based on the assumption that the technology will continue to evolve at a rapid pace and that there will be significant investments in R&D.
At the same time, many countries have begun to plan the development of 6G, including China, the United States, Japan, South Korea and other countries. On the mainland, the government has established 6G R&D centers to focus on developing the technology and infrastructure needed for 6G.
The U.S. House of Representatives has reintroduced the Future Use of Reliable and Enhanced Network Technology Act. The bill directs the FCC to bring together industry leaders, public interest groups and government experts to form a 6G working group.
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation has made some progress in its research on optical communications and mobile infrastructure networks in urban areas, and has obtained relevant patents.
In Europe, Ericsson, a Swedish telecommunications equipment manufacturer, and the University of Oulu in Finland, have released a 6G white paper. The European Union has played a key role in standardization, including the establishment of a study group by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute.
South Korea's Samsung and LG have set up 6G development centers to focus on developing technologies and standardized processes, and the government has also subsidized them to help the development work run smoothly.
In addition, experts also predict that the 6G technology market will make significant advances in imaging and location awareness. Combined with AI, 6G infrastructure will be able to find the best place for computing, data storage, processing, and sharing.
At that time, no matter where people are, they will always feel the speed and convenience brought by 6G.
In addition, with 6G, humans may be able to create and share their own 3D representations in real time, enabling holographic communication and changing the way we communicate with each other.
The application of terahertz frequency networks in 6G will achieve faster data transmission speeds and higher bandwidth. It is currently predicted that 6G will be 10 to 100 times faster than 5G.
It can be said that the world of 6G, even more important than 5G, which is scattered around the world today, will be a world in which people and things can continue to connect and communicate.
While 6G represents an exciting future for wireless technology, there are still a number of challenges before it becomes a reality, including: developing technology to operate at terahertz frequencies, developing the infrastructure to support it, and significant regulatory challenges.
However, 6G research initiatives are becoming increasingly popular as countries around the world aspire to get ahead of their competitors and adopt new technologies ahead of them. Therefore, there are countries around the world that are actively applying for 6G patents.
This also allows the 6G field to have its own patent pattern. Here, I would like to tell you that the mainland ranks first in the global 6G patent application with a proportion of 40.3%. It is followed by the United States, Japan, Europe and South Korea.
It should be emphasized that the number and trend of patent applications are key indicators of R&D investment and technological innovation. All players who want to benefit from 6G technology must take control of the patent landscape.
The core technology of geopolitics
5G is a technology at the core of fierce geopolitical and economic warfare, as can be seen from the United States' suppression of 5G technology on the mainland. Moreover, the "next G-Alliance" of the United States is seen as a representative of the quest for sustained geopolitical hegemony.
The U.S. Chips Act, which is committed to developing domestic semiconductor manufacturing and R&D, is committed to strengthening economic and national security, and strengthening the U.S. chip supply chain.
Similarly, the European Chips Act aims to increase Europe's competitiveness and resilience in semiconductor technologies and applications. The EU has invested more than 43 billion euros to help achieve the digital and green transition.
In the field of mobile technology, geopolitical factors may mean that the future of the world is more fragmented.
In fact, given that different governments aspire to digital sovereignty, and governments are pushing national academic and industrial researchers to create as much intellectual property as possible to shape the 6G landscape, this will lead to more division and competition.
In this trend, intellectual property protection and awareness of the dynamic of 6G patents are crucial.
So, in the field of 6G, geopolitics and technology have become inextricably linked.
Intellectual property is not only a valuable asset for countries, but also a shield to survive in a wide and diverse range of applications using technologies at the heart of intense geopolitical warfare.
This, on the other hand, ensures that the technology and supply chains that support the development of 6G will be affected by geopolitical competition and may become its tools.
As U.S.-China competition continues to influence the macroeconomy, future telecommunications networks and trade and investment patterns are likely to become increasingly bipolar, with one system set by the mainland and the other dominated by the United States.
Again, to achieve the ambitious goals of 6G, countries will need to use new materials and create new basic hardware.
Materials such as graphene and metamaterials will be important for thermal, optical, electrical, and electronic functions. And the III-V compounds, which are widely used in 5G, will become even more important.
Software-programmable metasurfaces, optics, terahertz transistors-transceivers-diodes-emitters, etc., are all indispensable configurations in the new hardware.
In addition, battery-free lithium-ion devices that use wireless information and energy transmission WIET technology and node energy harvesting.
In the midst of geopolitical tensions, as well as supply chain challenges and shortages, it is necessary for countries to seek greater strategic autonomy, especially when it comes to technology.
The current situation of 6G in mainland China
As a national strategy, 6G is widely used in the industry and has always been the core of China's technological research.
The key to Continental's leading position in the 6G patent race lies in the fact that it has built a strong mobile infrastructure technology and is actively conducting 6G research and development and setting world standards.
These measures have been written into the mainland's "14th Five-Year Plan". The plan also envisions a new digital blueprint and strengthens the focus on 6G.
In addition, under the "Made in China 2025" initiative, the mainland will also take 6G as a priority development direction, and at the same time provide financial assistance to Africa, the Middle East and other countries to build 5G networks.
Continental has also achieved great success in 3G, 4G and 5G technologies in the past. In the 3G era, Continental has successfully established one of the three globally recognized standards. Similarly, 4G on the mainland is one of the two global standards.
In the era of 5G technology, the continent has the largest and largest mobile infrastructure in the world. Huawei already owns about 30% of the world's base stations. Moreover, Huawei ranks first in the world in the number of 5G patents, 2.5 times more than 4G patent applications.
5G technology has been steadily advanced, network coverage capabilities have been continuously improved, and the number of base stations has accounted for more than 60% of the world. This provides an important guarantee and support for the development of 6G in mainland China.
Most of the 6G patents applied for by the mainland are related to mobile infrastructure technology, and considering that the 6G era will require aerial coverage such as satellites, as well as terrestrial base stations in a wider range of radio frequency bands, this inference is reasonable.
In November 2020, the Continental University of Electronic Science and Technology successfully launched, the world's first 6G satellite.
In the recent news about 6G in China, the research team of Continental, for the first time, achieved a 6G level of 206.25 gigabits per second, wireless transmission speed in a closed environment.
This discovery not only has a broad impact on data speeds, but also reduces the huge cost and power consumption of data centers due to large numbers of cables.
This is likely to facilitate the development of high-speed wireless access as an alternative to fiber optic cables. This also ends the debate about whether the mainland has 6G.
In addition, researchers from the 25th Institute of the Second Academy of Aerospace Science and Industry have completed the first real-time wireless transmission and communication experiment of terahertz orbital angular momentum in China.
This year, the mainland will formulate an industrial development plan to promote the research and innovation of 6G mobile technology, sending a clear message that the country is leading the development of 6G cutting-edge technology.
The International Telecommunication Union, a UN agency, and industry groups are expected to start discussing 6G standardization around 2024. With a number of relevant patents, Continental has a strong voice in the organization and may have the upper hand in rulemaking.
To this end, it is very likely that Continental will formulate a clear 6G vision this year and start standardization work by 2025.
Market Research Future's 6G market research analysis report predicts that the global 6G market will reach $340 billion by 2040, with a compound annual growth rate of more than 58% between 2030 and 2040.
The Asia-Pacific region, especially China, will lead the way by paying more attention to the improvement and development of satellite communications and related technologies.
It is worth noting that the "state-led, enterprise-driven" model adopted by 6G in mainland China has no way for other countries to replicate.
The United States, for example, faces difficulties in coordinating between state and federal governments, as well as with private companies that rely heavily on the mainland market. Again, Qualcomm and Ericsson have very different ideas on how to launch 6G.
This reflects the ongoing divide between the technical support needed to achieve 6G in the West and policymakers in Washington who aim to regulate the rollout of 6G.
Then again, despite the US ban, Huawei is still developing 6G on its own. What's even more interesting is that 12% of these patents were applied for by Huawei.
It can be seen that Western countries and organizations led by the United States are trying to slow down and contain the development of high-end technology on the mainland and the efforts to make the mainland's basic research lose momentum.
This also shows from another side that under the technological decoupling promoted by the United States, the development of 6G will make the mainland walk in the forefront of technological progress with the telecommunications industry as the core, and the mainland has a competitive advantage in terms of technical capabilities and potential applications in this field.
epilogue
The vision of the mainland's tech industry calls for "self-reliance" but also acknowledges the reality of the need for international engagement. After all, in today's world, no country can become an independent innovation center, nor can it enjoy the fruits of innovation alone.
As long as we firmly grasp the "bull's nose" of high-end technology and basic research, and at the same time maintain the integration with the global market in terms of technology and market access, the mainland is likely to be in the leading position in 6G.
The size of the mainland's market, the ability to execute its telecom infrastructure, and the technological innovations of companies such as Huawei clearly show this.
Information sources:
[1] Strait Herald Greater Taiwan - China's 6G patent application is the world's first, Lai Yueqian: Can the United States still suppress it?
[2] Science Intelligence Think Tank - Research on the Global 6G Technology Patent Layout
[3] AMA585 Southeast Broadcasting - The United States, Japan and South Korea formed the United States, Japan and South Korea 6G communication alliance to jointly develop 6G communication technology. In terms of the number of 6G patent applications, China ranks first in the world with 40.3%, while the United States only has 35.2%
[4] Hunan Daily - China's 6G, an important breakthrough!