The government is focusing on understanding and working on 6G telecom technology even as 5G awaits a rolling out.
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- The story: The telecom world saw the development of various generations (G) of technology, starting from 1G to 5G. Now, the government has asked the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) to begin developing 6G and other futuristic technologies to catch up with the global market in time. It is interesting that Indian govt. is keen on it, as even 5G is yet to be launched in India.
- What is 6G: The next generation telecom technology (6G) is said to be 50 times faster than 5G and is expected to be commercially launched between 2028-2030. 6G (sixth-generation wireless) is the successor to 5G cellular technology, and will be able to use higher frequencies than 5G networks and provide substantially higher capacity and much lower latency (delay).
- A goal of 6G internet will be to support one microsecond-latency communication (delay of one-microsecond in communication).
- This is 1,000 times faster - or 1/1000th the latency - than one millisecond throughput.
- It seeks to utilize the terahertz band of frequency which is currently unutilized.
- Terahertz waves fall between infrared waves and microwaves on the electromagnetic spectrum.
- These are extremely tiny and fragile, but there's a huge amount of free spectrum up there that would allow for spectacular data rates.
- Importance: The 6G technology market is expected to facilitate large improvements in imaging, presence technology and location awareness. 6G's higher frequencies will enable much faster sampling rates, in addition to providing significantly better throughput and higher data rates.
- Advancement in wireless sensing technology - The combination of sub-mm waves (e.g., wavelengths smaller than one millimeter) and frequency selectivity to determine relative electromagnetic absorption rates could potentially lead to significant advances in wireless sensing technology.
- Better digital capabilities - It will see the emergence of simple, easy-to-wear-and-carry devices with a huge set of digital capabilities. This will help the paramedics, educators and agro-technicians to jumpstart the village ecosystems with little or limited need for on-site presence of doctors, professors and agro-experts.
- Optimising mass public transportation - For India, such an enabling set of technologies will bring manifold utilisation of scarce rail, air and road networks and make mass transportation far more efficient; Artificial Intelligence (AI) and massively parallel computing architectures will help solve transportation and scheduling operations research problems.
- Challenges: The key technical challenges are energy efficiency, avoiding signal attenuation due to obstructions and water droplets in the air, and, of course, maintaining end-to-end trust through robust cyber security and data protection mechanisms.
- Adoption of new models - Need innovations in antenna design, miniaturisation, edge cloud and distributed AI models. In addition, we need to ensure end-to-end security and privacy by design, instead of as an afterthought.
- Availability of semiconductors - Today, the world does not have semiconducting materials that can use multi-THz frequencies. Getting any kind of range out of those frequencies may require enormous arrays of extremely tiny antennas.
- Complex design - Water vapour in atmosphere blocks and reflects THz waves, so science will need design models that allow data to take very complex routes to its destination.
- Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT): Established in 1984, it is an autonomous Telecom R&D (Research and Development) centre of DoT (Department of Telecom), Ministry of Communications. It is a registered public-funded research institution with the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Ministry of Science &Technology. C-DOT is working towards realising the objective of various flagship programmes of Govt. of India which include Digital India, BharatNet, Smart Cities etc.
- Summary: The government should indicate the intention for pursuit of 6G by announcing a long-term vision, a multi-year (multi-decade) plan, strong investments, and minimal bureaucracy. It needs to execute the new electronics manufacturing policy as stated in the India Trillion Dollar Digital Opportunity document (2019) of the Ministry of Electronics and IT. India needs to replicate the space and nuclear technologies mission experience which achieved self-reliance. Leadership in 6G will be the key to improving the lives of Indians on the whole.
- EXAM QUESTIONS: (1) Explain the evolution of telecom technology over the generations. (2) What are the key technical features of 6 G technology? Explain. (3) In what ways can 6 G help India improve the lives of the common man? Explain.
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