Keysight Technologies joins forces with NTT and NTT DOCOMO to advance 6G technology

Keysight Technologies joins forces with NTT and NTT DOCOMO to advance 6G technology

  • To drive innovation in 6G technology, Keysight has entered into a three-party agreement with NTT DOCOMO, Inc. and NTT, aimed at promoting the advancement of key technologies.
  • The initial partnership will concentrate on developing new spectrum technologies for sub-terahertz frequencies.

One of the most exciting developments in the tech industry is the advancement towards 6G technology. The future of the internet is being built today, and companies like Keysight Technologies are playing a crucial role in creating the foundation for 6G. Leveraging their experience in 5G and Open RAN, Keysight is collaborating with market leaders to pioneer testing and measurement solutions for emerging 6G technologies.

Recently, Keysight has signed a three-party agreement with NTT DOCOMO, Inc. and NTT to promote the advancement of key technologies that are expected to drive innovation in 6G.

As 5G deployment continues, efforts towards researching and enabling technologies for the upcoming 6G wireless communications are gaining traction. These technologies will involve new spectrum, digital twins, artificial intelligence, and new network architectures, including non-terrestrial networks. To bring these future communication technologies to market, various organizations, including those developing semiconductors, next-generation device technology, and 6G applications, are collaborating with academia, the government, and each other.

To tackle the technical challenges associated with the introduction of 6G use cases and applications, Keysight Technologies, NTT DOCOMO, and NTT have come together under an agreement to combine their expertise and solutions. The first area of technical collaboration will concentrate on sub-terahertz (sub-THz) frequency new spectrum technologies. When combined with sensing technologies, these bandwidths promise extreme data rates that drive significant research in modulation techniques, transceiver design, semiconductors, and antennas.

The agreement includes a multi-year project to focus on RF channel measurement and modeling for frequencies ranging from 92 GHz to 300 GHz.

According to Takehiro Nakamura, the Chief Technology Architect at NTT DOCOMO, the company has been working with Keysight since 2015 to conduct radio propagation measurement and RF device testing for millimeter wave technology to bring about the commercialization of 5G.

“We are delighted to collaborate with Keysight also towards the realization of the 6G concept. DOCOMO and NTT will accelerate experimental trials on radio propagation measurement of sub-THz band with Keysight to gain insight into the capabilities of 6G wireless technologies faster,” he added.

Keysight Technologies joins forces with NTT and NTT DOCOMO to advance 6G technology

Expanding on Nakamura’s statement, Giampaolo Tardioli, the Vice President of 6G and Next Generation Technology at Keysight, expressed his excitement about the opportunity to further strengthen their longstanding collaboration with DOCOMO and now NTT. Tardioli added that Keysight’s goal is to work together to develop essential technologies for 6G and continue to drive innovation in the industry.

Keysight and 6G technology

Keysight has a track record of pursuing 6G innovation, as demonstrated by its recently announced Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI), a global semiconductor leader. The goal of the partnership is to advance the design and development of 6G technology by leveraging existing and emerging technologies. Keysight and ADI will collaborate on developing innovative solutions to improve multiple facets of wireless network performance, including energy efficiency and wireless connectivity that is both resilient and secure.

The two companies will work together to accelerate technological breakthroughs by building on their existing collaborations in 5G, open radio access network (RAN), and phased array technology. They will leverage new waveforms and spectrum technologies, a new 6G air-interface, higher-order antenna systems, and sensing to develop use cases that have the potential to transform lives and offer significant opportunities for businesses, industries, and consumers. Additionally, virtualization, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence (AI) advancements will continue to drive the digital transformation that underpins the 6G vision.

It doesn’t stop there. NOKIA has also chosen Keysight’s 6G test bed to accelerate research and development that supports 5G-Advanced and 6G use cases, which use millimeter wave (mmWave) and sub-terahertz frequency spectrum to transmit large amounts of data across short distances wirelessly. Keysight’s 6G test bed will verify the performance of TRX modules, power amplifiers, and antennas under both linear and nonlinear conditions. Nokia designed these network infrastructure components by leveraging complex modulation technology and spectrum in D-Band (110 GHz to 170 GHz) and E-Band (60 GHz to 90 GHz).

Both NOKIA Bell Labs and Keysight possess expertise in advanced semiconductor methods and technologies, supporting 6G development by extending amplifiers’ power and noise performance, using advanced data-conversion techniques, and improving energy efficiency.