News Excerpt:

C-DOT, the premier Telecom R&D Centre of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Government of India and Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee (IIT-R) signed an agreement for “Developing a 140 GHz Fully Integrated Transmitter & Receiver Module for 6G and Beyond”.

Key takeaways of the agreement:

• The agreement is signed under the Telecom Technology Development Fund (TTDF) scheme of the Department of Telecommunications. 
  • This fund has been designed to support domestic companies and institutions involved in the technology design, development, and commercialization of telecommunication products and solutions to enable affordable broadband and mobile services in rural and remote areas.
• This agreement aims to develop a 140 GHz Fully Integrated Transmitter and Receiver Module to enable applications for 6G and beyond. 

About the ‘Fully Integrated Transmitter & Receiver Module’:

• The novelty of this system lies in the generation, transmission and antenna integration of THz waves onto a single chip, leading to reduced system size, weight and power consumption, hence making it suitable for use in portable devices such as smartphones, laptops, wearables, etc. 
• This chip shall support data rates of up to several gigabits per second, enabling high-speed data transfer with a chip or between chips. 
• It will pave the way for building home-grown 6G solutions/applications with ultra-low latency.

Additional Information:

Evolution of Cellular Networks:

• First Generation:

• • It operated at 2.4 kbps with a 30 KHz channel capacity. 
  • It had little security against hackers, suffered from dependability issues and signal interference, and could only be used for voice conversations.

• Second Generation:

• • 2G networks offered bandwidths ranging from 30 KHz to 200 KHz, enabling users to transmit SMS and MMS messages at up to 64 Kbps, albeit at slow speeds.

• Third Generation:

• • 3G technology authorized data speeds of up to 14 Mbps.
  • It allowed users to make video calls, surf the web, share files, play games, and watch TV online.

• Fourth Generation:

• • The advent of 4G signalled the beginning of the era of smartphones and portable electronic devices.
  • It is the first generation to use Long-Term Evolution (LTE) technology to have potential download rates between 10 Mbps and 1 Gbps.
  • It helped deliver improved latency (less buffering) for end users and enhanced voice quality, instant messaging and social network services, and streaming quality.

• Fifth Generation:

• 5G makes possible a brand-new type of network intended to link almost everyone and everything, including devices, machines, and things.
• More consumers will be able to enjoy more consistent user experiences, huge network capacity, ultra-low latency, and higher multi-Gbps peak data rates.

About 6G:

• 6G will emerge as the sixth generation of wireless communications, succeeding the 5G wireless technology, which is still untapped in many countries. 
• 6G uses tremendously high frequency (THF) waves, also known as sub-millimetre waves, to achieve speeds 100 times faster than 5G - which, in comparison, uses millimetre waves (mmWave).
• Enabling 6G, the latency is expected to be less than one microsecond with increased bandwidth to accommodate enhanced connectivity.

Potential horizons of 6G:

• Immersive Extended Reality (XR): 

• • Extended Reality (XR) includes Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR).
  • 5G cannot support XR because of existing hardware constraints and a lack of wireless capabilities. 6G will bridge the gaps in this situation.

• Mobile Holograms:

• • The advancements in high-resolution rendering, wearable displays, and ultra-speed wireless networks will enable mobile devices to display holograms. 
  • Holographic display requires a high data transfer rate, which 6G provides.

• Digital Replica:

• A virtual clone of a real physical object serving as a real-time digital twin is called a digital replica.
• Users can watch, track, and investigate real entities in a virtual world without temporal and spatial limitations.
• By integrating robotics and Digital replication, users can physically move a robot in the real world by virtually controlling its digital twin.

Challenges for 6G to Overcome:

• Path-loss: 
  • The biggest challenge for 6G is to counteract the atmospheric absorption of terahertz waves and severe path loss. The current 5G networks face this issue, too.
• Hardware challenge:
  • It requires tremendous improvements in the hardware and computing capabilities of mobile phones.

6G and Sustainability:

• As per the World Economic Forum report, digital technologies, including 5G, have the potential to reduce worldwide emissions by 15%. 
• With increased efficiency and sustainability standards, 6G aims higher.
• 6G is anticipated to be crucial to accomplishing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set forth by the UN.
• Global living standards will rise due to 6G's hyperconnectivity and information accessibility.

Conclusion:

Although it has a large list of obstacles to overcome, the advantages it provides are too revolutionary to ignore. Emerging technologies like cloud gaming, cloud storage, VR, and AR will take on a whole new dimension with the arrival of 6G. More significantly, it will contribute to developing novel technologies like digital duplication, holographic displays, and XR - an essential step towards the future of wireless technology.