Bharat 6G Vision: Nokia opens first-of-its-kind 6G Lab in India - Details

Finnish multinational telecommunications and consumer electronics corporation has set up a 6G Lab at its Global R&D centre in Bangalore. According to the Finnish company, this is a first-of-its-kind project that aims to accelerate the development of fundamental technologies and innovative use cases underpinned by 6G technology. The 6G lab supports the Government of India’s ‘Bharat 6G Vision’. 

Introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bharat 6G Vision envisions a key global role for India in the standardization, development, and implementation of 6G technology. "The Lab will function as a platform for collaboration for industry stakeholders and facilitate the testing of innovative solutions while establishing their potential for commercialization," the company said in a release. 

The Lab was inaugurated virtually by Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Railways, Communications, Electronics & IT, Government of India. 

The Lab includes a setup to research ‘Network as a Sensor’ technology that enables the network to sense objects, people and movement without the need for onboard sensors. 

In the 6G era, 'Network as a Sensor' has been identified as a key enabling technology that supports the vision of bringing the digital and physical worlds together. Sensing will be fully integrated into the wireless network and operate simultaneously with communication services. 

This has the potential to enable people to see around corners, gather information about their surroundings and even interact with objects at a distance. The Lab will also provide an experimental platform for researching algorithms, privacy, and sustainable system design.

"Nokia’s experts at its Bengaluru centre will support India’s ambition to make notable contributions towards global 6G technology standards. Further, it is in the process of building research collaborations with premier research institutes in India like IISc/IITs to further scale up the 6G research initiative in India," the company said.

Nokia is working extensively in 6G work and is engaged in several global projects and regional initiatives with industry peers, customers, academia, and research institutions.