Nokia has announced it will lead the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research’s KOMSENS-6G project.
The project aims to drive global pre-standardisation activities from a German and European perspective, with a specific focus on the network as a sensor technology.
Nokia will work closely with a consortium of partners from industry, subject matter experts, start-ups, research institutes and distinguished universities in Germany.
KOMSENS-6G is part of a broader German 6G initiative for a total funding of €14.9 million ($15.5 million), with a duration of three years.
On completion of the 3-year project, KOMSENS-6G aims to deliver an architecture for integrated sensing and communication, together with a demonstration of the combined service.
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“Nokia is honoured to lead this innovative technology project,” said Peter Vetter, President of Nokia Bell Labs Core Research.
“As wireless communication networks are ubiquitous, a “mirror” or digital twin of the physical world can be created using network sensing. By interacting with a digital twin, we could extend our senses to every point the network touches.”
In the 6G era, sensing will be a key enabling technology towards the vision of bringing together the digital and physical worlds.
The sensing service will be fully integrated in the wireless network for simultaneous operation with communication services.
Nokia will play a leading role in researching technology solutions for front-end, baseband, RAN protocols, data processing and security to make the 6G vision a reality.
“We believe the sensing network will be a key component of 6G systems of the future, which we want to enable in a secure and privacy preserving way,” added Vetter.
“We are looking forward to working with all consortium members within KOMSENS-6G to deliver the essential solutions to make this happen.”
Besides KOMSENS-6G, Nokia is engaged in other projects and initiatives with industry peers, customers, academia, and research institutions globally, spanning the US, Europe and APAC, to form a common view and direction for 6G.
The partnership provides for the sector’s first 5G private network on the Latin American continent, and will evolve into a definitive structure after the release of the 3.5GHz band for the city of Santos, scheduled by the regulator Anatel for 2023.
