How 6G will transform technology and business
Since 2019, Nokia Bell Labs has been at the forefront of fundamental research into 6G technologies, pushing the boundaries of what's possible and laying the groundwork for the next decade of wireless innovation. Through a wide range of funded initiatives and strategic collaborations with leading academic institutions, industry partners, and government bodies around the world, we’ve been prototyping, testing, and refining key concepts that will define 6G.
It has the potential to uplock an entirely new class of services and applications, evolving over time. We’re talking about collaborative robots working seamlessly alongside humans, fully immersive holographic communications, large-scale digital twins of physical systems, real-time cognitive sensing, and extreme automation across industries. These experiences will be enabled and enhanced by AI integrated throughout the network fabric.
Latest research highlights
AI interoperability boosts capacity
Discover the foundational building blocks that will bring 6G to life
What can we expect? Six key 6G technologies
In 2020, Nokia identified six key 6G technologies that will become vital for future 6G networks.
Cognitive, automated and specialized architectures
Learn about the seven distinct design criteria that defining 6G architecture
Security, trust and privacy
Find out how 6G embodies a new vision for secure and trustworthy communications
Read the 6G technologies eBook
6G technology spotlight
Networks and AI: Enabling the AI-native air interface
By pairing an AI-based learned waveform in a transmitter with a deep-learning receiver, Nokia Bell Labs was able to design and implement a proof-of-concept air interface that transmits data efficiently and learns under many different scenarios. This is a fundamentally different way of how we currently implement the network, allowing the network radios to learn from its surroundings.
Revolutionizing wireless communications with AI-powered air interface
Network as a sensor: The digital “6th sense”
6G won’t just connect sensors to the network. 6G will act as a sensor itself. Acting similarly to radar, 6G networks will be able to sense their surroundings and the properties and movements of objects within them. This will imbue the network with a digital “sixth sense” that can extend our human senses to every point the network touches. Add AI/ML to the mix, and the 6G network will become more cognitive, unlocking deeper, actionable insight from the information it gathers.
Shaping 6G with a digital "sixth sense"
Learn more about our 6G vision
Whom is Nokia working with on 6G networks?
Meet our partners. When we talk about 6G, we’re not speaking alone. Nokia and its research arm Bell Labs have been collaborating with every manner of company and institution to investigate 6G’s potential. As Nokia Chief Strategy and Technology Officer Nishant Batra points out, for 6G to be truly impactful, we must partner with and listen to as many future 6G stakeholders as possible.
If we want 6G to really matter, we must make collaboration the biggest priority.
Service providers
As they be the first to deploy 6G networks, Nokia has begun working closely with our forward-looking mobile customers to test 6G technologies. NTT, Docomo and SKT are working with Nokia Bell Labs to explore how AI will unlock new capabilities and enhance performance in 6G networks.
Industry and enterprise
Bosch and Nokia Bell Labs are evaluating industrial use cases for 6G joint communication and sensing with the aim of creating a new generation of smart factories
With Hololight, Nokia is investigating how new wireless technologies will allow networks to support multiple simultaneous XR sessions without sacrificing quality of experience.
Communications ecosystem
Nokia Bell Labs and Qualcomm are exploring the potential interoperability challenges between 6G networks and devices. By getting the different AI models in devices and networks to cooperate, we can tap into the advantages of multi-vendor AI world.
Nokia and Nvidia have announced we are investigating how the power of a digital twin could be used to simulate the entirety of a 6G network without ever venturing outside of a lab.
Academia
Every year, Nokia and NYU Wireless co-host the landmark Brooklyn 6G Summit, which brings together the brightest minds in academia, business and communications to scrutinize the most cutting-edge trends in network research.
In 2023, Nokia opened up its new 6G Lab in India to serve to collaborate with industry stakeholders to test new 6G technologies and applications with the potential for commercialization. Following up on the lab launch, we partnered with the Indian Institute of Science to jointly research 6G technologies that would have a direct societal impact on India.
We are leading the 6G ecosystem
Hexa-X-II
Funded as part of the Smart Network and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS JU), Hexa-X-II aims to form the basis for 6G Standardization.
Next G Alliance
A nationwide initiative to advance North American mobile technology leadership over the next decade through private sector-led efforts.
SUSTAIN-6G
SUSTAIN-6G develops sustainable, secure, and resilient 6G architectures across the full technology stack.
KOMSENS-6G
KOMSENS-6G, funded by the BMBF in Germany, focuses on integrating sensor technology into 6G communication systems.
Brooklyn 6G Summit
Nokia and the NYU Wireless Research Center have co-hosted the Brooklyn Summit, a key event shaping the future of the wireless industry.
