5G — the fifth generation of mobile Internet technology, if you've ever wondered what the "G" stands for — is but a distant dream in much of the world, but big tech is already looking forward to what comes next.
At the moment, it's still unclear what 6G will be. The telecommunications industry haven't yet decided on the specifications for the network. There are predictions that 6G will be rolled out in around 2030 when 5G is no-longer adequate for our needs, with one university already working on it, but at the moment it only really exists as a concept — a combination of the number 6 and the letter G.
So it's a bit of nonsense to call what China have just launched "6G", but what they have put into orbit is still exciting. Chinese engineers claim that the satellite, jointly developed by Chengdu Guoxing Aerospace Technology, the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, and Beijing Weina Xingkong Technology, could boost data speeds dramatically.
The BBC reports that the higher speeds in this case are achieved through the use of terahertz waves, which are a spectrum of radio frequencies at a much higher frequency range than anything we've used so far for communication. It would require us to modify or replace equipment we use — from antennas to chips — but if we do we could send data at speeds of up to 1Tps.
5G uses higher frequency radio waves (around 28 and 39 GHz) to carry data. These bands have higher capacity than previous cellular networks, which work between 700 MHz and 3 GHz in the microwave band. In the same way that 6G will need new infrastructure, introducing 5G is not yet widespread because of the substantial investment it requires. Due to the shorter wavelengths, the range is lower and signals have to be carried by many more smaller phone masts in order to transmit the data.
Switching to 6G will likely come with some social challenges too. 5G has become the subject of a lot of conspiracy theories in the last year or so, with people (falsely) linking it to the Covid-19 pandemic. In one study, researchers found that 8 percent of UK residents in May of this year thought Covid-19 is connected to 5G (which makes about as much sense as claiming bruised knees are linked to WiFi).
The satellite was launched into orbit alongside 12 other satellites, which will be used for Earth observations, such as crop disaster and forest fire monitoring. As yet, there have been no conspiracy theories involving 6G, though we're sure it's only a matter of time.
On November 6, China successfully launched a Long March 6 rocket and sent a payload of 13 satellites into orbit. Among them was what has been described as “the world’s first 6G satellite”, according to BBC. The problem? The rest of the world is still several years away from agreeing what 6G will even be.
5G—what is considered the fifth, and most recent generation of cellular broadband networks—is still in its infancy. True 5G networks operate in millimeter-wave frequencies between 30 and 300 Gigahertz, which are 10 to 100 times higher frequency than previous 4G cellular network. (Some cell phone providers cheat, however, by claiming the upper end of the 4G spectrum as 5G).
The definition of these cellular generations are defined by a global partnership known as 3GPP, which has yet to clearly define 6G. Given the history of the never-ending march of technology, it's inevitable that 5G will be replaced by a new network in the future. It just isn’t clear what 6G will be.
The satellite, known as Tianyan-5, is a remote-sensing satellite jointly developed by the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu Guoxing Aerospace Technology, and Beijing Weina Xingkong Technology. In addition to Earth observations, the satellite will test a high-frequency terahertz communication payload that could send data at speeds several times faster than 5G.
Terahertz waves (THz), which are submillimeter waves sitting between microwave and infrared light on the electromagnetic spectrum, have been used to achieve data rates greater than 100 Gbps. Unfortunately, THz waves share an Achilles’ Heel with the millimeter waves used in 5G. Water vapor in Earth’s atmosphere is a strong absorber of terahertz radiation, limiting the range of THz applications. The same issue continues to slow the widespread development of 5G, and will likely hinder the rollout of 6G if it uses THz waves.
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The new technology may also stoke similar fears faced by the rollout of 5G. The raising of 5G towers in cities caused conspiracy theories to flourish. Without any evidence, people have falsely linked the COVID-19 pandemic to 5G, which may have motivated residents of the U.K. to burn down nearly 80 cell phone towers in recent months.
Meanwhile, astronomers threatened to sue SpaceX for its Starlink constellation of communication satellites for jeopardizing the future of ground-based astronomy observations. Observatories already go to great lengths to avoid light pollution from the lights of cities and radio waves from cell towers. A blanket of communication satellites orbiting earth has the potential to blind observatories looking at certain wavelengths of light
