b'Member News July 2023 15EventsWhy 6G?5G tech is currently being deployed across the UK. Some of us may have had the opportunity to experience the true power of this tech. You may not have realised that research has already started on developing the next generation of wireless mobile tech. And you may ask why this is? Well, this was the theme of the one-day conference organised by Professor Bal Virdee, Chair and Executive Member of the IETs Technical Profesional Network. Prof. Bal Virdee is also the Director of the Communications Technology Research Centre at SCDM. The conference took place on 15 February 2023 at IET London: Savoy Place and was opened by IET President Professor Bob Cryan CBE and chaired by Dr Kafil Ahmed and Dr Mike Short CBE. The conference was streamed live to delegates all over the world.Dr Kafil Ahmed said Many people ask me The growth of data usage iswhy we are talking about 6G now. This is growing exponentially anda justified question. Development of this is being fuelled by massiveThis is the first 6G conferencetechnology doesnt happen in isolation, and it data-driven applications likein the UK. We are embarkingtakes many years of research and innovation. TikTok and emerging tech likeon an exciting journey that willThe purpose of the conference was to driverless cars that need ultra- converge various technologiesbring various stakeholders to map out their fast connections and be able tosuch as edge computing, virtual,trajectories to make 6G a reality. handle millions more connections.augmented and mixed realitiesProf. Bob Cryan CBE said Were living in a You only need to look at theand the integration of cloud,connected society with many of us having phenomenal growth of videoterrestrial and satellite systems.connectivity at our fingertips in a way that just sharing platforms like TikTok toIt will use artificial intelligencewasnt possible years ago. And the need for fast see the growing connectivityto provide solutions for veryand reliable connectivity is only rising. We know and data usage demand. that there are unique social and environmental downloads has exploded fromcomplex problems relevantdemands being placed on future telecoms to 100 million to 1600 million. Thisto network optimisation.accelerate innovation, technical and business trend exemplifies the growthIm sure this technology willgrowth across the telecoms supply chain. of data traffic from just onespur other innovations weHowever, this does not happen in a vacuum.app. On average the annualhavent thought of yet. Dr Mike Short CBE said While data created, captured, copied5G will enable society to and consumed per person iscontrol more devices remotely about 230 gigabytes and thisProfessor Bal Virdeein applications where real-time is predicted to reach 1300network performance is critical, gigabytes by 2030. In a decadesResearch has started on6G will bring much richer time, well need wireless mobileinvestigating new technologies,connectivity to the physical tech that will need to be smartsuch as THz, intelligent surfaces,world, using advancements in AI and efficient enough to cope withand quantum communications.and computing to enhance the a much larger volume of dataProfessor Bal Virdee commented:machine-human interface.traffic, while striving to meet theAs with any new innovationThe first IET 6G conference Paris Agreement on net zero. Toor technology, it requiresbrought together regulators, do this, the 5G tech will needcollaboration and professionalspolicy makers, government to evolve to the next generationfrom across the industry andrepresentatives, lead industry of wireless communicationsacademia to come together torepresentatives and researchers tech that is referred to 6G.ensure that 6G is a success.worldwide to share their vision and roadmap for the 6G tech.'