THE NEW IMATRIX

The interplay of humans, machines and data in the wireless communications technologies of the future will change life as we know it. The satellite internet is already emerging as an alternative for communication and broadband services even in the remotest areas. And there will be no potential spectrum crunch if Light Fidelity (LiFi), which harnesses the power of LED light to transmit data, holds up to its promise

- AMARNATH K. MENON

THE FUTURE IS NOW

HOLOGRAMMED WORK MEETS, SKIN PATCHES TO MONITOR HEALTH 24X7, EMBEDDED DEVICES THAT PROMISE A SENSORY OVERLOAD...6G WILL REDEFINE HOW WE WORK, LIVE AND PLAY

In communications technology, the focus of a network changes with each generation. If the 2G and 3G eras were about human-to-human communication through voice and text, 4G heralded a fundamental shift to the consumption of data, and 5G concentrated on tying up the Internet of Things (IoT) and industrial automation systems. In the world of 6G, the digital, physical and human will fuse seamlessly to trigger extrasensory experiences. Intell igent knowledge systems will combine with computation capabilities to make humans endlessly efficient and redefine how we live, work and play.

WHY IT IS A GAME CHANGER

For sure, 6G will be a ‘sixth sense’ experience for humans where physical sense will meet Artificial Intelligence (AI). How exactly? Start with the basic enabler: vastly higher frequencies than in 5G. That has two key effects. One, substantially lower latency—the time taken by data to travel from a source to the end user. And two, higher bandwidth—which determines the amount of data that can travel over the network at a time. 6G is said to support 1 microsecond-latency communication, which even at a rough count yields communication and data transfer speeds several hundred times greater than what you have now.