Ericsson Conducts First Live 6G Trial in US
Ericsson conducted the world's first live 6G trial in Texas, demonstrating its use for AI-powered robotics and real-time video streaming. The trial utilized new 6G centimeter-wave spectrum and cloud-native infrastructure. The demonstration involved processing a cloud-hosted large language model to control robotics, signaling a step toward AI-native 6G networks.
The move to 6G is defined by its AI-native architecture, a fundamental shift from 5G where AI is often an add-on. In an AI-native network, machine learning is deeply embedded into every layer of the protocol stack, enabling the system to autonomously perceive, learn, and adapt to changing conditions in real time. This trial utilized the centimeter-wave (cmWave) spectrum, specifically in the 7-15 GHz range, which is considered a primary candidate for 6G. This band is targeted because it provides a balance of good propagation characteristics for wide-area coverage and the large bandwidth necessary for high-capacity, AI-driven services. The demonstration's software-defined architecture ran on both CPUs and GPUs, highlighting the fusion of telecom infrastructure with high-performance computing. This approach treats the network as a distributed computation fabric, essential for processing AI workloads and managing complex systems without relying solely on centralized data centers. A key future capability of 6G is Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC), which Ericsson also recently demonstrated in Texas. This technology allows the network itself to act as a sensor, using the existing radio infrastructure to detect and locate passive objects like drones, effectively creating a real-time digital twin of the surrounding environment. While this live trial is a major step, the path to commercial 6G is methodical. The global standards body 3GPP began initial work on
