Ericsson Conducts First Live 6G Trial in US
Ericsson conducted the world's first live 6G trial in Texas, demonstrating the technology's ability to power AI robotics and real-time video streaming. The trial utilized new 6G centimeter-wave spectrum and a cloud-native infrastructure. The company stated the milestone supports American leadership in the development of AI-native 6G.
The trial's "AI-native" architecture represents a fundamental shift from 5G, where AI is often added on. In a 6G network, artificial intelligence will be integral to the system, autonomously managing resources, optimizing data flow, and even enabling self-healing networks with minimal human intervention. This demonstration utilized the centimeter-wave (cmWave) spectrum, specifically the 7-15 GHz range, which is seen as a key global band for 6G. This part of the spectrum offers a sweet spot, providing significantly larger bandwidths than current 5G mid-bands while still offering good coverage, a challenge for the higher-frequency millimeter wave bands. While this was a pre-standard trial, the goal of 6G is to deliver speeds up to 100 times faster than 5G, potentially reaching 1 terabit per second (Tbps). Furthermore, 6G aims to reduce latency to the microsecond level, a 1,000-fold improvement over 5G's one-millisecond latency, which is critical for future applications like holographic communication and remote surgery. The push into 6G is a global race, with major initiatives underway in multiple countries. China has already launched test satellites, South Korea aims for a 2028 pilot network, and Japan's Beyond 5G Promotion Consortium is targeting a 2030 commercial launch. Key industry players like Nokia, Samsung, and Huawei are also heavily invested in 6G research and development. This trial is an early step in a long process, with the first 6G technical specifications not expected to be finalized by the global standards body 3GPP until around 2028. Widespread commercial availability of 6G networks and devices is anticipated to begin around 2030. Ericsson's focus on Texas for this milestone is part of a larger strategy, building on its 5G USA Smart Factory in Lewisville and its R&D center in Austin. The company is also a leading partner in the University of Texas at Austin's 6G@UT research program, which focuses on key 6G challenges like extended reality (XR) streaming and communication designs.
