The 6G frequency switch that spares scientific services

McNair, Janise

doi:10.1038/d41586-022-01306-w

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26 May 2022

The 6G frequency switch that spares scientific services

Next-generation wireless services will demand massive increases in data traffic, requiring access to signals at higher frequencies than are presently used. This would disrupt scientific research, but a savvy sharing protocol offers a fix.

Janise McNair ⁰

Janise McNair
1. Janise McNair is in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA.
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Smartphones are rarely used for talking. Data services are taking over the spectrum of frequencies reserved for wireless communications, and as the sixth-generation (6G) global network appears on the horizon, the demand for such services will require 6G allocations to be extended to higher frequencies than are used at present. In 2019, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the commercial use of frequencies exceeding 100 gigahertz (1 GHz is 10⁹ Hz), allowing the 6G extension (see go.nature.com/3kzs2sd). But such activity would interfere with passive signals that are used for scientific services, such as radio astronomy, space research and satellite systems. Writing in Communications Engineering, Polese et al.¹ propose a way for active 6G applications to coexist with these passive services while using the same spectrum.

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Nature 606, 34-35 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-01306-w

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