At a test site in eastern China's Nanjing City, a monitoring system, which uses the advanced computing and sensing capabilities of 6G networks, identified an "illegal" drone within 0.1 seconds, and immediately displayed its model and main characteristics.
This is a new technology scenario being explored by Purple Mountain Laboratories (PMLabs). Engineers there have built a pilot cell-free 6G field testbed, which offers at least a 10-fold advantage in range, capacity, and spectral efficiency over 5G.
Over the next five years, China will transform its next-generation industries, including 6G mobile communications, into a new engine of economic growth. China's leading 6G research institute, PMLabs, is currently carving out a niche in the drone market.
In an emergency exercise simulating a storage tank fire accident last June, PMLabs' 6G cell-free technology was utilized to control a group of drones to complete the mission.
Additionally, in an innovation park in Beijing's northern suburbs, a 6G-enabled robot training ground is already in operation, testing how the new communications technology will power future intelligent machines.
Chinese economic policymakers now view the creation and launch of new application scenarios as a bridge connecting technology with industry and research with the market.
According to China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the country has been conducting 6G technology trials for four consecutive years. The first phase has now been completed, resulting in more than 300 major technical achievements.
In the future, 6G technology is expected to support complex remote surgery, indoor navigation with centimeter-scale accuracy, high-level assisted driving, and intelligent connections between a large number of devices.
Space infrastructure
This week, China Telecom, Tsinghua University, and several industry partners used a sat
ellite orbiting 20,000 kilometers above Earth's surface to verify connectivity in the polar regions, the open ocean, and the upcoming 6G era.