Nokia’s Technology Center in Ulm is one of Nokia’s R&D centers in Germany. Its work focuses on technology development for 5G, 5G Advanced, and 6G mobile networks.
The engineers are working on solutions covering system design, hardware, software, and verification—from concept and requirements definition, through implementation, to final laboratory tests.
As part of the project, Nokia is driving the requirements definition and concepts for the hardware and software to be developed, and is participating in algorithm development, the final demonstrators, and test setups at the Ulm site.
Infineon Technologies AG (IFAG) is a leading global provider of semiconductor solutions with approximately 58,000 employees. IFAG’s Power & Sensor Systems division has many years of expertise in RF data communication.
In the 6G-MIMOLink project, Infineon Technologies is responsible for researching and completely redesigning the MMIC antenna pixel, as well as researching and implementing the RF transceiver.
For about 20 years, the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute (HHI) has been collaborating with international partners on the development of innovative wireless systems, with a particular focus on theory, technical feasibility, simulation, and prototyping.
In the 6G-MIMO project, the HHI is responsible for researching and implementing the digital baseband board and the RF-TRX board—that is, integrating the components developed by the partners into a fully functional system. This effort is supported by the development of specialized software components, particularly beamforming and beamtracking algorithms.
The Technical University of Braunschweig is one of Germany’s nine leading technical universities (TU9) and contributes to 6G-MIMOLink through two departments: the Institute for CMOS Design (TUBS-CMOS) led by Prof.
Vadim Issakov brings extensive experience in the design of highly integrated analog and high-frequency circuits for radar and communications applications. At the Institute of Communications Engineering, the Department of Information Theory and Communication Systems (TUBS-IK) is headed by Prof. Eduard Jorswieck, who is recognized as an expert in the development of efficient algorithms for optimizing interference networks and has been conducting research on multi-antenna systems for mobile communications for over 25 years.
In this project, TUBS-CMOS contributes expertise in the design of highly integrated BiCMOS circuits. It researches and develops the front-end module and the up-down converter transceiver.
TUBS-IK researches, develops, and implements static and dynamic beamforming algorithms, as well as efficient algorithms for optimization and resource allocation.
IC4X GmbH was founded in 2018 and offers services related to IC development. In addition to IP development, PCB, package, and laminate design, the company also designs innovative ASICs and markets them as IP or products.
Since its founding, IC4X GmbH has continuously built and expanded a cost-intensive IC development and characterization infrastructure.
In the 6G-MIMO Link project, IC4X is researching the data converters (ADUs/DAUs) critical to the overall system, featuring maximum energy efficiency with a FOM > 160 dB, including an efficient serial data interface (JESD204 interface). IC4X is commissioning the ADC/DAC tape-out and handling the packaging.
Rohde & Schwarz is involved in the project as an associate partner and contributes expertise and equipment in the field of high-frequency measurement technology.
Rohde & Schwarz is a technology or market leader in all of its business areas, including mobile communications and high-frequency measurement technology, which is used in everything from development and quality assurance to production and service.
In particular, Rohde & Schwarz has over-the-air (OTA) test chambers and measurement instruments that enable the objective characterization of the module planned for the MIMOLink project, consisting of the “Smart Pixel Array” antenna unit and the baseband unit.
Telefónica Deutschland is involved in the 6G MIMOLink project as an associate partner and contributes the perspective of a mobile network operator.
This article focuses on the classification and evaluation of 6G MIMO concepts under realistic network, traffic, and operational conditions from the perspective of a future user.
In this way, Telefónica supports the consortium in the practical evaluation of the applicability and relevance of the research approaches, without itself being a project partner that exploits the results.