IAFI organises ‘6G Spectrum, Technologies and Standardization’ Conference

As a first of its kind – flagship event, ITU-APT Foundation of India (IAFI) organized “The National Conference on 6G Spectrum, Technologies, and Standardization by ITU organized by on 19th April, 2023 in Bangalore’s Aloft Hotel. The event was well supported by the Department of Telecommunication and the partners of the conference were 5G IF and GSOA (Global Satellite Operators Association). CT was the exclusive media partner.

Attended by nearly 150 guests, the event had speakers and panelist exploring in depth IMT-2030 Framework Development Requirements & Use Cases; Spectrum for 6G; 6G standardization, 6G Technology Trends and Enabling ubiquitous connectivity and sustainability in the design of 6G for India.

As Chief Guest of the conference, Sanjeev Agrawal, Member Technology, Digital Communications Commission, (DoT), laid emphasis on the development of India’s 5G infrastructure as a national priority. He said 5G is critical to India’s industrial development to reduce the digital divide and make India Atma Nirbhar!

Projecting 5G’s continuance to 6G, Agarwal further added that 6G will address many new applications including Internet of senses. It will support many new and innovative applications in wireless connectivity, cognition, sensing and imaging.

However, new technologies like 5G and 6G will require planned and effective use of spectrum. In that context, Agarwal noted that, ITU and APT rules and recommendations provide necessary vision and guidance for national spectrum management policy. And that there should be more participation by various stakeholders in such discussions.

The event was kick started by the welcome address & the background presentation on IMT 2030 work in ITU by Bharat B Bhatia, President, IAFI. In his opening address, Bharat Bhatia highlighted the importance for India to take active part and influence of 6G discussions at the ITU level.

It was followed by the addresses by Guest of Honors – Sanjay Nayak, CEO, Tejas Networks, who highlighted the 4G stack being manufactured indigenously by his company.

Gulab Chand, Joint Wireless Advisor, WPC, Department of Telecommunications (DoT) highlighted the importance of advance planning for auction of spectrum that will be needed for 6G.

N. Sivasailam, Administrative Member, Karnataka State Administrative Tribunal, Bangalore and Former Special Secretary, Department of Telecommunications recalled the LMLC discussions and highlighted the importance of India’s participation in ITU and 3GPP from the beginning.

The first session discussed topics like the differences between 6G and the terrestrial component of IMT-2030. The Importance for India to collaborate with other countries in developing 6G technology, and of the engagements in international forums such as ITU, 3GPP, IEEE, Khronos, ORAN, etc. Besides, how the 5G technology would evolve into 6G and aspects of 5G that would still be seen in 6G system design.

The second session explored what kind of spectrum requirements are foreseen in the future and where are we in terms of spectrum allocation for 5G and 6G. Also, the bands which are being considered and the challenges to the mm Wave bands.

The third session looked at the importance for India to engage early and participate in 6G global standards development & the requirements to enhance India’s influence in the different standardization platforms. There was focus on finding the new slots of bands for 6G from within 7GHz to 15 GHz.

The fourth session addressed the new technology components that needs to fructify by 2030 and some of the current 5G application that needs to scale in that period. Also, the Technology enablers for 6G and how Machine type communications are evolving and the promising technologies for 6G.

The fifth session covered topics like Ubiquitous connectivity, Global connectivity, Cell connectivity, Ethical 6G and role of NTN and satellite communications in 6G.

The one-day event had eminent speakers and panelists like: Sanjeev Agrawal, Member Technology, DoT; Dr. Vinosh James, Director, Technical Standards, Qualcomm, Mr. Jishnu Aravindakshan, Principal Product Architect, Tejas Network; Mr. N K Bhola, Joint Wireless Advisor, South Region, WPC, DOT; Dheepan Raja, Group Manager, Vehicle Architecture, Vihicle Strategy & Integration, Volvo Group; Mr. Vikram Tiwathia, Deputy Director General, COAI; Dr. Aloknath De, Former CTO, Samsung R&D India; Mr. Amit Anand, CTO Strategy & Technology, NOKIA; Prof. Chandra R Murthy, Professor (EECS), IISC Bangalore,Mr. D.M Ezhil Buddhan (ITS), CGM Data Networks, DoT; Dr. Hanumantha Rao, Director General, Society for Applied Microwave Electronics Engineering and Research (SAMEER); Ms. Revathi Mannepalli, Joint Wireless Advisor, WPC, DoT; Mr. Bashir Patel, Global Spectrum & Policy Regulator, GSOA; Dr. Amioy Kumar, Tech Lead and Solutions Architect, Data Science, Client Computing Group, Intel Corporation and Mr. Ujjwal Kumar, Associate Director CUTS International among others.

CT Bureau