IMDA said the new 6G hub is the first R&D lab in Southeast Asia
Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) has partnered with the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), with the aim of launching what it claims to be the first 6G-focused R&D lab in Southeast Asia.
The SUTD’s Future Communications Connectivity (FCC) Lab will also look to combine research and development related to future 6G systems with SUTD’s AI Mega Center. FCCLab will focus on 6G research and support emerging technologies such as holographic communications and intelligent sensing capabilities to support the next generation of self-driving cars and drones.
Lew Chuen Hong, CEO at IMDA said, “The innovations of today are not possible without constant investment and keeping our eyes on the next bound. We are excited to partner SUTD to launch Southeast Asia’s first 6G Lab. This is the start of our efforts to tap into the promise of future communications tech and become a global node of excellence.”
SUTD president Professor Chong Tow Chong said: “SUTD is pleased to partner IMDA, to progress the industry’s research and educational institutions for talent development in Singapore’s wireless communications ecosystem.”
The lab is part of Singapore’s SGD70 million ($49.7 million) Future Communications Research & Development Program, which is hosted by SUTD and supported by the National Research Foundation.
IMDA also stated the testbed will follow 3GPP and O-RAN standards to provide “easy evaluation of research outcomes.”
IMDA also noted that Singapore has already arranged 6G partnerships with leading 6G institutions such as Finland’s 6G Flagship, and the Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences.
Earlier this year, Keysight Technologies was selected by the Center for Disruptive Photonic Technologies in Singapore for the provision of its software-centric test and measurement solutions to advance as-yet-unstandardized 6G technology based on terahertz frequencies. The center chose Keysight’s solutions to validate on-chip terahertz electronic-photonic devices such as transceivers. Located at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), the center leverages terahertz frequencies to develop a electronic-photonic hybrid approach. It can be used to design mobile devices capable of efficiently operating at data rates of up to several terabits per second (Tbps). Many emerging applications and future 6G use cases, including augmented reality, holographic communication and mobile edge computing rely on such high data rate speeds, Keysight said.
Last year, 6G Flagship, a Finnish 6G research initiative and Singapore had agreed on mutual 6G technology collaboration.
Under the terms of this agreement, 6G Flagship coordinated by the University of Oulu, and Singapore will launch research and development collaboration on 6G technology. The two parties also aim to contribute to global standardization and regulatory development of 6G technology.
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