Samsung released the first 5G phone in 2019 and that very same year it started work on the next generation of networks with the foundation of the Advanced Communications Research Center (ACRC) under Samsung Research. Now the Samsung Research America branch has partnered with Princeton University as a founding member of the NextG Initiative Corporate Affiliates Program.
Other affiliates include Ericsson, Intel, MediaTek, Nokia Bell Labs, Qualcomm and Vodafone. The goal is to convert academic research into real-world products. Besides academia and manufacturers, the program seeks to encourage cooperation with policymakers that will shape the laws and regulations for the future applications enabled by 6G.
”Our NextG program aims to foster those deep collaborations around wireless technology, as well as policy, that are required to drive meaningful innovation and global leadership in an era of rapid change,” said Andrea Goldsmith, Dean of Princeton’s School of Engineering and Applied Science.
The NextG Initiative is exploring new developments into cloud and edge networks, intelligent sensing and network resilience.
Work started early because it takes a long time – several years ago Samsung predicted that the first commercial applications of 6G could arrive in 2028, but mass commercialization won’t come until 2030. The plan for the new network tech is to deliver 1,000Gbps peak data rates and less than 100 microseconds latency.
