6G research on the rise: highlights of the Berlin 6G Conference

The "Berlin 6G Conference" kicked off on Tuesday, 2 July with a record attendance of around 900 experts from research, business and politics. The conference was organised by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hans D. Schotten, Head of the DFKI Intelligent Networks research department and his team. Federal Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger opened the international flagship conference of the German 6G research initiative with a clear message: "Germany is making powerful progress in 6G research."

Federal Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (left), Hans D. Schotten, Coordinator of the German 6G Platform and host of the Berlin 6G Conference and Tina Klüwer, Head of Research for Technological Sovereignty and Innovation (3rd from left).

Numerous innovative applications and demonstrators were presented at the conference, impressively illustrating the current state of research into the upcoming 6G mobile communications standard. Hans D. Schotten from the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) emphasised the decisive advantages of 6G:

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hans D. Schotten, Head of Intelligent Networks Research Department at the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI)

"The dramatically increased performance figures, the very high level of security and the new functionalities will enable many new applications. 6G is designed for people."
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hans D. Schotten, Head of Intelligent Networks Research Department at the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI)

Networked robotics and teleoperations - insights into 6G

The demonstrators presented at the conference provided an insight into the current state of research into the mobile phone generation of the future. One highlight of the exhibition was networked, collaborative robotics, which showed how 6G can increase productivity in the workplace. Direct collaboration between humans and robots enables numerous new applications in production and care.

Thanks to its low latency times, 6G enables operations over long distances - in real time.

A demonstrator from DFKI showed the application of highly reliable and low-latency 6G technologies for teleoperation, in which surgical robots can be used in networked ambulances. This technology promises to significantly improve and increase the efficiency of medical care.

In future, these robots (demonstrator from TU Dortmund University) will be networked via a local ad-hoc network and perform a wide variety of tasks.

Another demonstrator visualised the immersive control of a team of robots on a rescue mission. In the future, these robots will be reliably networked with each other via a local ad hoc network and take on various tasks - from setting up the network to sensor-based reconnaissance and physical support for the rescue teams on site.

International cooperation and standardisation

The Berlin 6G Conference offered numerous presentations and discussion panels that provided an in-depth insight into international 6G research projects. The topics ranged from scientific contributions on the design of 6G to preparatory measures for standardisation and the promotion of start-ups.

Hans D. Schotten, Coordinator of the German 6G Platform, welcomes Federal Minister Stark-Watzinger, Chargé d'Affaires of the Canadian Embassy Evelyne Coulombe and other guests of honour.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hans D. Schotten, Head of Research Department Intelligent Networks at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) at the opening of "Berlin 6G-Conference 2024".

In future, surgical robots will be used in mobile, specially equipped and networked ambulances.

Researchers presented a wide variety of new 6G technology modules through to fully integrated solutions.

The 6th Berlin 6G Conference offers an insight into the current state of international research on 6G.

"Our conference is the ideal place to exchange ideas and network. In the end, there should be a global 6G standard - and we want to have played a significant role in shaping it."
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hans D. Schotten

Contact:

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hans Dieter Schotten

Head of Intelligent Networks, DFKI

Hans_Dieter.Schotten@dfki.de
Phone: +49 631 20575 3000

Press contact:

Jeremy Gob

Communications & Media, DFKI KL

Jeremy.Gob@dfki.de
Phone: +49 631 20575 1730