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Future technologies for an intelligent society

Digital infrastructure plays a critical role in our society, with communication technologies helping to address social, environmental, and economic challenges all across the globe. The intelligent network platform will be reinvented to meet new needs and include capabilities beyond connectivity. This reinvented network will form the core of our digital infrastructure. We work to ensure that the robust 5G network platform of today continues to evolve towards the 6G era, delivering new capabilities and the kind of extreme performance required by application areas like the internet of senses and communication among intelligent machines.

Our research agenda comprises a set of technology journeys towards 2030 and the 6G era. These technology journeys outline our view of technology evolution in the coming years and guide our research activities. 

Four of these technology journeys emphasize use case needs, exploring the demanding requirements future use cases will place on the network platform, and suggesting new capabilities they will need. The other four capture the evolution of the intelligent network platform itself.

Between today and each of the end scenarios, there is an exciting technology journey consisting of multiple tracks.

The 2030 vision is also our 6G vision. 2030 is the timeframe when we see 6G emerging as the future intelligent network platform. Presently, we have a very broad definition of 6G including all aspects highlighted by the technology journeys.

Technology journeys infograph

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Explore the technology journeys

Internet of senses

The Internet of Senses is a vision of a future where eXtended Reality (XR) offers a full sensory experience, making XR indistinguishable from physical reality. We will be able to touch and interact with holographic objects and even feel their smell and taste.

Connected intelligent machines

The Connected intelligent machines is a future scenario where the traffic in mobile networks is dominated by ubiquitous systems of systems consisting of machines, intelligent agents, and AIs communicating with each other, rather than by traffic consumed and generated by humans.

Digitalized programmable physical world

In a digitalized and programmable physical world, we have created a digital representation of our planet. Every physical object has a digital twin that captures the state and behavior of its physical counterpart in real time, in the past, present, and even future.

Connected sustainable world

In the connected sustainable world, information and communications technology (ICT) has enabled us to build a better planet. It has helped us tackle global challenges and fulfill the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Limitless connectivity

Limitless connectivity is a vision where mobile networks deliver limitless connectivity for all applications, allowing anyone and anything to connect truly anywhere and at any time.

Trustworthy systems

Trustworthy Systems is about elevating the trustworthiness of mobile networks, including network security, privacy, reliability, availability, and resilience, to a level where even the most business and mission critical needs of future applications can be satisfied.

Cognitive network

A Cognitive Network is a network that operates with full autonomy, is capable of continuous self-learning and machine-reasoning at scale. It uses the knowledge it has gathered in the past to solve new types of problems without involving humans in the loop.

Network compute fabric

The Network Compute Fabric integrates connectivity with real time compute and storage at the edge of the network, turning the network into a unified execution environment for distributed applications.

Each technology area has its own transformative potential– but it is the combinatorial effects of the technology developments that will unleash disruptive transformations. In the past, as an example, smartphones combined technology development in processing, memory, cloud, connectivity, and battery to create a new disruptive offering. More recently, additional transformative technologies have emerged – AI, edge computing, IoT, extended reality, new computing paradigms, and smart materials.

Going forward, technology progress will make possible a fully digitalized, automated, and programmable world of connected humans, machines, things, and places. All experiences and sensations will be transparent across the boundaries of physical and virtual realities. It is a world where both humans and the machines that serve us are augmented by intelligent interactions with each other and with autonomous systems.

The network platform will serve as the spinal cord of the digital infrastructure, with the ability to carry vital messages, commands, intelligence, and all the required sensory information.

Explore how 6g technology could shape the future.

Technology forces driving our industry forward

10 exponential technological forces
10 exponential technological forces
As the basis for our technology journeys, we identified ten major technology trends that will be of key importance in the coming ten years. We continuously monitor a wide variety of technological forces in areas such as AI, smart materials, new computing paradigms (towards quantum), sensor technology, robotization, smart materials, and many more, considering both their relevance and how they might fit together. Real impact comes from combinations of such trends enforcing each other.

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Ready to create the future?

Imagine a world where limitless connectivity means limitless possibility. By creating connections that make the unimaginable possible, we are helping to shape an exciting and positive future. A world where limitless connectivity improves lives, redefines business and pioneers a sustainable future.

We invite you to explore the potential and power of limitless connectivity and what it means for our future world.

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Discover D-15

Ericsson D-15 is our state-of-the-art innovation center in Santa Clara, California, where you can collaborate with a dynamic ecosystem of experts and leading-industry partners to develop game-changing solutions driven by our ultra-low latency 5G powered platform.

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