5G / 6 G in Dresden: Mobile communications of the future

The mobile communications network of tomorrow is being researched today in Dresden. While work is currently underway to introduce 5G, the University of Technology is already focusing on its successor. What do the new standards mean for the business and industry of the future, as well as network operators, mobile-phone providers and their customers? The TU specialised research is finding answers to this question. Dresden scientists are playing a major role in shaping the future of mobile communications.

With fast Internet, high speed data, new technologies, Dresden is the cradle of the next generation of mobile communications. 5G means much more than just fast mobile Internet. The data transfer rate is up to 100 times higher than for 4G, enabling more than just music, movies and images to be downloaded to Smartphones instantly online.

5G also facilitates digital networking and high-speed data exchanging. As such, the network will be able to support new fields of application and future-oriented technologies, and contribute significantly to areas such as Industry 4.0, smart health, autonomous farming, urban development, the Internet of Things (IoT), and much more.

Innovation network for communications technology

Cutting-edge international and interdisciplinary research is particularly on display in the TU Dresden’s 5G Lab Germany, the only one of its kind in the country. The centre pools expertise from 24 scientific disciplines in relation to the next generation of mobile communications. Professors and scientists engage in interdisciplinary co-operations, and work together to research what the communications of the future will look like. Supported by industry partners, research is also being conducted in the fields of hardware, wireless, network & mobile edge cloud, and tactile Internet applications.

The TU Dresden set a world record in mobile data transfer way back in 2015, creating the first ever data rates over 10.2 Gbit/s to be produced outside a laboratory in a real mobile communications network. As a comparison: That’s about 100 times faster than a good LTE connection.

5G in operation in Dresden

Dresden is a location for innovation - future topics are brought to market maturity. 5G is not only a new mobile communications standard, but also enables a fundamental transformation of our society. The rollout of the rapid mobile communications network is already in full swing. Already today, applications of the new mobile phone generation are being tested in Dresden in a variety of ways.

A place of innovation

Saxony’s state capital is not just a researching heartland; it’s also an important hub for science and business. With events such as the IEEE 5G Summit Dresden, the world’s largest 5G event, Dresden is becoming a key platform for innovation, networking and international exchange.

6G on the starting blocks

While 5G is still mobile communications standard of the future, researchers in Dresden are taking things a step further, having already started working on 6G at the TU Dresden’s 5G Lab, where 5G was created. This includes funding a project to build a measurement platform for the sixth generation of mobile communications. These measurement devices will be developing microchips for 6G. 5G is also already in use at a number of Dresden industrial establishments, including those of world famous companies like VW, Bosch and Global Foundries.