Emergingby GlyphNokia says operators are trialing AI-RAN on NVIDIA Aerial RAN Computer
Nokia reported more than 20% spectral efficiency gains from its AI-RAN platform.
nokia.com
6G wireless
Researchmomentum 434,205 papers a year (+73%)19 companies
The mobile network generation after 5G, designed to use AI in the radio, new spectrum and radios that can also sense their surroundings.
Why research: 3GPP finished its first 6G radio study in June 2026 and set the functional freeze of the first 6G specs for December 2028. Jun 10, 2026
Dots under a month: dated events tracked here that month.
Events
All 25 eventsSamsung and Verizon complete an AI-powered ISAC trial on vRAN
The trial ran at a large soccer fan event in Dallas.
news.samsung.com
Study on Modernization of Specification Format and Procedures for 6G
3GPP creates specifications at the cutting edge of modern communications technology – but how “cutting-edge” are the technology and processes that 3GPP itself uses to create those specifications? In June 2025, a cross-3GPP Study Item was launched to review 3GPP’s specification formats and working me
3GPP news
3GPP approves TR 38.914, its first 6G RAN study
The report on 6G scenarios and requirements goes to ITU-R as input to IMT-2030.
3gpp.org
3GPP sets the Release 21 timeline for the first 6G standards
Stage 3 functional freeze is set for December 2028, with ASN.1 freeze in March 2029.
3gpp.org
Funding
Companies
All 20 companies
Nokia
Network vendor building AI-RAN on NVIDIA platforms and leading European 6G research.
nokia.com
NVIDIA
Supplies the Aerial AI-RAN computing platform and the 6G Research Cloud.
nvidia.com
Samsung Electronics
Develops 6G radio technology such as X-MIMO in 7 GHz, AI-RAN and ISAC.
samsung.com
Verizon
US operator that ran an ISAC trial on a virtualized network.
verizon.com
Qualcomm
Chip and standards company working on 6G air interface and prototypes.
qualcomm.com
LG Uplus
Korean operator researching ISAC for 6G with Samsung.
lguplus.com
Researchers and labs
All 53 researchers and labsChau Yuen
Publishes on 6G wireless at University of Electronic Science and Technology of China: 118 papers in 2 years.
Dusit Tao Niyato
Publishes on 6G wireless at Nanyang Technological University: 110 papers in 2 years.
Shi Jin
Publishes on 6G wireless at New York University Abu Dhabi: 104 papers in 2 years.
Keshav Kumar Singh
Publishes on 6G wireless at Chandigarh University: 97 papers in 2 years.
Hexa-X-II
European-level 6G flagship project defining the 6G system vision and demos.
Institute for the Wireless Internet of Things
Research on AI for wireless, 5G and 6G systems and open RAN testbeds.
Most cited papers
All 61 papersFlexible-Antenna Systems: A Pinching-Antenna Perspective
Zhiguo Ding, Robert Schober, H. Vincent Poor · IEEE Transactions on Communications
Overview of AI and communication for 6G network: fundamentals, challenges, and future research opportunities
Qimei Cui, Xiaohu You, Wei Ni et al. · Science China Information Sciences
Optimizing Secure Multi-User ISAC Systems With STAR-RIS: A Deep Reinforcement Learning Approach for 6G Networks
Mian Muhammad Kamal, Syed Zain Ul Abideen, Mahmoud Ahmad Al‐Khasawneh et al. · IEEE Access
The ITU Vision and Framework for 6G: Scenarios, Capabilities, and Enablers
Ruiqi Liu, Leyi Zhang, Yu-Ngok Ruyue Li et al. · IEEE Vehicular Technology Magazine
Cell-Free ISAC MIMO Systems: Joint Sensing and Communication Beamforming
Umut Demirhan, Ahmed Alkhateeb · IEEE Transactions on Communications
Patents
Power headroom report for a full-duplex transmission
Qualcomm Inc
Intermittent coverage in a non-terrestrial network
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson AB
Channel quality reporting for full duplex systems
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
Power headroom reporting in full-duplex systems
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
Measurement gaps for synchronization signal block measurement time configuration windows in non-terrestrial networks
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson AB
Power headroom reports assuming half duplex and/or full duplex
Qualcomm Inc
About 6g wireless here
- Sub-areas
- Standards (IMT-2030, 3GPP Rel-20/21)AI-native RANSub-THz and mmWaveIntegrated sensing and communicationNew spectrum and massive MIMOOpen and software RAN
- Stage evidence
- Research, Jun 10, 2026: 3GPP finished its first 6G radio study in June 2026 and set the functional freeze of the first 6G specs for December 2028. 3gpp.org
- Momentum
- 43 of 100: the mean of its ranks among the tracked fields for paper growth (94), funding in 12 months (0) and events in 90 days (34). Method
- Papers
- 4,205 in the 12 months ending two months ago, +73% against the 12 before (OpenAlex topics, journal and conference papers).
- Tracked here since
- Sep 25, 2026
- Weekly snapshots
- 5 weeks stored; latest Nov 2, 2026. JSON
Changes to this field
6G wireless
Tracked from here on: The mobile network generation after 5G, designed to use AI in the radio, new spectrum and radios that can also sense their surroundings.