Although Finland lives only 5 million people, it leads one of the most ambitious 6G programs in the world. The 6G Flagship, the first dedicated 6G research program, established the University of Oulu as a reference point for those asking what 6G is. The programme is within the Finland national flagship framework and supported by the Finland Research Council, and links long-term research with the national innovation policy.
Finland on social media ju
Professor Ali Putu, director of 6G flagship, said: “SNS JU is where Europe brings the strands together. Through the 6G flagship, the Or University team is in the middle. We help drive the system view with Hexa-X-II. We contribute to sharing experiments via 6G-sandbox, 6G-XR and Sunise-6g via 6G-sandbox, 6G-XR and Sunise-6g. The SNS JU project is to move ideas from AI-Native Radio and Terahertz to the edge of programmatic and reliable design, and to the industry’s shared European platform.
Finland’s Ecosystem
If Finnish companies want to see their products work in their future networks, they can resort to 6G flagships. The facility complements vendor test bends by providing a neutral academic environment where small and medium-sized businesses and large businesses can try out ideas with researchers.
For small businesses, this type of access is critical. Startups use test networks to observe how ideas behave in conditions that are closer to actual deployment, refine their designs, and understand how emerging standards affect their business. “When you’re on, you can’t afford to build your own test environment,” says Ali Putu. “We allow us to test and learn quickly in realistic conditions. This can be a difference in ideas that will survive or fail.”
Large companies work with researchers on issues that require high performance and reliability. “The role of our testbed is to give players, both large and small, the opportunity to experiment alongside us,” Pouttu points out. “The flow between research and industry brings Finland’s agility. We don’t wait for a commercial 6G network before testing our solutions. And we move what we discover directly to the European project.”
Strategic Research Fields
Behind the test network of 6G flagship and the public image of the European project is the daily work of over 500 researchers. The program is organized around four strategic research areas that cover the entire chain. From the physics of wireless signals to the hardware that enables them, the intelligence that drives the network, and services that get you exposed to people’s lives.
The field of wireless connectivity research led by Professor Markku Juntti will be used to develop basic theories and create future wireless access and network solutions with transceiver algorithms and system optimization. This is a collaborative effort of multiple research groups with diverse backgrounds, skill sets, and field of methodological expertise. The goal is to enable connectivity with new 6G use cases such as network artificial intelligence (AI), integrated sensing and communication (ISAC), and ubiquitous connections such as more classic immersive communication.
“Our goal is to enable sustainable and resilient connections with networks that allow for digital twinning of physical environments and services,” explains Juntti. This work underpins Europe’s vision of networks that are useful for communication and sensing, allowing real-time awareness of the environment.
Under Professor Aarno Pärssinen, devices and circuit technologies transform important concepts into working hardware. This group is based on more than a century of Finnish expertise in radio engineering. They research and design circuits and subsystems that can operate at frequencies beyond today’s limits. Oulu’s RF and EMC Laboratories offer testing up to 330 GHz. Pärssinen explains the orbit as follows: “Research needs to gradually move towards more complex subsystems.
Associate Professor Miguel Bordaro Lopez leads the distributed intelligence. His work lies at the intersection of computer vision, artificial intelligence and wireless systems, and combines multimodal data to enable decisions at the edge of a network. For healthcare, transportation and other important sectors, this means embedding intelligence close to users and sensors. “We are working to ensure that intelligence is not centralized, yet distributed and uneven,” says Bordaro Lopez, as “many applications do not tolerate delays or reliance on distant servers.”
Finally, human-centered wireless services are coordinated by Professor Ali Putu himself, along with his supervising duties. Here we focus on the integration of 6G’s social impacts and European policy goals. All’s test environments allow the industry to see how 6G technology actually works, whether it’s an energy grid, a factory or a hospital. “6G affects the way value is created throughout the economy,” claims Pouttu.
The research field shows the scale of the 6G flagship. The program covers signal physics, device design, intelligence distribution, and integration of services into everyday life. Each strand is fed to the other strands, and 6G research makes it more like a live system than a pipeline. The next step is to actually test these ideas. This is the role of the 6G Test Center.
6G Test Center
Oulu’s 6G Test Centre (6GTC) is where research concepts meet the actual conditions. It combines advanced 5G/6G commercial and tactical networks in field testing in harsh environments over secure hybrid network environments, cutting-edge laboratories, and 5G/6G-enabled networks. These features extend from city streets to Arctic topography, providing researchers with an environment spectrum for testing new technologies.
Within the facility, experiments can be performed at frequencies up to 330 GHz using Anechoic Chambers, software-defined radio and precision measurement tools. Beyond the lab, testing extends to the harsh climate of northern Finland for Sodankira’s Arctic experiments, including the Oulzon automobile and UXS test truck, the Pihasalmi mining area for underground testing, and the Sodankira Geophysical Observatory and the Finland’s Tension Research Institute. All of these sites are connected via a resilient 5G/6G-enabled network. This combination creates a unique environment for testing test techniques prior to commercial deployment.
6G Test Centers open the door to businesses of all sizes, from start-ups to multinationals, and have access to equipment and expertise that would otherwise be out of reach. Director Hannu Nikurautio explained: “The hybrid 5G/6G and tactical test networks, including ground and non-terrestrial (TN/NTN) features, together with lab facilities and environmental field testing capabilities, form the number one academic environment for next-generation wireless technology. Authorities are here.”
He recalls the steps into NATO’s orbit. “When Finland joined the alliance in 2023, the Ministry of Defense appointed Oulu and VTT’s Otaniemi campus to host NATO’s Defense Innovation Accelerator (Diana) advanced wireless networks.”
For Nikurautio, the result would be: “Being part of NATO Diana means our doors are open from the alliance to innovators. Startups can bring dual-used products and solutions ideas here for testing, evaluation, verification, and verification (TEVV) with a full-scale hybrid network that supports both world-class, rare wireless measurement equipment and state-of-the-art measuring equipment, as well as state-of-the-art measuring equipment, and the environment.”
He emphasizes the role of double use. “Most European testbeds focus solely on civilian applications. Here they are made up of the beginning to serve both civilian and defence purposes: a safe sandbox that can actually test resilience.
Resilience as a design principle
“A few years ago, we still believed that networks could be designed on the best base,” recalls Ari Pouttu. “The era is over. Climate change is already creating floods, fires and storms. This cuts off the entire region. The hybrid threat is growing. In Ukraine, mobile networks are being fired in Finland. Not only is it reliable, but it’s resilience.”
Pouttu discerns carefully. “Reliability means that a service will work 99% of the time. Robustness means resisting known stress. Resilience goes further. It means adapting to the unknown, rerouting around the failure, and quickly recovering from the confusion.
That requirement changes the paradigm of 6G research. The 6G flagship is currently investing in architectures that use mesh networking, distributed intelligence and local energy supply, so a single point of failure cannot disrupt the system. “Even if the grid fails, we should be able to power the base station from local renewables,” explains Pouttu. “If one network path is clogged, you should be able to reroute it through another network path. AI is part of this, and you need to learn how to detect new threats and adapt on the fly.”
Communication is no longer alone, and therefore has a high interest. “The power grid, healthcare, finance and transportation all depend on them,” Pouttu points out. “If the network fails, the rest will continue. These cascade effects are why resilience must be treated as part of social sustainability. It is as crucial to European security as green transitions.”
The institutions are beginning to respond. Social Media JU lists resilience among its central priorities, and 3GPP has opened a discussion about how it can be included in the standard. However, Pouttu argues that research alone is not enough. “Standardization and regulations are not being paid sufficient attention,” he warns. “According to the EU and the World Bank, every euro invested in resilience will turn back four people. The business case is there. What we need now is a political will to make resilience a requirement rather than an afterthought.”
The agenda is compiled in the Resilience White Paper, currently under preparation for the 6G flagship, and will be released at the 6G Resilience Summit held in November this year. For Pouttu, the conclusion is clear. “Digital sovereignty does not depend on the speed of life more than endurance. If Europe wants a reliable network, resilience must be at the heart of it.”
This article will also be featured in the 24th edition of Quarterly Publishing.
Source link
