Japan-based KDDI Research and Nokia Bell Labs inked a joint research agreement to accelerate the development of sustainable, intelligent and resilient 6G networks.

The pair stated the partnership builds on a longstanding relationship and aims to lay the groundwork for transformative 6G services.

The collaboration will blend KDDI’s network data and operational expertise with Nokia Bell Labs’ advanced energy consumption models and knowledge of programmable network architectures.

For mMIMO energy efficiency, the two research companies plan to develop techniques to reduce power consumption at base stations while improving communication performance across proposed 6G spectrum.

The partnership also includes collaboration across distributed programmable core network services. The teams will co-develop mobile core technologies designed to maintain uninterrupted communication, even during infrastructure failures and natural disasters, to ensure network resiliency for 6G.

Peter Vetter, president, core research at Bell Labs, stated “tackling the inherent challenges in a new generation of networking requires close collaboration in the industry” to advance 6G as a resilient, efficient and intelligent technology.