With their application "6GEM open - efficient - secure - safe", the RWTH Aachen University, the Ruhr-University Bochum, the Dortmund University of Technology and the University of Duisburg-Essen were successful in a call for proposals issued by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The four universities will work together with four non-university research institutions on future communication technologies in 6G mobile communications from August 1, 2021. Co-applicants were the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics, the Fraunhofer Institute for Microelectronic Circuits and Systems, the Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Technology and the Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy. The 6GEM consortium combines scientific excellence and mobile communications expertise at the network, material, component/microchip and module levels in North Rhine-Westphalia. Experience in their implementation and worldwide networking is also available. A holistic approach is being pursued, from production and logistics to people with their needs for self-determination, privacy and security in times of climate change. The added value of future 6G systems for socially and industrially highly relevant use cases will be demonstrated. For this purpose, seven test sites will be integrated and equipped with 6G systems: A digital operating room at the University of Düsseldorf, a smart hospital at the University Hospital Essen, the German Rescue Robotics Center in Dortmund, the high-speed intralogistics of the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics in Dortmund, the highly automated production environments of the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology in Aachen, a large-scale port logistics in Duisburg, and road traffic scenarios from the city center to the highway in Aldenhoven. The results of the scientific work are expected to generate patents on a large scale.
