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 Science News Service©™
April 1, 2015 7:21 AM UTC
Geneva, Switzerland
Proposed 6G Cellular Standard Announced
 In a move reminiscent
of Microsoft announcing skipping from Windows 8.1 directly to
Windows 10 in order to emphasize the significant step in functionality, the
NexGen Mobile Network Alliance circulated a press release detailing plans to skip past the in-process
5G standard (originally
slated for a 2020 release date) and proceed forthwith to 6G (see proposed
logo). Unanticipated advances in breakthrough
quantum computing algorithms, terabit data rates over dilithium optical cables, and transmutational
hypercubic encoding schemes has prompted regulators to abandon work on 5G after hardware manufacturers
including both phone and tower equipment companies petitioned the standards body to save them the engineering
and production costs that would be involved in supporting what would certainly be a very short term
compliance requirement.
Departing from its historic role of stipulating only strictly communications-related requirements
and allowing hardware makers to decide what types of devices would be developed and marketed, the NexGen
Mobile Network Alliance has expanded its purview as a specification and enforcement body to include
dictating certain features and configurations that compliant systems must incorporate. The verb
"shall"
has been significantly expanded in use throughout the preliminary proposal document in order to stress
an expectation of mandatory adherence to the body's dictates. Examples include the need for all connected
devices to interface seamlessly with 3-D printer protocols, medical monitoring and drug administration
standards, holographic device displays, user intention prediction and motive assessment, pervasive contactless
charging stations, geographic location and isolation capability, law enforcement disabling and apprehension
initiatives, modular compartmentalization of functional blocks, and real-time software and firmware
updating that includes blocking of hardware functions that do not comport with 6G requirements.
Recent Feral Communications Commission (FCC) and Orifice of Communications (Ofcom) enactment of "Net Neutrality" regulations are another motivation for in-process
5G specifications to be laid aside while awaiting solidification of these new laws and allowing challenges
to be resolved in the nations' court systems. Lawyers on both sides of the issue work as this is being
written to craft unassailable arguments both for and against a more heavy-handed approach to Internet
access, licensing, and a new form of taxation never before imposed on society at large. In the present
age of ubiquitous communications abetted by multiple forms of intermediary devices, there is according
to both sides a disappearing distinction between the Internet and cellular communications, therefore
necessitating clear guidelines on implementation, regulation, conformance, levying of fines, and criminal
prosecution.
Because of the Herculean effort needed to craft such a momentous standard, the NexGen Mobile Network
Alliance has filed for reorganization and incorporation as a for-profit conglomerate that encompasses
itself and all companies desiring to conduct business activities within the legal realms of its responsibilities.
Doing so provides protection against frivolous lawsuits expected to be filed by litigants lacking the
financial resources deemed necessary by the governing body to fund research, development, and marketing
of compliant systems and devices. Most notably immediately excluded are crowd-funded endeavors that
have become a popular and important venue of creativity and a source of affordable cutting-edge technologies.
Speaking on conditions of anonymity, founders of many start-up groups and angel fund managers voiced
grave concern over the chilling effect such draconian laws would have on traditional garage- and basement-based
entrepreneurs who will suddenly find themselves facing a judge in a courtroom to justify their activities.
Legal representation costs will quash any hope of a successful challenge on a right to pursue development
outside the realm of a sanctioned corporation. Product liability issues, according to lawyers opposed
to the 6G regulations, place non-compliant companies directly in the crosshairs of megacorporation legal
team scopes.
The good news in all of this is that the cellphones and any other 'connected' devices can be expected
to remain 'current' for many years while technical and legal details of the 6G system are hashed out
among regulators, bureaucrats, and courts. For a while, at least, you can confidently buy a new phone
without worrying that it will be obsolete in six months.
6G's trademarked slogan of "A New Dimension in Communications™" promises to be a multi-faceted undertaking.
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Copyright 2015. All rights reserved.
Written by Kirt Blattenberger for April
Fool's Day, 2015. A search of Science News Services, Lyon Legal Justice Partners, and International
Brotherhood of Electronics Assemblers turned up no for-real entities by those names.
Read other Science News Service Press Releases:
Posted April 1, 2015
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