Work on installing the fifth-generation mobile communication system (5G) started in around 2020 and is now fully under way (as of March 2021), and there are high expectations for its use.
Mobile communication systems have evolved from communication infrastructure (1G–3G) to living infrastructure (4G), and have become an indispensable element in the lives of individuals. 5G has become a social infrastructure that connects not only people but also things, such as in the Internet of Things (IoT).
Cyber physical systems (CPSs), in which people interact with each other, people with things, and things with things through cyber space, have become significant in various aspects of social life.
In the next-generation mobile communication systems (Beyond 5G/6G), the communication network supporting the CPSs will serve as the nerve network of society itself. In other words, it is expected that communications networks, which will be centered on mobile communications systems, will serve as the fundamental infrastructure of society in the future.

In the physical space, not only the conventional mobile system for smartphones operated by mobile operators but also non-terrestrial wireless systems such as unmanned aerial vehicle, satellites, and communication systems that transmit and receive terahertz waves that did not exist are integrated as a unified system with virtual network technologies and photonic network technologies.

On the other hand, in cyberspace, a space corresponding to physical space is defined. In addition to realistic reproduction of physical space, subspaces corresponding to various application scenarios are superimposed and reproduced in an overlapping manner to predict the future in advance. By utilizing CPS, various data in the real world (physical space) can be collected by sensor networks, etc.,. and analyzed and knowledged in cyberspace by making full use of large-scale data processing technology, etc. to drive the physical space optimally. And by using it, we can expect to revitalize the industry and solve social problems.

We, “Beyond 5G R&D Promotion Unit” strongly promotes the R&D of cutting-edge elemental technologies within the Organization as a command tower for R&D toward the realization of Beyond 5G/6G at NICT.
We believe that by making us (Beyond 5G/6G Promotion Unit) function as a place where various communities in different fields and collaborate and co-create, people can freely create new value and be able to lead to the achievement of SDGs and Society 5.0.
Beyond 5G/6G is the new world where people from different fields bring technologies and ideas and work together to realize them. We are looking forward to collaborating with you.