Keysight and the Royal Academy of Engineering Collaborate to Advance 6G Research

Sheffield University’s Professor Timothy O’Farrell has been awarded the prestigious Research Chair from the Royal Academy of Engineering, marking a significant milestone in Keysight’s collaboration to advance 6G mobile network development. Keysight's 6G program manager, Roger Nichols, played a key role in this achievement, contributing to the proposal and participating in the live interviews for the selection process.

The Research Chair program seeks to deepen collaboration between industry and academia by providing funding to support research for five years. This initiative is dedicated to advancing the pioneering 6G work underway at Sheffield University, home of the National 6G Radio Systems Facility.

Addressing the challenges of 6G will transform signal processing in radio systems and accelerate the rollout of 6G networks. Overcoming these hurdles will pave the way for a future of ultra-high-speed, low-latency communication, enabling applications that go far beyond what 5G can support. This will lay the foundation for an interconnected future where advanced applications and industries can thrive, making technology an even more integral part of everyday life.

6G wireless networks will bring much faster speeds, improved energy performance, and accessibility. Professor O’Farrell will work closely with Roger Nichols, and his team, based in Santa Rosa, CA.

This collaboration provides Keysight with direct research experience with a new air-interface concept in simulation and emulation tools, allowing Keysight to work on both conventional and AI/ML-enabled implementations simultaneously. This positions Keysight at the forefront of 6G innovation, which promises faster speeds, improved energy performance, and enhanced accessibility.

“Keysight has had a long and productive relationship with Professor O’Farrell and the University of Sheffield. It is quite an honor to have worked with O’Farrell in his successful application for this Research Chair position. We are putting the finishing touches on a five-year research plan, during which time O’Farrell and several technical organizations in Keysight will explore and refine his new ideas first in simulation and then in emulation. We are also very excited to be working through both conventional and AI/ML-enabled manifestations of this technology,” said Roger Nichols, 6G Program Manager at Keysight Technologies.