DOD turns its focus to 6G with concept that could help sense drones
As the Defense Department anticipates the wireless networks of the future for warfighting missions, it has shifted its focus for research and development primarily to 6G wireless technologies, Marlan Macklin, deputy principal director for the Pentagon’s FutureG Office, said Wednesday.
The DOD is looking to the next-generation wireless tech to further build on the improved speeds, latency and capacity it gained with 5G and support the U.S. military’s use of new capabilities at the edge.
With that, Macklin said the Pentagon is beginning to experiment with 6G in a variety of ways.
“6G will introduce some new features that some of the community are aware of, but I don’t think all fully appreciate the implications of that,” Macklin said at Elastic’s Public Sector Summit, produced by FedScoop.
As an example, the FutureG Office has been experimenting with a concept called Integrated Sensing and Communication, which uses radio frequencies of all objects — including those not actively transmitting data — connected to a network to create situational awareness of the surrounding environment, according to Macklin.
“So as these RF signals are going out there, moving from radio towers connecting to our devices, they transmit our voice data … they transmit data as our devices connect to the internet. But as those RF signals are bouncing around the environment, they can also paint a picture of what’s going on in that environment,” he explained.
One way in which the U.S. military could apply this emerging concept is to improve awareness and management of drones in a given environment, Macklin said.
“We’ve got a lot of drone delivery businesses that will expand their operations, right? So where we understand the standards are currently heading with that is drone swarm control, drone deconfliction, and then also drone detection,” he said.
Macklin continued: “If you’ve been tracking what’s been going on in the news recently, when you add a national security perspective to that, we sure have had a lot of incidents where folks who are weaponizing commercial drones. So I think your imagination can run pretty fast with why that is important, why we need to lead innovation in that area.”
Late last year, the Defense Department expressed frustration when it couldn’t figure out who was responsible for flying drones near military installations in New Jersey. But a new capability like Integrated Sensing and Communication supported by 6G might aid in addressing such incidents with threatening drones, Macklin implied.
And, because of existing investments in 5G wireless technology, fielding 6G shouldn’t come with a huge price tag in terms of supporting infrastructure.
A capability like Integrated Sensing and Communication “will be integrated into existing digital infrastructure. You don’t need to add a lot of new equipment. You can provide new capabilities out of existing infrastructure,” Macklin said.
As the Pentagon continues its efforts to explore and adopt next-generation wireless technologies like 6G, Macklin said it’s participating in a “whole-of-government approach” that allows modularity and interoperability called Open Radio Access Network, or Open RAN. He called it “our big play to drive innovation within the U.S. and with other stakeholders.”
In November, the department awarded Hughes Network Systems a $6.5 million contract to develop an Open RAN prototype at Fort Bliss, Texas, to test and evaluate advanced wireless capabilities for military applications. The capability was expected to offer “increased functionality and scalability of 5G wireless networks, incorporation of artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) into DoD systems, and greater flexibility in acquiring or replacing the software and hardware used in military equipment,” the department stated in a press release.
