UK and Chinese Universities Team Up to Research Streaming Tech for 6G
A team of researchers from Edge Hill University’s Engineering Department and Sichuan University’s College of Electronics and Information Engineering – led by Professor Ray Sheriff – have joined forces to “pave the way for ultra-5G and 6G networks by investigating how Versatile Video Coding (VVC)” can be enhanced and optimised.
The collaborative project is being funded by a £12,000 Royal Society International Exchange Grant that supports UK-based researchers seeking international collaborations. The goal of this seems to be investigating how state-of-the-art video compression algorithms, called Versatile Video Coding (VVC), can be enhanced and optimised.
In theory, achievements on this front could have a wide range of applications, with video sharing and live video chats “anticipated to be a major feature of the 6G network“. Not forgetting that video content in general remains the main driver of both consumer mobile and fixed broadband traffic (around 70-80%).
In its first year, the project says it has already yielded “impactful joint research” looking at how to compress increasingly popular 360-degree videos and improve high-performance rate control (HPRC) algorithms, a key feature of 6G video sharing.
Professor Ray Sheriff, Associate Head of Engineering at Edge Hill University, said:
“While 5G networks are gradually being rolled out and popularised throughout the world, attention in the engineering community is already turning to the future and 6G. The potential applications of this technology are limitless, and we’re all excited to see where it might lead.
This exciting collaboration with Sichuan University enables our academics to work closely with its excellent engineers and scientists and puts us at the forefront of data-sharing technology.”
At this point we must profess to be slightly confused by the focus on 5G and 6G in this announcement, particularly its headline grabbing talk of “ground breaking research into 6G communications networks“, since video standards like VCC are widely used and are not particularly mobile-specific. In short, we can’t actually see where any of this will impact upon the design of the future 6G standard or network kit itself. But we might well be overlooking something.
The latest H.266 Versatile Video Coding (VVC) standard, which is said to offer around 50% more compression than the previous H.265, was completed in 2020, although its adoption has been slowed due to tedious licensing issues. Nevertheless, technologies like this are important because the more efficient your compression, the less broadband speed you need to show a high-quality video stream. The caveat is that you normally need ever more powerful CPU / GPUs to process ever more complex video compression methods.
Naturally, if the new project can find ways of making video streams even smaller – without losing quality, then that could help to lighten the data load on both fixed and mobile networks alike. But as we say, we’re not quite sure why this is all being promoted as something that is mobile-specific research, since such technology has just as many applications in helping fixed broadband services.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook and Linkedin.
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Great a deal that enables the CCP to steal more foreign tech, what could go wrong
I guarantee the device you just typed that hyperbole comment on was made in China or its components were. You may hate China but the fact is without them their would be no Western economy.
lol what rubbish. The Chinese were the ones leading the entire 5G market. Until an orange man said they were bad and we banned Huawei at the detriment of our own networks. You live in cloud cuckoo land m8, they have nothing to steal from us on mobile networks.
Let me guess John, you made that comment on your apple iPhone 13 pro max … you know that brand that once had “designed in California, made in china” at the back of their boxes… you anti Chinese folks make me laugh… as the person correctly pointed out without China, there wouldn’t be a western economy….
I guess you have never heard of Taiwan and Japan? The Earth will continue to spin without China, not quite the same the other way though.
I see the wumaos have found their way
The Chinese Communist Party != China
The CCP is responsible for billions of dollars of stolen IP… EVERY YEAR. In great part due to “agreements” (ie bribes to corrupt uni departments) like these
Too late to worry about it now. The time to stop China was 30 years ago before they let our manufacturing industry go so we could buy it cheaper from China.
As soon as I saw this story I knew there would be a comment like this and had a strong bond vibe as to who would post it.
John did not disappoint.
“the time to stop china” has always been present but it would certainly help if they weren’t the UKs biggest trade partner. It’s insane how we’ve taxed ourselves to death, only to buy subsidized crap from China, especially in the corrupt “green” energy sector
The good news is that almost a century of communist rule is collapsing in demographics
Such a shame that we have to relay so much on China, I am getting fed of buying stuff, even flipping flat pack furniture and seeing MADE IN CHINA on it.
It is easy to understand why people don’t trust them and yes I have got a Chinese phone, as makes no odds since every phone is made in China anyway
Speaking of codecs, how embarrassing is it that Apple has still yet to support AV1 on iOS?
Not embarrassing in the slightest, because guess what? iOS devices play videos just fine.
@Me: As long the video is available in a codec supported by Apple, yes, videos will play well. But the point is the time Apple takes to support newer, more efficient codecs. Well, at least open ones, because the ones where they patents and make money from are quickly adopted.
Apple being Apple.