FNTV discusses groundbreaking innovations in wireless technology from MWC 2025, including 6G, distributed computing, and XR with executives from Qualcomm, Keysight Technologies, and Mobile Experts.
Steve Saunders:
Welcome back to FNTV at MWC '25. I am Steve Saunders. Well, today I'm joined by Hemanth Sampath, VP of engineering at leading wireless solutions vendor, Qualcomm, Michael Dieudonne from Keysight Technologies, a tested measurement company originally spun out of Agilent, and of course Kyung Mun, principal analyst and mobile expert at Mobile Experts LLC. Well, is it too soon to talk about 6G? I don't think so. It's one of the big stories at this year's show, but I also want to talk to our experts about distributed computing and XR and the other tech that's dictating the evolution of our wireless industry. Hemanth, welcome. How do you envision the role of distributed computing in the evolution of wireless technologies?
Hemanth Sampath:
Well, thanks for the question. Pretty soon we are going to have a world where you have AR glasses, like the one that I'm wearing, talking to a 5G, 6G-enabled phone, a puck, a watch, and that's going to change the way how we interface with the world. And distributed compute is a key technology, because to get all-day use of this AR glass, you need to take the computer and distribute it to your puck, to your phone, or even to an edge server, either over 5G or over Wi-Fi, and that's how you're going to get all-day use and also seamless user experience.
Steve Saunders:
So that's going to be in the form of a teeny tiny processor?
Hemanth Sampath:
Yes, you're going to have processors-
Steve Saunders:
That's a technical term, by the way. I don't know if you're familiar with that. Yeah.
Hemanth Sampath:
Yeah, you're going to have processors on the phone, on the glass, on the watch, and edge servers, and your large language models and AI models and perception and rendering, they're all going to be split across these devices for a seamless user experience and for all-day use.
Steve Saunders:
Let me ask you Kyung, what about the data storage component of it, apart from the processing? Does that sit in the end user device or at the edge of the network or would my glasses or my tablet or whatever it is that I'm using be communicating back to data storage in a centralized location?
Kyung Mun:
Yeah, I mean as a former engineer, I like to say it depends, right? So you're going to need information, the communication and computing resources, but also on the devices as well as depending on the requirements on the form factors. But we would imagine there would be a lot of processing and a lot of storage and a lot of interaction between the different devices and form factors. I think so we will have both residency on the devices where it makes sense, but also on the edge devices, but also in a lot of it in the data centers in the core.
Steve Saunders:
So Michael, as a test and measurement vendor, is this an exciting opportunity? You're going to be having to create networks or analyze networks and equipment which are supporting XR, I imagine that's quite a challenge, isn't it?
Michael Dieudonne:
Correct. Yeah, that's a very interesting challenge. I think we're definitely working on that and I think when you look at how the things will be distributed in the system, there will be trade-offs to make, right? And all these trade-offs, you're better off doing that when you know and to know, you need to run experimentation, you need to measure things. And once you have measured them, you can try to take profit decision, right? You can train an AI system or look, if I do this, this is what happens. And then basically that's where you have this information coming from. You need to measure.
Steve Saunders:
Do you think, Hemanth, that this is primarily a consumer technology, 6G, or do you think that there are other industrial applications, for example, which are going to turn out to be a lot more important?
Hemanth Sampath:
Oh, it's going to span across the entire range of use cases from consumer, such as immersive communication, which can also be used for business and enterprise application, as well as the broader. 6G is also going to be about the broader operational efficiency of a network via the digital twin, and as well as AI native networks wherein the RAN, or the radio access network, and the devices adapt by using AI to give the user the best user experiences.
Steve Saunders:
Kyung, do you have any particular applications that we can't do now, but when 6G arrives we'll be enabled by them? Are there any thoughts you have on what you're particularly excited about?
Kyung Mun:
Well, actually, I'm excited about all the existing application we have today. Like fixed wireless access is a good use of the 5G. And also, we talk about 6G in the context of XR, extended radio, the glass that he has. I mean, those kind of devices will require a lot more bandwidth and a lot more capabilities, not just on the computing, but also on the connectivity aspect as well.
Steve Saunders:
Michael, what about you? Do you see any exciting applications coming up?
Michael Dieudonne:
Yeah, personally, I would go on immersive communication. I really would love to see the person I'm talking to in 3D in front of me. That would be really awesome and facilitate really the human interaction with people you don't see often, right? I mean, Mobile World Congress is a great show. You see everybody at the same time. Oh, it's the one year I seen you, right? That feeling, with immersive, you can really get rid of it. Now, of course, from a business perspective, that's just one side of the business, and I agree there will be plenty of other applications that are important that needs to be verified to make it.
Steve Saunders:
Fantastic. I know a lot of carriers are sort of pushing back on talking about 6G, but listening to you guys, it's clear that they need to be paying some attention to it right now. Thank you all very much for explaining the importance of this new technology. Thank you.
Hemanth Sampath:
Thank you.
Kyung Mun:
Thank you.
Michael Dieudonne:
Thank you.