Huawei was crowned as the China's leading smartphone manufacturer, snatching the title from Xiaomi. (Photo : REUTERS)
Chinese technology powerhouse Huawei has joined the recently opened 5G Innovation Centre (5GIC) of the University of Surrey in the U.K.
The center, which is the world's current largest academic research center for mobile and wireless connectivity, aims to develop the next generation of wireless technology, the university said.
The 5GIC houses over 170 researchers and has now attracted investments worth $108 million.
Apart from Huawei, the center is also joined by other telecom carriers like O2, EE, Vodafone, and other technology companies such as Fujitsu and Imagination Technologies.
The researchers affiliated with the center have already developed a technology providing a 1 terabit per second (Tbps) speed. This is a thousand times faster than the highest 4G speed available.
The 5GIC has filed more than 15 patents.
Professor Rahim Tafazolli, 5GIC director, said that "while we have already achieved record-breaking speeds, 5G is not only about delivering faster mobile Internet."
"It is a transformative set of technologies that will radically change our private and professional lives by enabling innovative applications and services, such as remote healthcare, wireless robots, driverless cars and connected homes and cities," he said.
Apart from the 5GIC, the university also unveiled a new testbed facility at will provide researchers with a fully functioning advanced 4G network, which will be upgraded to cover large-scale Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G technologies.
Jo Johnson, U.K.'s Minister for Universities and Science, said that "the government wants the U.K. to be the best place in Europe to innovate and we are committed to supporting collaborations like this one to ensure pioneering research continues to improve people's lives."
