Professor Ari Pouttu appointed director of 6G research at University of Oulu
At the EuCNC & 6G Summit in Poznań—Europe’s foremost event in the field this year—the University of Oulu unveiled both its new 6G leadership and the tenth issue of 6G Waves. This edition of the magazine highlights research infrastructures and their essential role in international collaboration.
“The importance of research infrastructures has grown as the systems under study become increasingly complex. It’s critical to conduct hands-on testing from the earliest stages. Real-world environments are indispensable for evaluating the latest mobile-network technologies across diverse application areas. Such testing enables research to underpin industry standardisation genuinely and to anticipate and meet society’s future needs. This vision took shape in 2015, when we set out to build our 5G test network. Since then, it has supported dozens of major, European Commission–funded projects under the 6G Flagship and has already evolved into 6G testing in the radio spectrum,” write professors Ari Pouttu and Matti Latva-aho in their joint editorial for the tenth issue of 6G Waves.
In their editorial, the two professors spotlight the newly opened 6G Test Centre in Oulu—part of NATO’s DIANA programme—which offers industry an unparalleled suite of dual-use research facilities and equipment.
“Our test network functions as both a private and a commercial 5G system, extending beyond campus to four key sites: the OuluZone driving range; the University Hospital’s indoor network; the Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory; and the Callio underground laboratory in the Pyhäsalmi Mine. Together, they enable comprehensive Arctic-condition trials—land and aerial, mobile, indoor and outdoor—while supporting fully remote experimentation. Globally, our 6G Test Centre leads in dual-use innovation for extreme-environment research and 6G testing.”
Ari Pouttu is professor of Wireless Systems and Intelligent Networks at the University of Oulu. His research in wireless communications focuses on digital data transmission, and he has extensive experience leading defence-sector R&D projects. Pouttu’s distinguished career began in the mid-1990s with his master’s thesis, in which he developed a communication system for fighter aircraft.
He served as director of the Centre for Wireless Communications at the University of Oulu from 2006 to 2012. Today, he leads a research group dedicated to reliable wireless solutions across energy, healthcare, industry, transportation and logistics, and oversees the University’s 5G and 6G test-network R&D.