Huawei in Italy has the headquarters for the study of microwaves, the frequency spectrum and the transmission speed, the backbone of the 5G today under trial in terms of cyber security. He reports it in a very interesting article on Business and Finance.
Precisely in Segrate, a suburb of Milan. There Huawei designs the voice and ears of the "tube" in which all the information will pass.
In Segrate and Lorenteggio the engineers of the Chinese giant work on microwaves, the heart of the new system. A global network, from Shenzhen to Bangalore, from Moscow to Paris, plans the future.
A part of the Chinese giant's octopus and its immense technological power is in Shenzhen, many other thinking tentacles are scattered on the planet. That of Segrate is the heart and the voice of 5G, and of its applications for that technology that helps and scares: artificial intelligence.
The center of Segrate is anonymous: no triumphal signs, a front door with a combination lock, and then elevators that lead to the second floor, in the realm of machines and new materials that are replacing the now prehistoric silicon.
Here are all engineers, and very young. Ten years ago only the 13% had less than 35 years, today the percentage of baby-brains has risen to 67%. And they are all high frequency specialists. "One of the strengths of ICTs is speed - explains one of the technicians who accompany me - and here we perfect it. We are able to anticipate today the future of the sector between 5 years, and we invest ". The frequencies are like skyscrapers. To see farther you need to climb more and more, and get closer to the speed of light by refining technology.
It is here in Segrate that there is one of the few anechoic chambers in the world, produced in Spain and whose task is to reduce the reflection of the signals: it simulates an open space of infinite dimensions.
It is here that the speed of the Gallium Nitride and Gallium Arsenium in semiconductors is experimented. It is here that tests are carried out to allow the micro-eraders of the 5G network to withstand temperatures above 85 degrees and with an industrial life of at least 100 years.
And this is where all this translates into 6G research. "In a very close tomorrow - they explain - you can come and visit us staying in his office.
Here a hologram of his will appear, an avatar ". Believe it, since Huawei has 45mila patents registered and 100 billions of dollars spent on research in the last 10 years, 15 billion in 2018 alone. But how can the system be drilled? "Not here with us - they say, here we only make the bricks of the house".
In Segrate, then, research is carried out and the structure of the transmission network is built, along with the voice and ears of the Net. They - they swear - are not permeable. In Lorenteggio, on the other hand, it is experimented, there we see if the bricks have built a house. And if the entrances are protected.
On one aspect Thomas Miao is catechico. The data that passes over the network is extremely sensitive, and in a company that is entirely connected, those who control it have enormous power. When the US decided to hit Iraq, they began demolishing infrastructure such as bridges, highways and power plants with air raids. "We have reduced Iraq to the pre-industrial state," said President George Bush in the 1991. Today to reach the goal it would be sufficient to enter the network and sabotage the system. Entering through a maintenance backdoor, for example “It is true - Miao admits - today it would not be useful to throw bombs or missiles to paralyze a country. Just check or sabotage the network. Which must therefore be made safe and inaccessible to intrusion. This is why we are willing to work with managers to build secure platforms and a common system. We will be suppliers but without access, we will help to create a system that serves the city and the industries. We are enablers, not operators ". The threats, however, the security agencies warn, can also occur from the nation-states, and China is the target of the US for this.
"Huawei is not China - says Miao - but a private company, without a state presence, and as such hopes for international cooperation". But if asked if China would accept a network built by the American Cisco on its territory, Thomas Miao replies that it would probably reject, given the US hostility.