6G (sixth-generation wireless) is the successor
to 5G cellular technology. 6G networks will be able to use
higher frequencies than 5G networks and provide substantially
higher capacity and much lower latency. One of the goals of the 6G
Internet will be to support one micro-second latency communications,
representing 1,000 times faster -- or 1/1000th the latency -- than one millisecond throughput.
The 6G technology market is expected to
facilitate large improvements in the areas of imaging, presence technology and location
awareness. Working in conjunction with AI, the computational
infrastructure of 6G will be able to autonomously determine the best location
for computing to occur; this includes decisions about data storage,
processing and sharing.
Advantages of 6G over 5G
6G is expected to support 1 terabyte per second
(Tbps) speeds. This level of capacity and latency will be unprecedented and
will extend the performance of 5G applications along with expanding the scope
of capabilities in support of increasingly new and innovative applications
across the realms of wireless cognition, sensing and imaging. 6G's higher
frequencies will enable much faster sampling rates in addition to
providing significantly better throughput. The combination of sub-mmWave
(e.g. wavelengths smaller than one millimeter) and the use of frequency
selectivity to determine relative electromagnetic absorption rates is expected
to lead to potentially significant advances in wireless sensing solutions.
Additionally, whereas the addition of
mobile edge computing (MEC) is a point of consideration as an
addition to 5G networks, MEC will be built into all 6G networks. Edge and core
computing will become much more seamlessly integrated as part of a combined
communications/computation infrastructure framework by the time 6G networks are
deployed. This will provide many potential advantages as 6G technology becomes
operational, including improved access to artificial intelligence (AI)
capabilities.
When to expect 6G
6G is expected to launch commercially in
2030. 6G is being developed in response to the increasingly distributed
radio access network (RAN) and the desire to take advantage of the terahertz (THz)
spectrum to increase capacity and lower latency. While some early
discussions have taken place to define 6G, research and development (R&D)
activities will start in earnest in 2020. Many of the problems associated with
deploying millimeter wave (MM wave) radio for 5G new radio are expected to be
solved in time for network designers to address the challenges of 6G.
What 6G will look like
It's expected that 6G wireless sensing
solutions will selectively use different frequencies to measure absorption and
adjust frequencies accordingly. This is possible because atoms and molecules
emit and absorb electromagnetic radiation at characteristic frequencies and the
emission and absorption frequencies are the same for any given substance.
6G will have big implications for many
government and industry solutions in public safety and critical asset
protection such as:
- Threat detection
- Health monitoring
- Feature and facial recognition
- Decision making (in areas like law enforcement and social credit systems)
- Air quality measurements
- Gas and toxicity sensing
Do we even need 6G?
More than ever before, the sixth generation of
cellular wireless communications will integrate a set of previously disparate
technologies, including deep learning and big data analytics. The
introduction of 5G paves the way for much of this convergence.
The need to deploy edge computing to ensure
overall throughput and low latency for ultra-reliable, low latency
communications solutions is an important driver for 6G, as is the need to
support machine-to-machine communication in the internet of things
(IoT). Furthermore, a strong relationship has been identified
between future 6G solutions and high-performance computing (HPC). While some of
the IoT device data will be handled by edge computing resources, much of it
will require processing by more centralized HPC resources.
Who is working on it?
The race to 6G will draw the attention of many
industry constituents, such as major test and measurement vendor Keysight
Technologies who has also indicated a commitment to its development. This may
very well make the race to reach 5G supremacy look minor compared to the wait
to see which countries can dominate the 6G technology market and its related
applications, services and solutions.
- The University of Oulu in Finland is committed to a 6G research initiative referred to as 6Genesis. The project will be conducted for the next eight years and will develop a vision for 2037.
- South Korea’s Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute is conducting research on Terahertz band for 6G and envisions making it 100 times faster than 4G LTE networks and 5 times faster than 5G networks.
- The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) in China is directly investing and monitoring the research and development process.
- The United States is planning to open up 6G frequency for R&D purposes pending approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for frequencies over 95 gigahertz (GHz) to 3 THz.
In terms of vendor commitments to 6G, major
infrastructure companies such as Huawei, Nokia and Samsung have all
signaled that they have R&D in the works.
Future scope
About ten years ago, the phrase 'Beyond 4G'
(B4G) was coined to refer to the need to move beyond what was currently
envisioned as part of the evolution for 4G via the LTE standard. Since it was
not clear what 5G might entail, and only pre-standards R&D level prototypes were
in the works at the time, the term B4G lasted for a while, referring to what
could be possible and potentially useful beyond 4G. Somewhat ironically, the LTE
standard is still evolving itself and some aspects will be used in 5G.
6G will have big implications for many
government and industry solutions in public safety and critical asset
protection such as:
- Threat detection
- Health monitoring
- Feature and facial recognition
- Decision making (in areas like law enforcement and social credit systems)
- Air quality measurements
- Gas and toxicity sensing
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