Transformational phase [5G-Advanced R20]
- 5G-Advanced Release 18 [2022 - 2024]
- 5G-Advanced Release 19 [Workshop June 2023 - March 2025]
- 5G-Advanced Release 20 [Workshop includes 6G Study Items July2024 - Sept. 2026]
- 6G Release 21 [Workshop includes 6G Work Items 2025 - 2028]
- 6G Release 21 submission for IMT-2030 with self-evaluation [2029]
6G refers to communications and services at the time of convergence of service·terminal evolution and mobile communication evolution, which will arrive around 2030, based on the lessons learned from the world's first 5G commercialization.
- 6G requires setting achievable goals and continuous communication with the market and consumers.
- Efforts of all participants in the new 6G ecosystem are required, such as expanding of 6G usage scenarios, selecting candidate spectrums, vitalizing open interfaces, e.g., Open RAN, and simple architecture options, etc.
- 6G Framework Recommendation includes and proposes usage scenarios and capabilities, and some KPIs such as peak data rate are to be discussed in detail in the technical performance requirements (TPR) phase.
- It is essential to identify 6G products and services, to define simple architecture options, and to develop technologies for coverage expansion and for UE heat and power consumption to improve user experience.
- ITU completed the 6G Framework Recommendation in 2023 and plans to approve the 6G standard specification in 2030. June 2023, ITU-R Working Party (WP) 5D finalized the Framework Recommendation of IMT-20303 (a.k.a. 6G Vision, hereinafter 6G Framework). This will now undergo the approval process within the ITU, with the final publication within 2023.
- 3GPP is expected to submit 6G standard specifications to ITU that meet 6G technical performance requirements in 2028, and 6G commercialization is expected around 2030.
- There is a rich roadmap of 5G technologies coming with 5G-Advanced
- 6G will be the future of wireless innovation platform for 2030 and beyond
- 6G will expand the role of communication, AI, sensing in the connected intelligent edge
Part 1. Introduction
6G dimensions and fundamental analyses
Part 2. Next-generation broadband connectivity: Terabit/s goal
2D OTFS (Orthogonal Time Frequency Space) modulation in DD (Delay-Doppler) domain
3D channel standard model framework
Antenna holography and intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) placement
Part 3 Integrated communication: 3D services
Part 3. Hybrid intelligent networks: AI empowered wireless networks
Driving technology evolution
Artificial intelligence (AI) is not only an interesting technology for improving accuracy and prediction on a variety of problems, but it is ultimately required to be used to extract intelligence from the enormous amount of data produced on modern-day networks.The development of 6G networks will be largescale, multi-layered, highly complex, dynamic, and heterogeneous.AI techniques with powerful analysis ability, learning ability, optimizing ability and intelligent recognition ability, which can be employed into 6G networks to intelligently carry out performance optimization, knowledge discovery, sophisticated learning, structure organization and complicated decision making.- Wireless network architecture evolution
- Data demand driven by video
- Device growth driven by IoT
B5G Recent advances and future challenges
5G wireless communication networks are currently being deployed, and B5G networks are expected to be developed over the next decade. AI technologies and, in particular, ML have the potential to efficiently solve the unstructured and seemingly intractable problems by involving large amounts of data that need to be dealt with in B5G.- AI algorithms and applications
- AI/ML for B5G networks in standards and study groups
The Roadmap to 6G
6G will go beyond mobile Internet and will be required to support ubiquitous AI services from the core to the end devices of the network. Meanwhile, AI will play a critical role in designing and optimizing 6G architectures, protocols, and operations.- AI-enabled technologies for 6G
- Network management and optimization
- 6G for AI applications
PART 1.
6G Wireless channel measurements and models
For 5G and previous generations, it is preferred that the standardized channel models use a general channel model framework with different parameter sets for different scenarios. A general 3D nonstationary 5G channel model was proposed to cover the four challenging scenarios, i.e., massive MIMO, HST, V2V, and mm-wave. All of the channel models are concentrated on only terrestrial communication networks and frequencies up to mm-wave bands. However, 6G channels exist over the space–air–ground–sea integrated networks with frequencies of up to the optical wireless bands, which makes it more challenging to derive a general channel model framework. As 6G wireless channels become heterogeneous and show different scales over the wavelengths, how to describe 6G wireless channels with a general standard channel model framework is an open issue that needs careful investigations.6G communication networks will be the first generation of networks with native AI. This means that AI will not merely be an application but an inherent part of the infrastructure, and of the network management and operations.