Operators continue to invest in expanding 5G coverage and respect the objectives of distribution and use of the networks of the new generation, while the telecommunications sector has already started to discuss and predict the possible developments of the next G, i.e. number 6.
Nothing strange: to develop and coordinate the evolution of communication standards you need a preparation that lasts years. And so, just as we were already talking about 5G when LTE seemed to have just arrived, today 6G is already in the study and definition phase while fifth generation networks still seem like a fresh innovation from the laboratory. But what does 6G really mean? what innovations it will bring compared to the previous generation? What should we expect in terms of data transmission speed and potential applications?
Below we have collected the answers to these and other questions common on the future of mobile networks.
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What is meant by 6G?
As in the case of 4G and 5G, also for 6G the term simply indicates the sixth generation communication networks. The specifications of subsequent generations are defined through so-called releases of 3GPP, the body that defines, develops and maintains the standard of the same name for mobile communication networks (including GSM, UMTS, LTE and other 4G standards). At the moment the 3GPP is still working on the definition of new releases for the completion of the 5G and 5G-Advanced standardization process.
What advantages does 6G offer over 5G?
6G will make it easier (virtually) instant communication between computers, smartphones, wearable devices, robots, cars and many other products that today remain disconnected from the Internet. The underlying idea is the creation of a ubiquitous and constant connectivity system, accessible practically at any time from any device imaginable.
With 6G download/upload speed e latency (two points on which 5G guarantees an important step forward compared to 4G) will obviously be improved, but the underlying idea goes further: the objective is to create an instant connectivity system that can make applications possible that close the gap between the world real and digital. As he summed it up effectively VMWare’s vice president of advanced technologies, Kaniz Mahdiin a recent interview: “With 6G, connectivity will be like air.”
When will 6G development begin?
The first phase of the work on standardizing the new networks will begin most likely in 2025. The first 3GPP specification for the concrete definition of the new standard will probably arrive with Release 21, scheduled for 2028.
When will we see the first 6G networks?
Operators and producers in the sector will work immediately on first 6G commercial networks, in order to be ready with the first networks at least a year or two after the definition of the standard by 3GPP. If the roadmap is therefore respected, we will probably see the first 6G networks around 2030.
What technologies will be enabled by 6G?
Thanks to the spread of ubiquitous and high-capacity networks data transfer (thanks to the use of new bands in the terahertz spectrum), 6G will be able to enable new communication technologies with a science fiction flavor. Among these, for example, three-dimensional holographic video calls which, according to the most optimistic estimates, will require a data flow in the order of Gigabits per second, with an excess estimate of is at least close to 1 Tbps.
6G networks will also be key to enable the development of augmented and virtual reality applications increasingly advanced, including public use and use of viewers and similar systems in crowded areas (concerts, festivals, theatres, city streets during rush hour and so on). In this case, 6G will be fundamental to simultaneously serve each user the amount of download and upload data necessary for the operation of AR/VR applications. Other applications will also include the enabling of increasingly detailed digital copies of real systems (so-called digital twins). In the industrial sector, already today, the so-called twinning (the creation of a digital twin of a production system or a product) is fundamental in the design and development phases. The proliferation of connected sensors will make it possible to create dynamic, higher-fidelity digital twins that can change and adapt almost instantaneously to mirror real-world environments.
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But do we really need this 6G?
Here the question is more existential than technological, and it is the same one we could have asked ourselves before the definition and diffusion of 3G, 4G and 5G. At each evolutionary step, the applications were not entirely clear and defined. We expected that 3G would enable greater dissemination of information and guarantee greater access to the Internet at a global level, while we did not foresee that the most effective and profitable application of 4G would be diffusion of social networks based on video content, whose weight in MB or GB today is an (almost) negligible factor. 5G has continued on the same path, but it is still early to understand whether the promises relating to the development of autonomous driving systems and the creation of hyper-connected solutions for so-called smart cities will be kept.
It is useless today to try to predict and understand the usefulness of 6G, given that the answer could be based on a vision of this new technology that still remains largely theoretical. However, among the expected benefits there is a very important one that has already been defined as an objective, namely energy efficiency: according to initial indications, the 6G standard will use machine learning and deep learning to make networks more sustainable by optimizing energy savings, balancing the load on the network and optimizing signal mobility.