Five disruptive features of 6G networks

The telecommunications industry is constantly pursuing innovative technologies to meet the growing demand for mobile bandwidth - the demand for mobile bandwidth doubles approximately every two years.

Three generations of mobile network technology have been introduced in the past two decades: starting with 3G in 2001, 4G in 2009, and now 5G networks. In addition to these, other types of mobile communications, such as Wi-Fi, have also gained ground.

However, despite the continuous development of mobile communication technology, our desire for bandwidth remains insatiable, and the requirements for latency are also increasing, for example in industrial environments. This is why the sixth generation of mobile communications (6G) is being introduced.

100 Gbps

For most people, mobile broadband networks are just a means to stream videos on the go or download large files quickly. What they need is speed. For more than two decades, speed has been the number one selling point for telecom operators trying to attract customers.

We're sharing more and larger (video) files over the internet all the time. It's critical for people to be able to access these downloads anywhere, anytime, and watch the video in the highest possible resolution.

6G networks will continue the trend of speed first, with download speeds expected to be no less than 100Gbps, which is 10 times faster than the theoretical download speed of 5G networks and 300 times faster than today's 4G networks.

100GHz frequency

The higher the frequency, the more bandwidth is available. Therefore, in order to reach these bandwidths, we need to utilize higher radio frequencies.

For example, 4G networks are limited to frequencies within 2.5GHz, while 5G networks operate in the 28GHz and 39GHz bands. The next generation of mobile networks, including 6G, is expected to use frequencies above 100GHz.

Delay of only a few microseconds

A user's mobile experience is not only determined by the amount of data they can (quickly) download. For many applications, network latency is an equally important factor. For example, when watching live TV, latency can greatly affect the user experience.

Granted, the introduction of 5G networks, which offer latency of less than 1 millisecond, should have put an end to these issues. However, 6G goes even further in terms of latency, to just a few microseconds.

This is especially necessary for the growing number of Internet of Things (IoT) applications, such as closed-loop control systems that independently control machines and complex industrial processes based on real-time sensor data, or time-sensitive medical IoT applications.

10 million connected devices per square kilometer

The capacity of the Internet of Things is determined by the number of connected sensors and devices. Huge growth is expected here as well. Market research firm Statista predicts that by 2025, the Internet of Things will include nearly 31 billion devices, compared to 12-13 billion today. As the number of devices continues to increase, so does the challenge of connecting as many of them as possible to the internet. This number is called connection density.

Today’s 4G networks have a connection density of about 100,000 devices per square kilometer. 5G has done even better, with 1 million devices per square kilometer. With the introduction of 6G networks, achieving 10 million connected devices per square kilometer is within reach.

Less than 1 nanojoule of energy per bit

As mentioned earlier, 6G networks will have to rely on higher frequencies to support higher bandwidth requirements. The problem is that the underlying chip technology is not yet able to operate in these frequency bands in an energy-efficient manner, and energy efficiency is one of the main challenges in the telecommunications industry.

Energy consumption in mobile networks could increase dramatically, even at the expense of the environment and the total cost of deploying the network, Ericsson said in a recent report.

However, the telecommunications industry is not letting this sit idly by. According to telecom operator Orange, by 2025, the introduction of new technologies and software could reduce the energy consumption of 5G networks by 10 times (per gigabit of transmission) compared to 4G. By 2030, this could even become 20 times.

In contrast, today’s efforts to improve the energy efficiency of mobile networks are being offset by rapidly growing data volumes. Data centers have been engaged in a similar struggle for years — fiber optic connections need to handle as much data as possible while remaining energy efficient.

The research goal of 6G is to reduce its energy consumption to below 1 nanojoule (10-9 joule) per bit.

To this end, researchers have high hopes for new III-V materials such as indium phosphide (InP), but these materials are not yet suitable for integration on silicon platforms. The research community is specifically investigating how to heterogeneously combine III-V materials with CMOS technology to achieve efficient and cost-effective operation at frequencies of 100 GHz and above.