All About 6G Technology: Features, Benefits, and The Obstacles to Widespread Adoption

What is 6G Technology?

6G is the next generation of mobile networks, followed by 5G.  Instead of reducing it to general semantics, let's try to comprehend what it really is and why we should care. To start with, try envisioning a world where we can download anything and everything, from a full-length Grand Slam Final match to a 4K-resolution movie, in less than a second —what a boon that would be for us—Tennis Lovers, ditto cinephiles. That's just one part of it; there is undoubtedly more to this than meets the eye. It's about laying the groundwork for the Internet of Everything (IoE), where the network becomes a seamless fabric of interconnected devices that communicate with us and each other. It's a world where we can interact with holograms, explore, and enhance the nitty-gritty of Virtual reality, offering a digitally immersive experience like never before. On delving deeper, we find ourselves in a world where we can control devices and machines with our thoughts, with interconnected and intelligent machines too —and this is not even science fiction; it is the future of 6G beckoning humanity.

Features of 6G:

A significant chunk of 6G research centres on transmitting data at Ultra High frequencies (UHF) by leveraging unused spectrum and optimising their efficiency. 6G may also treat machines as amplifiers for each other's data, allowing devices to expand coverage. Moreover, 6G technology is expected to be the backbone of future digital economies, enabling new forms of communication, such as three-dimensional holographic communication, high-precision manufacturing, and advanced wearable technology networks. This is the closest answer to the burning question of the need for 6G, given that 5G is already a vast improvement over its predecessors in data transfer speed, which is often of utmost interest.

Advantages of 6G Technology:

Ultra-Low Latency:

6G will have much less latency than 5G (of the order of 100, bringing it down to less than 100 microseconds), intensifying Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) usage.

Energy Harvesting:

Aims to enable devices to synthesise energy from vibration, light, and temperature gradients, eliminating battery charging and deployment shortcomings.

Advanced AI/ML Integration:

Improve existing self-learning and healing capabilities of AI/ML-defined native air interfaces.

Expanded IoT Applications:

Expanding IoT use cases ranging from Logistics, Agriculture, Environmental monitoring, and Telehealth.

Enhanced Security:

Leveraging advanced encryption technologies and Artificial Intelligence-based security measures to keep data safer than it used to be.

When will 6G come out?

Now that we know how capable 6G technology is and how it can shape our lives, it must be tempting to step into a future that promises enormous opportunities. Embracing the future, 3GPP and partners ARIB, ATIS, CCSA, ETSI, TSDSI, TTA, and TTC unite to forge the path to 6G. With Release-21 marking the dawn of 6G by 2028, this global collaboration is set to revolutionise connectivity, merging the digital and physical realms and ushering in a new era of innovation and inclusivity. Qualcomm has floated a 6G development plan with 2030 as a projected Rollout date, which echoes Ericsson's 6G messaging deployment timeframe. Coverage may depend on your geographic location. China is the only country to have launched the first 6G Satellite.

Disadvantages of 6G Technology:

• As 6G uses a cell-less architecture and thrives on multi-connectivity, the pain point is designing a new architecture in which User Equipment (UE) connects to the Radio Access Network (RAN) rather than a single cell.
• Terahertz (THz) waves, which the 6G spectrum aims to utilise, are susceptible to shadows and free-space fading, which pose significant challenges for Ultra-large-scale antennas.
• The drawbacks of Visible Light Communication (VLC) must also be considered, as 6G technology uses visible light frequencies for part of its communications.
• Lack of uniform standards and protocols across the Telecom industry, since it is still in the planning stage.
• 6G's expanded capabilities increase vulnerability to cyber threats, necessitating enhanced security in interconnected, intelligent networks.
• Designing circuitries of networks and terminal equipment for low energy consumption.

Mastering the Challenges: Pioneering Solutions for 6G's Future:

As the industry addresses the complexities of 6G technology, it is embarking on a transformative journey. The shift to a cell-less architecture heralds a new era of seamless multi-connectivity, empowering devices to interact directly with the Radio Access Network (RAN). Specialists are tackling the sensitivities of THz waves and VLC by engineering groundbreaking ultra-large-scale antennas and sophisticated modulation techniques that promise resilience and efficiency. Global collaboration is pivotal as experts across borders unite to develop comprehensive standards and protocols, ensuring 6G interoperability and security. The quest for enhanced cybersecurity and energy efficiency in 6G is inspiring ingenious solutions, positioning this next-gen technology as the cornerstone of a sustainable, interconnected future.

Conclusion:

While 6G is a tantalising prospect for transforming the wireless technology domain and beyond, we cannot just treat it as a successor to 5G; it is a revolution that could change the history of humankind in ways we cannot fathom. The Global 6G market size and share revenue are expected to reach around USD 40.5 billion by 2032. It remains to be seen how prepared we will be when 6G technology comes knocking at our doors, especially as we stare at compatibility issues that must be addressed. A key monitoring aspect will be the retail pricing per GB of data relative to the network cost per GB, as this margin is crucial to telecom operators' profitability. Initially, the ratio may start favourably high but decreases over time. To sustain revenue, operators must explore unlicensed bands and areas such as precision healthcare, smart agriculture, and digital twin technologies, driving ARPU growth and mitigating financial strain. Unlicensed Frequency bands come with limitations, like higher congestion and reduced security.

As always, there will be entities playing foul. Protocols and new regulations must be agreed upon across the verticals to secure privacy. However, forsaking all excitement at these exploits of 6G in the name of "perspective" would be joyless. Similarly, procrastinating about the concerns around 6G for no reason other than extrapolating an unknowable future is equally meaningless. Time stubbornly marches on, and the future will likely be upon us sooner than we would prefer. All we can do right now is wait and see how the drivers of this phenomenon, called 6G, navigate the ever-evolving technological matrix.

Don't just wait for the future—prepare for it.

Schedule a consultation with our 6G experts to discuss network evolution, future-proofing your infrastructure, and unlocking new revenue streams in the era of Terahertz and AI-driven connectivity.

Author

Agniv Banerjee, Associate Solution Engineer
A passionate chronicler of innovation in the telecommunications sector. Agniv, an avid reader and a tech enthusiast, maintains a strong interest in the evolving landscape of Cloud Engineering, TM Forum Standards, 4G LTE networks, and Billing.