A Survey on Green 6G Network: Architecture and Technologies

TLDR

5G is being commercialized worldwide, prompting research into 6G as a green network that promises high QoS and energy efficiency, requiring architectural advances and integration of terrestrial, space, aerial, and underwater links for ubiquitous access. The paper surveys the evolution toward green 6G networks to guide future research. The survey examines 6G architectural innovations—3D coverage, pervasive AI, advanced protocols—and evaluates enabling technologies such as terahertz, visible light, blockchain, and symbiotic radio.

Abstract

While 5G is being commercialized worldwide, research institutions around the world have started to look beyond 5G and 6G is expected to evolve into green networks, which deliver high Quality of Service and energy efficiency. To meet the demands of future applications, significant improvements need to be made in mobile network architecture. We envision 6G undergoing unprecedented breakthrough and integrating traditional terrestrial mobile networks with emerging space, aerial and underwater networks to provide anytime anywhere network access. This paper presents a detailed survey on wireless evolution towards 6G networks. In this survey, the prime focus is on the new architectural changes associated with 6G networks, characterized by ubiquitous 3D coverage, introduction of pervasive AI and enhanced network protocol stack. Along with this, we discuss related potential technologies that are helpful in forming sustainable and socially seamless networks, encompassing terahertz and visible light communication, new communication paradigm, blockchain and symbiotic radio. Our work aims to provide enlightening guidance for subsequent research of green 6G.