Vision, Requirements, and Technology Trend of 6G: How to Tackle the Challenges of System Coverage, Capacity, User Data-Rate and Movement Speed

TLDR

While 5G has been standardized with NSA and SA releases, 6G research is progressing but lacks a clear definition despite expectations of higher capabilities. The article aims to define 6G by reviewing 5G developments, outlining visions and requirements, and proposing a roadmap to support a ubiquitous intelligent mobile society. The authors review 5G developments and discuss 6G visions, requirements, technology trends, and challenges to address coverage, capacity, data rate, and mobility.

Abstract

Since 5G new radio comes with non-standalone (NSA) and standalone (SA) versions in 3GPP, research on 6G has been on schedule by academics and industries. Though 6G is supposed to have much higher capabilities than 5G, yet there is no clear description about what 6G is. In this article, a comprehensive discussion of 6G is given based on the review of 5G developments, covering visions and requirements, technology trends and challenges, aiming at tackling the challenge of coverage, capacity, the user data rate and movement speed of mobile communication system. The vision of 6G is to fully support the development of a Ubiquitous Intelligent Mobile Society with intelligent life and industries. Finally, the roadmap of the 6G standard is suggested for the future.