Toward 6G Networks: Use Cases and Technologies

TLDR

Reliable data connectivity is essential for the increasingly intelligent, automated, and ubiquitous digital world, and mobile networks must connect everything—from people and vehicles to sensors, data, cloud resources, and robotic agents—yet 5G, while advanced, may not satisfy the full demands of future society. This article discusses technologies that will evolve wireless networks toward 6G and identifies enablers for several potential 6G use cases. The authors provide a full‑stack, system‑level perspective on 6G scenarios and requirements, selecting technologies that satisfy them either by improving 5G design or by introducing entirely new communication paradigms.

Abstract

Reliable data connectivity is vital for the ever increasingly intelligent, automated, and ubiquitous digital world. Mobile networks are the data highways and, in a fully connected, intelligent digital world, will need to connect everything, including people to vehicles, sensors, data, cloud resources, and even robotic agents. Fifth generation (5G) wireless networks, which are currently being deployed, offer significant advances beyond LTE, but may be unable to meet the full connectivity demands of the future digital society. Therefore, this article discusses technologies that will evolve wireless networks toward a sixth generation (6G) and which we consider as enablers for several potential 6G use cases. We provide a fullstack, system-level perspective on 6G scenarios and requirements, and select 6G technologies that can satisfy them either by improving the 5G design or by introducing completely new communication paradigms.