Next-generation of the cellular network will attempt to overcome the limitations of the current Fifth Generation (5G) networks and equip itself to address the challenges which become obvious in the future. Currently, academia and industry have focused their attention on the Sixth Generation (6G) network, which is anticipated to be the next big game-changer in the telecom industry. The outbreak of COVID’19 has made the whole world to opt for virtual meetings, live video interactions ranging from healthcare, business to education. However, we miss an immersive experience due to the lack of supporting technology. Experts have anticipated that starting from the post-pandemic age, the performance requirements of technology for virtual and real-time communication, the rise of several verticals such as industrial automation, robotics, and autonomous driving will increase tremendously, and will skyrocket during the next decade. In this manuscript, we study the latest perspectives and future megatrends that are most likely to drive 6G. Initially, we describe the instances that lead us to the vision of 6G. Later, we narrate some of the use cases and the KPIs essential to meet their performance requirement. Further, we highlight the key requirements of 6G based on contemporary research such as UN sustainability goals, business model, edge intelligence, digital divide, and the trends in machine learning for 6G.

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6G Ecosystem: Current Status and Future Perspective

The sixth-generation (6G) wireless communication network is expected to integrate the terrestrial, aerial, and maritime communications into a robust network which would be more reliable, fast, and can support a massive number of devices with ultra-low latency requirements. The researchers around the globe are proposing cutting edge technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML), quantum communication/quantum machine learning (QML), blockchain, tera-Hertz and millimeter waves communication, tactile Internet, non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA), small cells communication, fog/edge computing, etc., as the key technologies in the realization of beyond 5G (B5G) and 6G communications. In this article, we provide a detailed overview of the 6G network dimensions with air interface and associated potential technologies. More specifically, we highlight the use cases and applications of the proposed 6G networks in various dimensions. Furthermore, we also discuss the key performance indicators (KPI) for the B5G/6G network, challenges, and future research opportunities in this domain.

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The shift to 6G communications: vision and requirements

The commercial fifth-generation (5G) wireless communications networks have already been deployed with the aim of providing high data rates. However, the rapid growth in the number of smart devices and the emergence of the Internet of Everything (IoE) applications, which require an ultra-reliable and low-latency communication, will result in a substantial burden on the 5G wireless networks. As such, the data rate that could be supplied by 5G networks will unlikely sustain the enormous ongoing data traffic explosion. This has motivated research into continuing to advance the existing wireless networks toward the future generation of cellular systems, known as sixth generation (6G). Therefore, it is essential to provide a prospective vision of the 6G and the key enabling technologies for realizing future networks. To this end, this paper presents a comprehensive review/survey of the future evolution of 6G networks. Specifically, the objective of the paper is to provide a comprehensive review/survey about the key enabling technologies for 6G networks, which include a discussion about the main operation principles of each technology, envisioned potential applications, current state-of-the-art research, and the related technical challenges. Overall, this paper provides useful information for industries and academic researchers and discusses the potentials for opening up new research directions.

6G Wireless Communications Networks: A Comprehensive Survey

The Shift to 6G Communications: Vision and Requirements

6G: A comprehensive survey on technologies, applications, challenges, and research problems

Service-aware 6G: An intelligent and open network based on the convergence of communication, computing and caching

Non-public networks (NPNs) have drawn much attention due to their flexibility and efficiency with B5G. According to the requirements of various application scenarios, NPNs can be tailored to a number of deployments, sharing the B5G system totally or in part. The isolation of NPNs is a critical issue. This paper provides a survey of isolation schemes for B5G NPNs. First, we present an overview of various deployments and the corresponding isolation demands for B5G NPNs. To meet these isolation demands, three kinds of NPN isolation—i.e., spectrum isolation, RAN isolation and CN isolation—are discussed. Then, the corresponding isolation technologies are introduced and analyzed. Finally, open research challenges, such as wireless throughput capacity with spectrum isolation, operation with isolation requirements and data isolation of software-defined CN for B5G NPNs, are discussed.

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How to Isolate Non-Public Networks in B5G: A Review

Compared with the traditional distributed radio access network (D-RAN), the processing resources utilization of the centralized radio access network (C-RAN) can be improved due to the sharing of processing resources, achieving the statistical multiplexing gain (SMG). In this paper, we focus on analyzing the SMG and the factors that impact the SMG, which could provide guidance for the 5G/6G system design. Firstly, considering that the configuration of radio resources has impact on the utilization of processing resources for practical C-RAN, the SMG model based on processing resources utilization is established and the constraint of radio resources is introduced into our model. Then, the specific expression of the SMG is derived based on the temporal-spatial distribution of data traffic. The impacts of traffic fluctuation and radio resources configuration on the SMG are analyzed. Both analysis and simulation results show that the SMG increases as the spatial fluctuation of traffic increases, but the rate of growth will slow down due to the limitation of radio resources. Moreover, we find that the improvement of channel quality or the increase in the number of radio resources configuration will bring a higher SMG. Finally, the SMGs of the target areas are estimated based on the practical traffic distribution data.

Ning Hui

Papers

Service-aware 6G: An intelligent and open network based on the convergence of communication, computing and caching

How to Isolate Non-Public Networks in B5G: A Review

Statistical Multiplexing Gain Analysis Based on Resource Utilization for Practical C-RAN