Toward 6G Networks: Use Cases and Technologies
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide a full-stack, 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.
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.
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TL;DR: The goal of this paper is to promote the idea that including semantic and goal-oriented aspects in future 6G networks can produce a significant leap forward in terms of system effectiveness and sustainability.
Abstract: The goal of this paper is to promote the idea that including semantic and goal-oriented aspects in future 6G networks can produce a significant leap forward in terms of system effectiveness and sustainability. Semantic communication goes beyond the common Shannon paradigm of guaranteeing the correct reception of each single transmitted packet, irrespective of the meaning conveyed by the packet. The idea is that, whenever communication occurs to convey meaning or to accomplish a goal, what really matters is the impact that the correct reception/interpretation of a packet is going to have on the goal accomplishment. Focusing on semantic and goal-oriented aspects, and possibly combining them, helps to identify the relevant information, i.e. the information strictly necessary to recover the meaning intended by the transmitter or to accomplish a goal. Combining knowledge representation and reasoning tools with machine learning algorithms paves the way to build semantic learning strategies enabling current machine learning algorithms to achieve better interpretation capabilities and contrast adversarial attacks. 6G semantic networks can bring semantic learning mechanisms at the edge of the network and, at the same time, semantic learning can help 6G networks to improve their efficiency and sustainability.
147 citations
TL;DR: This paper describes ARAN architecture and its fundamental features for the development of 6G networks, and introduces technologies that enable the success of ARAN implementations in terms of energy replenishment, operational management, and data delivery.
Abstract: Current access infrastructures are characterized by heterogeneity, low latency, high throughput, and high computational capability, enabling massive concurrent connections and various services. Unfortunately, this design does not pay significant attention to mobile services in underserved areas. In this context, the use of aerial radio access networks (ARANs) is a promising strategy to complement existing terrestrial communication systems. Involving airborne components such as unmanned aerial vehicles, drones, and satellites, ARANs can quickly establish a flexible access infrastructure on demand. ARANs are expected to support the development of seamless mobile communication systems toward a comprehensive sixth-generation (6G) global access infrastructure. This paper provides an overview of recent studies regarding ARANs in the literature. First, we investigate related work to identify areas for further exploration in terms of recent knowledge advancements and analyses. Second, we define the scope and methodology of this study. Then, we describe ARAN architecture and its fundamental features for the development of 6G networks. In particular, we analyze the system model from several perspectives, including transmission propagation, energy consumption, communication latency, and network mobility. Furthermore, we introduce technologies that enable the success of ARAN implementations in terms of energy replenishment, operational management, and data delivery. Subsequently, we discuss application scenarios envisioned for these technologies. Finally, we highlight ongoing research efforts and trends toward 6G ARANs.
136 citations
TL;DR: A UAV-supported clustered nonorthogonal multiple access (C-NOMA) system that provides services to IoT terminals as an aerial BS based on the wireless-powered communication (WPC) technique and a synergetic scheme for UAV trajectory planning and subslot allocation is proposed.
Abstract: The sixth-generation (6G) communication requires supporting massive Internet of Things (IoT) devices and extremely differentiated IoT applications for the air–space–ground integrated network Relying on the aerial superiority, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is capable of acting as an aerial base station (BS) and supporting IoT deployment in remote and disaster areas A UAV-supported clustered nonorthogonal multiple access (C-NOMA) system is put forward in this article Specifically, the UAV provides services to IoT terminals as an aerial BS based on the wireless-powered communication (WPC) technique According to this system, we propose a synergetic scheme for UAV trajectory planning and subslot allocation Our goal is to maximize the uplink average achievable sum rate of IoT terminals by synergistically planning UAV trajectory and subslot duration, while guaranteeing the uplink achievable sum rate and the UAV mobility constraints As the formulated problem suffers nonconvexity and complication, an efficient iterative algorithm is proposed to address it First, for fixed UAV trajectory, all the terminals are clustered and a subslot allocation algorithm based on the Lagrange multiplier and bisection method is proposed Then, for a fixed clustering state and subslot duration, we optimize the UAV trajectory Finally, we solve these two subproblems alternatively until the objective function converges The effectiveness of the proposed scheme in the UAV-supported C-NOMA system is verified by the numerical results
132 citations
TL;DR: This article performs a comprehensive review of the TL algorithms used in different wireless communication fields, such as base stations/access points switching, indoor wireless localization and intrusion detection in wireless networks, etc.
Abstract: In the coming 6G communications, network densification, high throughput, positioning accuracy, energy efficiency, and many other key performance indicator requirements are becoming increasingly strict In the future, how to improve work efficiency while saving costs is one of the foremost research directions in wireless communications Being able to learn from experience is an important way to approach this vision Transfer learning (TL) encourages new tasks/domains to learn from experienced tasks/domains for helping new tasks become faster and more efficient TL can help save energy and improve efficiency with the correlation and similarity information between different tasks in many fields of wireless communications Therefore, applying TL to future 6G communications is a very valuable topic TL has achieved some good results in wireless communications In order to improve the development of TL applied in 6G communications, this article performs a comprehensive review of the TL algorithms used in different wireless communication fields, such as base stations/access points switching, indoor wireless localization and intrusion detection in wireless networks, etc Moreover, the future research directions of mutual relationship between TL and 6G communications are discussed in detail Challenges and future issues about integrate TL into 6G are proposed at the end This article is intended to help readers understand the past, present, and future between TL and wireless communications
131 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a two-layer federated learning model is proposed to take advantage of the distributed end-edge-cloud architecture typical in 6G environment, and to achieve a more efficient and more accurate learning while ensuring data privacy protection and reducing communication overheads.
Abstract: The vision of the upcoming 6G technologies that have fast data rate, low latency, and ultra-dense network, draws great attentions to the Internet of Vehicles (IoV) and Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication for intelligent transportation systems. There is an urgent need for distributed machine learning techniques that can take advantages of massive interconnected networks with explosive amount of heterogeneous data generated at the network edge. In this study, a two-layer federated learning model is proposed to take advantages of the distributed end-edge-cloud architecture typical in 6G environment, and to achieve a more efficient and more accurate learning while ensuring data privacy protection and reducing communication overheads. A novel multi-layer heterogeneous model selection and aggregation scheme is designed as a part of the federated learning process to better utilize the local and global contexts of individual vehicles and road side units (RSUs) in 6G supported vehicular networks. This context-aware distributed learning mechanism is then developed and applied to address intelligent object detection, which is one of the most critical challenges in modern intelligent transportation systems with autonomous vehicles. Evaluation results showed that the proposed method, which demonstrates a higher learning accuracy with better precision, recall and F1 score, outperforms other state-of-the-art methods under 6G network configuration by achieving faster convergence, and scales better with larger numbers of RSUs involved in the learning process.
126 citations
References
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TL;DR: This paper will present and discuss the technical solutions and best-practice guidelines adopted in the Padova Smart City project, a proof-of-concept deployment of an IoT island in the city of Padova, Italy, performed in collaboration with the city municipality.
Abstract: The Internet of Things (IoT) shall be able to incorporate transparently and seamlessly a large number of different and heterogeneous end systems, while providing open access to selected subsets of data for the development of a plethora of digital services. Building a general architecture for the IoT is hence a very complex task, mainly because of the extremely large variety of devices, link layer technologies, and services that may be involved in such a system. In this paper, we focus specifically to an urban IoT system that, while still being quite a broad category, are characterized by their specific application domain. Urban IoTs, in fact, are designed to support the Smart City vision, which aims at exploiting the most advanced communication technologies to support added-value services for the administration of the city and for the citizens. This paper hence provides a comprehensive survey of the enabling technologies, protocols, and architecture for an urban IoT. Furthermore, the paper will present and discuss the technical solutions and best-practice guidelines adopted in the Padova Smart City project, a proof-of-concept deployment of an IoT island in the city of Padova, Italy, performed in collaboration with the city municipality.
4,335 citations
TL;DR: A unified 5-level architecture is proposed as a guideline for implementation of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), within which information from all related perspectives is closely monitored and synchronized between the physical factory floor and the cyber computational space.
Abstract: Recent advances in manufacturing industry has paved way for a systematical deployment of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), within which information from all related perspectives is closely monitored and synchronized between the physical factory floor and the cyber computational space. Moreover, by utilizing advanced information analytics, networked machines will be able to perform more efficiently, collaboratively and resiliently. Such trend is transforming manufacturing industry to the next generation, namely Industry 4.0. At this early development phase, there is an urgent need for a clear definition of CPS. In this paper, a unified 5-level architecture is proposed as a guideline for implementation of CPS.
3,370 citations
TL;DR: Based on numerical analyses, it is shown that the proposed indoor visible-light communication system utilizing white LED lights is expected to be the indoor communication of the next generation.
Abstract: White LED offers advantageous properties such as high brightness, reliability, lower power consumption and long lifetime. White LEDs are expected to serve in the next generation of lamps. An indoor visible-light communication system utilizing white LED lights has been proposed from our laboratory. In the proposed system, these devices are used not only for illuminating rooms but also for an optical wireless communication system. Generally, plural lights are installed in our room. So, their optical path difference must be considered. In this paper, we discuss about the influence of interference and reflection. Based on numerical analyses, we show that the system is expected to be the indoor communication of the next generation.
2,913 citations
TL;DR: This article identifies the primary drivers of 6G systems, in terms of applications and accompanying technological trends, and identifies the enabling technologies for the introduced 6G services and outlines a comprehensive research agenda that leverages those technologies.
Abstract: The ongoing deployment of 5G cellular systems is continuously exposing the inherent limitations of this system, compared to its original premise as an enabler for Internet of Everything applications. These 5G drawbacks are spurring worldwide activities focused on defining the next-generation 6G wireless system that can truly integrate far-reaching applications ranging from autonomous systems to extended reality. Despite recent 6G initiatives (one example is the 6Genesis project in Finland), the fundamental architectural and performance components of 6G remain largely undefined. In this article, we present a holistic, forward-looking vision that defines the tenets of a 6G system. We opine that 6G will not be a mere exploration of more spectrum at high-frequency bands, but it will rather be a convergence of upcoming technological trends driven by exciting, underlying services. In this regard, we first identify the primary drivers of 6G systems, in terms of applications and accompanying technological trends. Then, we propose a new set of service classes and expose their target 6G performance requirements. We then identify the enabling technologies for the introduced 6G services and outline a comprehensive research agenda that leverages those technologies. We conclude by providing concrete recommendations for the roadmap toward 6G. Ultimately, the intent of this article is to serve as a basis for stimulating more out-of-the-box research around 6G.
2,416 citations
TL;DR: This article presents a large-dimensional and autonomous network architecture that integrates space, air, ground, and underwater networks to provide ubiquitous and unlimited wireless connectivity and identifies several promising technologies for the 6G ecosystem.
Abstract: A key enabler for the intelligent information society of 2030, 6G networks are expected to provide performance superior to 5G and satisfy emerging services and applications. In this article, we present our vision of what 6G will be and describe usage scenarios and requirements for multi-terabyte per second (Tb/s) and intelligent 6G networks. We present a large-dimensional and autonomous network architecture that integrates space, air, ground, and underwater networks to provide ubiquitous and unlimited wireless connectivity. We also discuss artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning [1], [2] for autonomous networks and innovative air-interface design. Finally, we identify several promising technologies for the 6G ecosystem, including terahertz (THz) communications, very-large-scale antenna arrays [i.e., supermassive (SM) multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO)], large intelligent surfaces (LISs) and holographic beamforming (HBF), orbital angular momentum (OAM) multiplexing, laser and visible-light communications (VLC), blockchain-based spectrum sharing, quantum communications and computing, molecular communications, and the Internet of Nano-Things.
1,332 citations