5G is here, how far is 6G

2021.11.17

In the 6G era, you can download hundreds of high-definition movies in one second!" Professor Peng Mugen, executive director of the China Institute of Communications and executive dean of the School of Information and Communication Engineering of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, told reporters that the transmission capacity of 6G may be 100 times higher than that of 5G. , The theoretical network speed can reach 1TB per second, and the network delay can also be reduced from milliseconds to microseconds.

In addition to being faster, the 6G network will also enable intercommunication between ground and satellite communication networks, and applications will be more intelligent. "Professor Qiao Jianyong, vice chairman of the Chinese Institute of Communications and president of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, told reporters that 6G technology is a disruptive and innovative technology that integrates communication, perception, and computing; with the large-scale commercial use of 5G mobile communication technology, China, the United States, Germany, and Japan , South Korea and many other countries have started the research and exploration of 6G communication technology. At present, my country's 6G technology research and development is in the forefront of the world. Large-scale trials and typical application demonstrations may be carried out before the end of 2024 at the earliest.

6G is a high-speed intelligent network that can achieve global coverage

Why develop 6G technology? "5G is difficult to cover all land, and land only accounts for 29% of the earth, so 5G networks need to be supplemented by 6G satellite communications. 6G technology is a combination of terrestrial wireless communication technology and satellite mobile in high and low orbits. Communication technology and short-distance direct communication technology are integrated to solve the problems of communication, calculation, navigation, perception, etc., to form a mobile communication network covering the air, sky, earth and sea, and realize a high-speed intelligent network with global coverage." Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Li Deren, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said that in the future, 6G can achieve full global coverage and realize the intelligent services of "one satellite with multiple functions", "multi-satellite networking" and "multi-network integration" in satellite communications. Qiao Jianyong introduced that 6G will be a ubiquitous communication network. The communication network will evolve towards a native intelligent network. The traditional network architecture for personal communication is no longer applicable. It is necessary to redesign the architecture of the integration of communication, perception, and computing. Application scenarios include various forms such as the Internet of Things, drone networks, satellite communication networks, and dense cellular networks. "From 1G to 5G, the previous communication technologies were mostly centered on base stations and network equipment, while 6G will break through the single dimension of traditional communication and carry out in-depth integration of communication, computing, perception, and energy to better meet future smart applications." Qiao Jianyong said that in recent years, emerging intelligent applications such as smart transportation, drones, meta-universe, immersive expansion augmented/virtual reality (XR), and high-precision industrial Internet have continued to evolve and develop. 5G networks have been unable to efficiently support many intelligent applications. So scientists are now vigorously developing 6G networks.

6G will show its talents in areas such as autonomous driving and meta-universe

Peng Mugen said that 6G has a wide range of applications and can solve bottlenecks in many fields, such as autonomous driving. "At present, the perception ability of smart cars mainly relies on a variety of local sensors, including cameras, millimeter wave radar, GPS, lidar, etc. Although the comprehensive accuracy reaches centimeter level or even millimeter level, it still cannot meet the needs of autonomous driving because of the limited sensing range. And the perception accuracy is insufficient, and the ability to respond to emergencies is insufficient.” Peng Mugen said that in the future, the 6G network can smoothly solve the current bottlenecks that restrict the development of unmanned driving and intelligent vehicle networking. "The popular meta-universe now needs 6G technology to support it." Peng Mugen said that the perception of the virtual world now mainly relies on cameras, photodiodes, time-of-flight sensors, inertial sensors and handles, etc., and display devices rely on head-mounted displays. Or holographic glasses, whose experience is far from deep immersion. In the future, 6G will be able to provide real-time interaction, huge capacity, and full-factor perception for Metaverse, allowing users to "be on the scene." According to Qiao Jianyong, in early 2019, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications gathered multidisciplinary researchers in information and communication engineering, system science, mathematics, physics, materials, biology, etc., and formed a number of 6G-oriented R&D teams. Theoretical breakthroughs were the driving force, and several scientific research projects were launched.

my country's 6G large-scale trials may appear as early as 2024

From 5G to 6G, what are the current technical challenges? Qiao Jianyong introduced that 6G is a complex intelligent network system. The current technical system challenges at least include high dynamic changes in transmission links, complex network temporal and spatial behaviors, and air, space, earth, and sea integration. Such problems urgently need some disruptive materials and technological breakthroughs. Qiao Jianyong said that because 6G networks are faster and more intelligent, the information transmitted, the equipment used, and the communication process are very complicated. The basic theory should focus on the integration of system theory, information theory, cybernetics, and game theory, communication, computing, and perception. The integrated intelligent network, as well as the construction of the air-space-earth-sea integrated network, all require disruptive innovations in information theory and practice, which means that 6G technology needs to achieve the subversion of basic theory, system architecture, and key technologies. Qiao Jianyong introduced that 6G is the inevitable evolution direction of 5G. It is necessary to establish a communication network with intelligent interconnection of humans, machines and objects, and efficient intercommunication, to realize integrated multi-dimensional data collaborative processing to improve perception accuracy and perception distance. These are the future information communication theory and The global commanding heights of technology, although the international large-scale commercialization of 6G is planned to be realized around 2030, in view of my country's emphasis on 6G and technological innovation capabilities, 6G scale trials and typical application demonstrations may be carried out before the end of 2024 at the earliest. "6G will bring more intelligent applications after commercialization, and the market scale will far exceed 5G, helping my country's new infrastructure, digital industrialization, and industrial digitalization strategies to land." Peng Mugen said that 6G can not only bring more personal experience to users. The ultimate immersive experience meets the communication needs of humans at multiple sensory, emotional and consciousness levels. It can also be widely used in entertainment life, medical health, industrial production and other fields to help the digital transformation and upgrading of various industries in my country to meet the future intelligent society Various application requirements.