Path to 6G: Envisioning next-gen use cases for 2030 and beyond

By: Qualcomm and RCR Wireless News (Sponsored) July 3, 2024

Collected at: https://www.rcrwireless.com/20240703/5g/path-to-6g-envisioning-next-gen-use-cases-for-2030-and-beyond

A summary of the recent 3GPP SA1 IMT-2030 use cases workshop

Last month, 3GPP held a Stage 1 workshop on IMT-2030 use cases in Rotterdam, Netherlands. A diverse group of vertical organizations and regional research alliances tasked to drive the technology advancement towards 6G were invited to present their views on system design priorities, enabling technologies and target use cases.

We had the honor and opportunity to attend the workshop in person, and for this blog post, let us provide a high-level summary of the 3-day workshop, aligning these fruitful discussions with our vision of the 6G technology platform. 6G is the next cellular generation building on 5G learning and technology foundation. It will fuel innovations that can enable new and enhanced use cases in the decade to come.

“At Qualcomm, we are building the future, focusing on foundational research that is required to bring 6G to life, and working closely with stakeholders in the entire ecosystem toward a global technology platform.”

Full house at the 3GPP SA1 workshop.

Workshop details

Each day, various vertical and regional organizations presented their views on 6G, focusing on different goals, drivers, capabilities and use cases. Here is an overview of the three-day workshop and key presentations:

Day 1 (May 8, 2024): The first day was dedicated to operators and verticals, with an operator panel discussion and presentations from GSMA and NGMN representing views from global carriers and service providers. The subsequent set of presentations came from different vertical organizations that explore 6G’s potential for their specific industries, including 5GAA (automotive), 5G-ACIA (industrial), 5G-MAG (multimedia), GSOA (satellite), TCCA (public safety) and WBA (WLAN).
Day 2 (May 9, 2024): The second day welcomed presentations from six regional research organizations/alliances, which include B5GPC (Japan), 6G Forum (South Korea), IMT-2030 Promotion Group (China), Bharat 6G Alliance (India), 6G-SNS (Europe) and ATIS Next G Alliance (North America). These presentations focused on regional priorities, innovations and technology wish lists for 6G.
Day 3 (May 10, 2024): The third and last day comprised of presentations from ITU-R and 3GPP, on the respective standards development organizations (SDO) plans toward IMT-2030, as well as a final discussion to wrap up the workshop.

Wanshi Chen, 3GPP RAN Chair, on the “ITU & 3GPP synergies for 6G” panel.

6G goals and drivers

The presentations from regional research alliances, vertical organizations and mobile operators highlighted the most exciting opportunities 6G can bring from their perspectives. They focus on how 6G, as a single global standard, can build upon the 5G wireless system foundation to enable societal transformations. At a high-level, here are the key goals and drivers for the 6G innovation platform to achieve in the next decade and beyond:

Economics growth: 6G is poised to unlock novel revenue streams, and enable a plethora of new devices, services and deployments. Although it may be premature — or even naïve — to quantify its impact at this point of time, 6G is anticipated to be a significant driver of sustained global economic growth, fostering industry innovations and transformations.
Technology advancement: While innovation is a continuous process, commercializing major breakthroughs in core technologies efficiently must wait for a generational transition, when a blank-slate design can be introduced. 6G can align ecosystem investments to bring the next big leap in wireless technology, enabling the convergence of advanced communication, precise sensing and localization, artificial intelligence (AI) and computing technologies.
Cost efficiency: One early learning from deploying 5G networks is that many new technologies can be expensive to roll out broadly. Today, mobile operators are looking for ways to reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO) of their networks. Reducing network energy consumption can optimize operational cost, but to save on capital expenditure, a software-centric system with network APIs can allow mobile operators to leverage their 5G investment.
Societal equity: 6G will continue to foster digital inclusion, enabling cost-effective technologies that can broadly deliver 6G access to bridge the digital divide. New 6G technologies can promote quality of life improvements, with democratized access to public services such as healthcare, education and public safety.
Environmental sustainability: A common theme across the different global 6G visions is for it to promote a greener future. This anchors both in efficient 6G network operations (i.e., energy savings, eco-friendly deployment footprint) as well as more sustainable vertical industries (e.g., smart transportation, precision agriculture and more).
Trust and reliability: The cellular evolution has consistently emphasized the importance of security and privacy, with each generation aiming to enhance trustworthiness. As we look towards 6G, it’s anticipated to uphold this legacy by integrating cutting-edge technologies such as quantum-safe communications and AI-driven security.

6G vision from ITU-R — capabilities and usage scenarios of IMT-2030.

6G use cases and capabilities

The 6G technology platform is expected to take a significant leap forward, supporting enhanced system capabilities that go beyond communication. The IMT-2030 framework defined by ITU-R sets the initial vision for this advancement, outlining key usage scenarios and performance metrics that should shape the target for future wireless technologies.

As these technologies develop, 6G is anticipated to integrate AI, advanced computing, and system resilience features, alongside innovative green technologies and integrated sensing and communications (ISAC), marking a new converging era of the physical-digital-virtual worlds.

While different contributing presentations highlighted different sets of use cases targeting 6G, we observed some clear trends of what key 6G use cases are being envisioned. The following is an illustrative (i.e., non-exhaustive) list highlighting the main use cases discussed in the workshop:

Immersive experiences: 6G will take extended reality (XR) to brand new levels, enabling lightweight devices that can be deployed at the same scale of today’s smartphones. New capabilities like digitization of multisensory aspects (e.g., such as human senses of touch, smell, sight, taste), enhanced sensor fusion and brain-computer interface can deliver hyper-realistic experiences (e.g., holographic teleportation). Another focus is to also enable live and interactive immersive content creation and delivery.
Digital twins: the modeling of a physical system in the digital domain can be used to enable new efficiencies and use cases, including the communications network and more. Along with rapid advancements of AI, 6G digital twins is poised to bring enhanced security and privacy, predictive and prescriptive insights, as well as many others.
Smart industry and robotics: 5G established the technical foundation for high-performance industrial IoT (e.g., URLLC, TSN), and 6G targets to unleash the full potential of next-generation robotics, including delivery robots, service robots, as well as autonomous and collaborative robots that can work in tandem with humans in this highly integrated and automated environment.
Fixed wireless access (FWA): 6G brings an opportunity to revolutionize broadband services. With the allocation of new wide-area spectrum (e.g., upper mid-band), 6G can enable high network capacity and improved cost-efficiency, extending coverage across urban, suburban and rural regions alike, fostering greater inclusivity and connectivity.
Next-generation internet of things (IoT): It’s important that 6G can efficiently support lower-complexity devices from the very start. From low-power, wide-area (LPWA) to ambient IoT devices (i.e., powered by energy harvesting with/without storage), 6G is envisioned for diverse vertical services in healthcare, automotive, agriculture and more.
Connected transportation: 6G brings the opportunity of next-level transportation safety and experiences. Through new 6G capabilities like ISAC, the 5GAA consortium envisioned the next-generation network to enable real-time environmental modeling, intelligent automated driving systems and enhanced in-vehicle experiences.
Critical communications: 6G is tasked to deliver the next level of trust, reliability and security in mobile communications. This is especially important for those use cases that are mission-critical, such as public safety communications. 6G needs to leverage the learning and deployment from 5G to enable ubiquitous coverage and more.
Other emerging deployments and use cases: It’s expected that many of these 6G use cases would leverage seamless multi-connectivity solutions spanning terrestrial and/or non-terrestrial communications to deliver services. And of course, we are only in the very early chapter of the 6G technology cycle. As we stand on the brink of these advancements, it’s clear that the future holds use cases that will surpass our current imagination.

Path to 6G includes the continued 5G Advanced technology evolution.

What’s next?

In 3GPP, the next steps will happen in SA WG1, preparing for the service requirements study. This will be followed by the work in RAN and SA, which will include technology workshop and studies starting in 2025.

Qualcomm Technologies’ vision for the future of wireless technology is continuous and expansive. With the evolution of 5G Advanced, the foundation for 6G is being laid, promising to bring a new era of technological advancements. The focus is not only on enhancing wireless designs but also on integrating a broader range of technologies to enable intelligent computing everywhere. The anticipation of 6G includes the potential for groundbreaking developments in wireless communication, AI, computing, RF sensing and network resiliency, setting the stage for a smarter, more sustainable wireless platform of our future.