The arrival of 6G is inevitable, but are we ready for it?

As the world prepares for the arrival of 6G, the question arises whether the next generation of wireless communications technologies will meet the increasing demands of modern applications. During the RF Technology event, Professor Filip Louagie from IMEC, a leading research center in the field of nanoelectronics and digital technology, will talk about the state of affairs and the challenges that mark the road to 6G.

“Current wireless communications systems are notoriously unreliable.” Louagie makes no bones about it. “They are not predictable (predictable) and insufficiently time-sensitive (time-sensitive).” The latter means that latency, the time it takes to transport data from point A to point B, cannot be guaranteed. This can be disastrous for applications that depend on fast and accurate data transfer. Louagie: “Think of a heart surgeon controlling a robot arm. He must certainly know where he stands, because a one-second delay in data transfer can result in an operation being fatal.”

Steps forward
Reliable and fast data transfer is also crucial for safety in the automotive industry, especially if we soon have to deal with self-driving cars. Louagie: “By definition, unexpected situations occur in traffic and a self-driving car, which is largely dependent on AI technology, must be able to respond immediately. This would not be possible with 4G, because too many devices communicate and 4G cannot handle this. In theory it is possible with 5G. Major steps forward have already been made, especially in the field of time sensitive networking (TSN), but we are far from there yet.”

Obstacles
And this is a big problem because while 5G is still in full development, 6G is already ready to start. The introduction of 6G is expected to take place around 2030, so time is running out – as the title of the lecture indicates.

“In my presentation I discuss what is needed to improve the performance of wireless communication systems in preparation for the arrival of 6G,” continues the enthusiastic researcher. “A wireless signal by definition has to deal with unexpected obstacles from the environment that hinder the quality of the signal. For example: people walking around or unexpected movements and events. This makes it difficult to set up a wireless connection with sufficient quality. Existing wireless communication protocols try to accommodate this, but that is often not sufficient to guarantee the necessary reliability and predictability.”

“The two popular standards for wireless communications systems both fall short. The most common WiFi standards (IEEE 802.11) lack functions to guarantee reliability and latency. Although the 5G standard provides the necessary expansion for increased reliability and latency, its implementation in concrete systems is lagging behind. This makes it very difficult to build TSN with today's wireless communication technology,” says Louagie. “In my presentation I discuss what we can do specifically to improve the reliability of communications in the short term and thus pave the way for TSN over wireless connections.”

Raise the bar
The step up from 4G to 5G is not only related to higher bandwidths, but also to improved machine support. “In concrete terms, this means: improved latency, reliability and more devices in a limited space. The ultimate goal is to increase the number of users per square kilometer while guaranteeing signal quality.” Louagie gives an example: “5G focuses on a peak datarate of 10 Gbps, a latency of 10 ms, a density of 10 Mbps per square meter and 1 million IoT devices per square kilometer. With 6G, they want to raise the bar even higher: even more devices per square kilometer that communicate with each other in a faster and reliable way.”

This is only possible if the specifications are tightened, both in terms of time sensitivity, reliability and predictability. “To achieve this, there must be a willingness from the tech giants to invest in hardware and software improvements. They have to make time and money available for it and they will only do so if they see the commercial importance of it. In short: it is not yet certain whether we will even achieve the objectives set for 5G and when we will be ready for 6G.”

Open WiFi
Fortunately, there is hope on the horizon. Because although current wireless networks do not yet sufficiently support the technological requirements of 6G, this is not always necessary. “The majority of the devices can be used with much less complex systems. A simple WiFi protocol is sufficient for their application.”

To also meet this demand, the professor is working with his colleagues on an open WiFi implementation that runs a TSN-compliant protocol. The OpenWiFi platform is available for free via GitHub. This means that everyone can get started with an open WiFi implementation. “With our protocol we can guarantee that a signal reaches the receiver within five milliseconds. That may not seem like much, but it is enough to wirelessly control a robot arm, for example. For certain applications, open WiFi is a reliable and cheap alternative to 5G.”  

Register for the lecture
Are you curious about Louagie's vision on 6G and would you like to know more about the OpenWiFi platform? Then come to the RF Technology event on April 18 in Leusden. Louagie will speak during the morning program at 9:30 am.

Register for the lecture and event free of charge via the website.