The Road from 5G to 6G

While 5G has been in existence for over three years, most nations have adopted the sub-6 GHz frequency band, with only a handful, such as the US, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Australia, and South Africa, commercially deploying 5G mmWave. Challenges related to signal attenuation in the atmosphere and susceptibility to obstacles hinder widespread mmWave adoption. As these obstacles persist, research and development for 6G, operating at even higher sub-THz frequencies, have been ongoing for several years.

Enhancing signal strength over long distances remains a central theme in 6G research. Beamforming remains a crucial technique for extending network coverage. Furthermore, effective design strategies must minimize transmission loss and leverage appropriate semiconductor technologies to enhance the overall link budget of transceivers.

Additionally, 6G will be more than terrestrial networks. Non-terrestrial networks are now come into play to enable 3D communications. Creating a heterogeneous smart electromagnetic (EM) environment using smart skins, repeaters, and reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS) is necessary to deploy 6G networks in a cost-effective manner. In terms of applications, while 5G currently primarily focuses on the consumer mobile market, it is also making strides in the private network sector, particularly for applications like 5G in Industry 4.0. Additionally, 6G is poised to enable a broader spectrum of applications compared to 5G, including sensing, precise positioning, and a multitude of other services.

Dr. Yu-Han Chang, Senior Technology Analyst at IDTechEx, will discuss these subjects in this webinar to address some of the 5G and 6G key development and most pressing industrial challenges.