Extreme Communications in 6G: Vision and Challenges for ‘in-X’ Subnetworks

Sixth generation (6G) radio access technology is expected to support extreme communications requirements in terms of throughput, latency and reliability, which can only be achieved by providing capillary wireless coverage. In this paper, we present our vision for short-range, low power 6G ‘in-X’ subnetworks, with the ‘X’ standing for the entity in which the cell is deployed, e.g., a production module, a robot, a vehicle, a house or even a human body. Such cells can support services that can be life-critical and that traditionally relied on wired systems. We discuss potential deployment options, as well as candidate air interface components and spectrum bands. Interference management is identified as a major challenge in dense deployments, which needs to handle also non-cellular types of interference like jamming attacks and impulsive noise. A qualitative example of interference-robust system design is also presented.