Spotlight Article
By William Webb, Independent Consultant and author of “The 6G Manifesto”
Mobile generations tend to come along every 10 years, and we are now midway between the advent of 5G in 2020 and the introduction of 6G scheduled around 2030. This is a good time to review what we have learned from 5G and where we should focus our efforts on 6G.
5G promised much – to be a generation like no other that delivered a new world of immersive communications – but has disappointed, with no new applications, no increased revenue for operators, and customers that perceive no material difference from 4G. Importantly, the “build it and they will come” approach to 5G, hoping problems would emerge to the solution being delivered, did not work and the applications envisaged such as the metaverse and network-controlled autonomous cars have proven illusory. On the plus side, 5G did deliver more capacity, and this has been important as data usage grew from the time of its introduction to the present day.
The cellular community, led by the manufacturers and academics, is now discussing 6G. But it is far from clear that we need 6G. As I showed in “The End of Telecoms History”, data growth is slowing and will plateau long before 6G is introduced, so there is no need for more capacity. As seen with 5G, there are no new applications on the horizon, and even if there were 5G is capable of handling all of them. Operators do not want 6G because they perceive it will result in expense for no benefit. A sensible approach might be to put 6G on hold until such time that it is needed, if ever.
However, the 6G “super tanker” has already left the port. Manufacturers, governments, and standards bodies have activities in place that will result in 6G arriving around 2030 and stopping these is near impossible. The arrival of 6G is inevitable. Better then to ask what 6G can best deliver rather than whether it should happen.
Alarmingly, those with the greatest ability to influence standards – the global equipment suppliers – do not appear to have learned the lessons of 5G. Instead, they are arguing for “5G-on-steroids”; a solution that is even faster than 5G, with lower latency, using higher frequency bands. They argue that 5G did not deliver on the vision of a “cyber-physical continuum” because it was not good enough. But 6G, being even better, will finally enable us all to exist in virtual digital-twin worlds.
But if 6G should not be about the cyber-physical, what should it address? Consumers are asking for better coverage, so that they are always connected at a sufficient data rate. Operators are asking for lower operating costs, lower energy consumption, and greater network reliability. These are not new requests – better coverage and lower costs have been a desire since 2G. That these needs have not been met suggests that a new approach is needed.
In many cases where consumers are not connected, there are networks available – Wi-Fi indoors, other cellular networks in urban areas, and increasingly satellite solutions in deeply rural areas. There is the possibility of neutral host networks that can be roamed onto and new solutions using high-altitude platforms (HAPs) to deliver rural coverage less expensively.
Using these other networks would deliver better coverage at little extra cost. Relying more heavily on Wi-Fi indoors would lower energy consumption. Roaming across cellular networks would improve reliability.
But today’s network structure and protocols do not make multi-network operation easy. Cellular networks seek to provide complete connectivity solutions including voice and messaging. As a result, Wi-Fi is required to interwork with cellular, for example as with voice-over-Wi-Fi, which is cumbersome and needs to be implemented with each separate mobile operator. Protocols such as IP are tunnelled through mobile networks in an inefficient manner which reduces flexibility. Broadly, we have networks structured for a world where voice was native to the network and was the key application.
A better approach would be where each network was just a bit-pipe to the internet and applications run over the top. This would be facilitated by a new “multi-network coordinator” that sits outside of individual networks and coordinates and provides common services across all of them. It would enable routing of incoming calls and messages to whatever network the user is currently attached, handle authentication, legal duties such as intercept, provide APIs to the applications that were network-agnostic and help ensure devices were connected to the optimal network.
This, then, could be what 6G is about – delivering a true “hetnet” world where all networks are equal, and devices connect freely across multiple technologies and operators. This does not require advanced technology, but it does require a restructuring, particularly of cellular, to remove some of the features, such as voice provision, to simplify and to ensure that all networks can work with the multi-network coordinator. It requires some thought as to how to handle multiple messaging platforms such as WhatsApp.
Such a vision is challenging because it requires organisational change. It might require a new standards body, or partnership of existing standards bodies, to sit above 3GPP, IEEE, and similar. It requires Wi-Fi and cellular proponents to work together, and it changes the customer relationship. While some stakeholders, such as the handset manufacturers, might embrace this vision, others such as the cellular equipment manufacturers might not. It represents a radical change of direction from the current “5G on steroids” work that is taking place.
But given that the current approach to 6G is clearly going to disappoint, just as 5G did, then even the most self-interested ought to realise that it is time for a change. 6G could be the generation that ensures we are always connected. That would be worth fighting for.
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