Looking towards 6G

The musician Peter Fox feels certain that avatars and artificial intelligence (AI) will be part of everyday life in the future. Lines like "AI really knows what it's doing" from his song "Future Pink" might better express the future attitude towards life than we can currently imagine. When technology strategists talk about the next generation of mobile communications, they tend to emphasize topics like the metaverse – a vision of a global virtual reality full of avatars and digital twins – or the next major step towards autonomous driving.

If these 6G scenarios become reality, vehicles will soon be able to use artificial intelligence to coordinate decisions on who has the right of way at intersections, for example. At the same time, robots will become our ordinary, everyday companions. We will watch them serve as domestic help or nurses, for example, with an astonishing degree of autonomy, while working side-by-side with their human colleagues to get the job done – entirely collision-free and without anyone getting in anyone else's way. Ultimately, AI really knows what it's doing.

Where transmitters become sensors: joint communications & sensing

Autonomous robots not only need artificial intelligence, but also a combination of communications and situational awareness. In 6G research, this is known as joint communications & sensing, which is currently a major area of activity. All participants in a scenario are recognized within their surroundings in 3D and can simultaneously communicate with one another.

The great hope is that many sensor tasks can be handled with significantly less resources using existing communications infrastructure. This is important to firmly anchor the topic of sustainability in the new generation of mobile communications. A significant share of energy generated worldwide is already used today for mobile communications. The community is aware of its responsibility and is working on measures to achieve better efficiency.

This includes AI based resource management for mobile networks along with increasing research on reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS). RIS technology uses reflective materials that can be mounted on building walls or billboards, for example. They reflect incoming signals towards the intended receivers by controlling the material characteristics, thus enabling improved coverage with little transmitted power.

How is Rohde & Schwarz involved?

Rohde & Schwarz is one of only a few technology partners around the globe covering the entire mobile communications ecosystem. Our experience goes all the way back to the second mobile generation (2G). At that time, our GSM system simulator had a major impact on the mobile communications test and measurement landscape. Today, we are already hard at work developing test solutions for 6G.

We are involved in diverse R&D projects including (sub-)terahertz communications, joint communications & sensing, artificial intelligence and machine learning as well as reconfigurable intelligent surfaces. The first signal generation and analysis solutions like the R&S FE170 D band frontend extensions are the key to (sub-)terahertz research. Frequencies up into the terahertz range are seen as an ideal solution for obtaining much wider bandwidths – a prerequisite for joint communications & sensing with high spatial resolution. Clearly, the new 6G world is beginning to take shape.