On 6G Visions and Requirements

6G represents standardized communication systems that will be commercially available in 2030s. Even if the initial 5G networks, basing on the 3GPP Release 15, have hardly started become commercially available gradually as of 2019 and their large-scale deployment is still years away, industry is already keen to envision the justification and performance of the forthcoming generation. While there are no concrete 6G standards produced at this stage, their planning will benefit from realistic indications of the requirements and type of usage. The task is not straightforward as users, including a variety of verticals with their rather different communication environments, are sometimes not capable of expressing their future needs in technical terms nor industry might be able to prognosticate the demand that has not yet equivalence in preceding systems. This paper analyses some of the most important current visions of key standardization bodies and assesses indications of the industry for the potential requirements, service types, use cases, and architectural and functional models that can serve as a building block for the actual realization of the visions. This paper also presents means that can be applied in further interpretation and assessment of the vertical needs and priorities, with examples reflecting the benefits of Network Slice requirements that the GSMA North Americas Network Slicing Taskforce studied for foreseen near future environment and that may be extended to be utilized also in exploration of 6G requirements.

Ubiquitous Networks: A Need of Future World of Things

With an exponential increase in the number of applications and user demand, it is essential to respond to the query of users with fast services and networks used. This is possible only by the use of ubiquitous networks supporting mass media communications. The integration of advanced technologies such as Communication, Navigation and Sensing Services (CONASENSE) and Human Bond Communications (HBC) takes care of sensing, services, data, speed, cooperation, content, and cost of communication. The combination of Data, Technology, and Media used for intelligent computation and communication over the internet could serve the purpose, and that’s the urgent demand of growing networks marching towards a fusion of IoT and 5G leading to 6G. IoT with 5G will be the backbone of networks in the future generation network, adding the concept of virtualization at Anytime, Anywhere, Anything, and Anybody. The definition of ubiquitous technology considers it networked, wireless and mobile, to connect a more significant number of users and the world around them. The ubiquitous network connects the D2D, M2M, D2M and uses the ICT and Cloud-based technology to mitigate the QoS parameters. The paper’s primary contribution is the proposal of 6G enabling technologies and use cases to demonstrate the need and integration of various prime techniques as IoT++5G++Cloud++AI/ML. The technology road map and proposed C6-WISDOM model illustrate the fundamentals of enabling future ubiquitous networks (6G). It also focuses on the critical requirements of 6G technology in support of ubiquitous networks and identifies the present technologies integrated to provide vertical sustainable wireless networking solutions.

6G Mobile Communications for Multi-Robot Smart Factory

Private or special-purpose wireless networks present a new technological trend for future mobile communications, while one attractive application scenario is the wireless communication in a smart factory. In addition to wireless technologies, this paper pays special attention to treat a smart factory as the integration of collaborative multi-robot systems for production robots and transportation robots. Multiple aspects of collaborative multi-robot systems enabled by wireless networking have been investigated, dynamic multi-robot task assignment for collaborative production robots and subsequent transportation robots, social learning to enhance precision and robustness of collaborative production robots, and more efficient operation of collaborative transportation robots. Consequently, the technical requirements of 6G mobile communication can be logically highlighted.

Data-driven Business Model Innovation for 6G

Futuristic disruptive technologies like 6G, could further transform the way we live and work, beyond what was enabled by 5G. The expected features could enable massive high-speed and low-latency connectivity across diverse devices giving rise to new applications enabling instant availability of data related to Smart Cities, Industries 4.0, Intelligent Transport Systems, Utilities, Healthcare, Security, Media & Entertainment, etc. They will further make it possible to scale current real-time data collection strategies, adding more devices without the need for wired connections or fear of interference. Data is considered as the new oil due to tremendous possibilities it can bring in the business world through predictive and prescriptive analytics. This gives rise to the importance of data-driven business model innovation to provide actionable insights to the business owners, helping them to develop sustainable business models. Organizations using big data and analytics within their innovation process are more likely to remain competitive and sustainable. This paper discusses the importance of harnessing “Real-time Data” to create value, the challenges in harnessing value from data especially “dark data,” the role of “Data-driven Business Model Innovation” in creating sustainable business and Intelligent Transport System Data-driven Business Model Innovation as an example.

Trends in Standardization Towards 6G

Mobile networks have always been an indispensable part of a fully connected digital society. The industry and academia have joined hands to develop technologies for the anticipated future wireless communication. The predicted Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and use cases for the 6G networks have raised the bar high. 6G networks are developing to provide the required infrastructure for many new devices and services. The 6G networks are conceptualized to partially inherit 5G technologies and standards but they will open the ground for innovations. This study provides the vision and requirements for beyond 5G (B5G) networks and emphasizes our vision on the required standards to reach a fully functional and interoperable 6G era in general. We highlight various KPIs and enabling technologies for the B5G networks. In addition, standardization activities and initiatives concerning challenges in the use of spectrum are discussed in detail.

The Challenge of Zero Touch and Explainable AI

With ever increasing complexity and dynamicity in digital service provider networks, especially with the emergence of 5G, operators seek more automation to reduce the cost of operations, time to service and revenue of new and innovative services, and increase the efficiency of resource utilization, Complex algorithms leveraging ML (machine learning) are introduced, often with the need for frequent training as the networks evolve. Inference is then applied either in the core directly, or in the management stack to trigger actions and configuration changes automatically. This is the essence of Zero Touch. The challenge that analysts are often faced with is to trace back from the inference or prediction to the original events or symptoms that led to the triggered action, which ML model version or pipeline was used. This paper describes the challenges faced by analysts and provides some solutions.

I2BN: Intelligent Intent Based Networks

Intent based network management reduces the complexity of network programming from a growing set of deeply technical APIs to context-free high-level objectives that the network should autonomously achieve and keep. The practical implementation of an intent based network requires substantial automation technology embedded in the network. Automation should cover the entire lifecycle of intents, from their ingestion to fulfillment and assurance. This article investigates the feasibility of automatically assembling interworking implementation units into intent specific automation pipelines, where units are reusable self-learning closed loop micro-services with self-declared capabilities. Each closed loop may gain knowledge and respond to dynamically changing network conditions, thereby enabling network autonomy in reaching the declared intent objectives. The human-network intent interface for expressing intents is proposed to be based on the aggregation of the deployed network and service automation capabilities, rather than a formalism decoupled from the actual network implementation. This principle removes the ambiguity and compatibility gap between human intent definition and machine intent fulfillment, while retaining the flexibility and extendibility of the intents offered by any specific system via onboarding additional micro-services with novel capabilities. The concepts discussed by the article fit into the architecture and closed loop work items already defined by ETSI ZSM and provides considerations towards new areas such as intent driven autonomous networks and enablers for automation.

Inter-PLMN Mobility Management Challenges for Supporting Cross-Border Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM) Over 5G

As the first 5G networks are being deployed across the world, new services enabled by the superior performance of 5G in terms of throughput, latency and reliability are emerging. Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM) services are perhaps among the most demanding applications that 5G networks will have to support and their deployment, performance and potential for improvement has been well investigated over the past few years. However, CAM operation in multi-operator environments and the inevitable inter-PLMN handover caused by the inherent mobility of CAM services have not been studied in length. Moreover, the multiple domains, multi-vendor components and inherent high mobility of the cross-border vehicular environment, introduce multiple challenges in terms of network management and dynamic slicing, making Zero-touch network and Service Management (ZSM) solutions an attractive alternative for these environments. The work presented in this study attempts to analyse the requirements for cross-border CAM operation for the five main CAM use cases selected by 3GPP, based on input from key European stakeholders (Network Operators, vendors, Automotive Manufacturers etc.). A detailed analysis and categorization into four categories of the main challenges for cross-border CAM service provisioning is performed, namely Telecommunication, Application, Security/Privacy and Regulatory issues, while potential solutions based on existing and upcoming technological enablers are discussed for each of them. The role of standardization and relevant regulatory and administrative bodies is analysed, leading to insights regarding the most promising future research directions in the field of cross-border CAM services.

Evolutionary Autonomous Networks

The communication networks of today can greatly benefit from autonomous operation and adaptation, not only due to the implicit cost savings, but also because autonomy will enable functionalities that are infeasible today. Across industry, academia and standardisation bodies there has been an increased interest in achieving the autonomous goal, but a path on how to attain this goal is still unclear. In this paper we present our vision for the future of autonomous networking. We introduce the concepts and technological means to achieve autonomy and propose an architecture which emerges directly through the application of these concepts, highlighting opportunities and challenges for standardisation. We argue that only a holistic architecture based on hierarchies of hybrid learning, functional composition, and online experimental evaluation is expressive and capable enough to realise true autonomy within communication networks.

A Model-Driven and Business Approach to Autonomic Network Management

As corporate networks continue to expand, the technologies that underpin these enterprises must be capable of meeting the operational goals of the operators that own and manage them. Automation has enabled the impressive scaling of networks from the days of Strowger. The challenge now is not only to keep pace with the continuing huge expansion of capacity but at the same time to manage a huge increase in complexity – driven by the range of customer solutions and technologies. Recent advances in automation, programmable network interfaces, and model-driven networking will provide the possibility of closed-loop, self-optimizing, and self-healing networks. Collectively these support the goals of a truly automated network, commonly understood as “autonomic networking” even though this is a prospect yet to be achieved. This paper outlines the progress made towards autonomic networking and the framework and procedures developed during the UK Next Generation Converged Digital Infrastructure (NG-CDI) project. It outlines the operator-driven requirements and capabilities that have been identified, and proposes an autonomic management framework, and summarizes current art and the challenges that remain.