6G will be the main network for the Industrial Internet of Things (IoT)

Cellular-based location technologies for critical IoT industrial applications will be one of the key elements of future 6G networks. While 5G is still in the early stages of deployment in many markets and most commercial networks are not standalone, the networking industry is already experimenting with the possibilities of next-generation 6G cellular networks, and the IoT will gradually enable these innovations.

I. The Evolution of 5G

5G is for most people the last interaction of mobile telecommunication networks that arrived in the last quarter of the 20th century. The speed of connected communications devices has increased dramatically, and some advanced users can now play low-latency online games and watch ultra-high-definition video on their smartphones and tablets.

For cellular service providers (CSPs) and other industry stakeholders, 5G is the logical progression of cellular connectivity, with data finally replacing voice as the primary driver of wireless communications. 5G New Radio (5G NR) finally enables the reliability and high-performance wireless connectivity required by the last industrial revolution.

Telecom operators are now beginning to roll out the first standalone 5G networks, ultimately enabling critical IoT services such as ultra-low latency and network slicing. 2025 sees the imminent arrival of 5G Advanced (3GPP Rel.18), also known as 5G+, providing 5G for high-performance applications such as autonomous driving, advanced robotics, remote operations and maintenance, large-scale critical Internet of Things (IoT) and industrial metaverse full capabilities.

Using real-time data from all sources, organizations at all levels will use the digital twin to create innovative industrial IoT solutions as well as artificial intelligence and analytics to leverage achievable cognition, using information from immersive simulations to make the products and services of the future. Then, after 5G finally reaches its full potential, the early stages of 6G will emerge and bring new capabilities that will enable the advanced industrial applications of this century.

II. What is 6G?

According to a report published by GSMA Intelligence, "While some applications are clear, some are not. which services 6G will eventually enable will depend on physical capabilities. If we assume a further 10-fold increase in 5G throughput and latency in the opposite direction, then extended reality and meta-universes are sure to emerge, as are holography, robotics and distributed sensing capabilities."

The six key technologies for 6G are:

(1) New spectrum technologies;

(2) Artificial intelligence local air interface;

(3) Network as a sensor;

(4) Extreme connectivity;

(5) Cognitive, automated and specialized architectures;

(6) Security and trust.

In addition to high speed and near-zero latency, 6G will provide the sensing and positioning capabilities needed to fully automate the industrial metaverse and many applications that are not possible today. Precise positioning is essential for many applications in industrial environments, such as robot navigation, asset tracking, and worker safety.

Peter Vetter, core research chair at Nokia Bell Labs, says: "6G sensing will give us an unprecedented awareness of our surroundings, for example, by updating the digital twin of a factory or smart city in real time to optimize the movement of robots, vehicles and humans in a safe way. This digital sixth sense will warn us of danger, such as a speeding car approaching around a corner. As 6G sensing becomes more accurate, we will be able to use gestures to interact with the world in a natural way, rather than using a touch screen or controller interface."

Over the past few years, we have followed the research and early trials of 6G by a number of leading infrastructure providers and research institutions. One prominent institution, Nokia, provided a 6G demonstration at Mobile World Congress 2023 (MWC23), when Nokia Bell Labs demonstrated its 6G sensing capabilities using prototype radios to show how future networks will act as a kind of sensing objects, people and motion "radar", while protecting privacy.

"We started working on 6G a few years ago," said Thierry Klein, president of solutions research at Nokia Bell Labs, in an interview. "We see 6G not only as a communications network, but also as bringing other value propositions. The metrics are not just latency and reliability, but also other aspects. How do we use communication networks for other purposes, and sensing is a key one? If we believe in industrial enterprise applications, we think sensing is worth looking at."

He continued, "Enterprises are more driven by results:How does the network and technology a company deploys help it improve productivity, efficiency, security and sustainability? How does it create results for the company's business? They'll say, 'Great, I have 5G, 5G Advanced, 6G and private wireless. "What does it actually bring to me?"

Klein, who leads Nokia's Industrial Solutions research, believes 6G will bring the real benefits of 5G to the industrial sector. 6G typically connects billions of assets, including consumer electronics and appliances, factory machines and self-driving cars. The combination of massive IoT, high throughput, edge processing and artificial intelligence will enable the benefits of Industry 4.0 to reach everyone.

"You need to connect everything from people, machines and sensors to spaces and environments, but once you've connected something, the question is what do you do with it," he said. "The first part is the need to understand what you're connecting, the way things behave and where your stuff is. Sensing, localization, localization and understanding the operating environment are essential. That's why we're very excited about sensing technology.

"We're focused on this in our group to answer these questions," Klein added. "Call it Industry 4.0, industrial automation, the industrial metaverse. But it's really about how we can put network edge computing, artificial intelligence and many ICT technologies to work to help achieve industrial outcomes."

6G will unify the experience of the physical, digital and human worlds

III. 6G must be more power and energy efficient

As operators and system integrators deploy new 5G networks in public and private spaces, the balance between performance and sustainability is a growing concern. Data traffic on cellular networks continues to grow, while power consumption increases. According to the GSMA, by 2030, the ICT sector is expected to shift more than 60% of its total power consumption to renewable energy. Nonetheless, the uneven distribution means that 6G must be a more efficient network to mitigate power demand in high-intensity use cases.

"We think the energy shortage is going to continue; it may be in Europe today, but it's going to be a global problem that we have to work on," said Sanjay Uppal, senior vice president and general manager of VMware's Service Provider and Edge business unit, in an interview last year . "As a result, it will become increasingly important to consider energy consumption as a factor in choosing information technology."