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World Radiocommunications Convention (WRC) 2023 concluded simply two months in the past, however its choices on next-generation spectrum are already having a huge impact on 6G. This month an Worldwide Telecommunication Union (ITU) assembly in Geneva hosted spectrum specialists searching for to chart 6G’s subsequent steps. In the meantime the requirements our bodies have kicked off the 6G standardization course of.
The true work on 6G has begun.
You may consider each era of networking as constructing a brand new house. The very first thing it’s essential do is select the land you want to construct on. In December, WRC-23 did simply that by figuring out new candidate spectrum to check for 6G.
WRC-23 made some key spectrum choices that can pave the way in which in the direction of harmonization of 6G and be certain that service suppliers can simply embrace the subsequent era of networking. Briefly, we now have a stable piece of actual property on which we are able to construct the foundations of 6G.
Particularly, the WRC recognized the 7.1-8.4 GHz band as a future candidate for 6G providers. 7.1-8.4 MHz isn’t solely a part of what we name the “Golden Bands,” however it occurs to be probably the most golden band of all of them. It meets each single standards for driving a worldwide 6G rollout.
The propagation traits of seven.1-8.4 GHz would enable operators to construct 6G on prime of their present infrastructure. It’s a broad swathe of spectrum, that means there shall be loads of capability for a number of service suppliers in each nation. And most importantly, it has the potential to be harmonized all through the big portion of the world. This implies many nations would be capable to deploy 6G over the total bandwidth of those frequencies, realizing large economies of scale and making certain widespread interoperability.
That wasn’t the one choice WRC-23 made that can affect 6G. The WRC’s voting members additionally agreed to designate the higher 6 GHz band (6425MHz-7125MHz) for licensed cell broadband providers in Europe, Africa and Center East (EMEA), Mexico, Brazil and a few Asian nations. Further nations have indicated they’d again the band within the coming years. Because of the similarities between the higher 6 GHz and seven.1-8.4 GHz bands, each would offer the identical advantages for out of doors deployment. The higher 6 GHz will initially be used for 5G providers, however it might simply be repurposed for 6G sooner or later.
Lastly, WRC-23 agreed to check two different bands for future 6G use: 4.4-4.8 GHz and 14.8-15.3 GHz. These frequencies would undoubtedly have a spot in future community rollouts, nevertheless, by way of bigger contiguous bandwidth blocks, they aren’t as ultimate for 6G as different Golden Bands. Whereas service suppliers would construct their major networks within the higher 6 GHz and seven.1-8.4 GHz, they may use 14-15 GHz to enhance capability in significantly dense or high-demand areas. In the meantime 4.4-4.8 GHz might be utilized in industrial and enterprise campus environments.
Maybe probably the most encouraging factor about WRC, although, was the more and more optimistic perspective we’re seeing towards 6G from the world’s regulators and spectrum coverage makers. Many WRC members expressed enthusiasm for exploring different 6G spectrum bands independently, which might solely increase 6G’s prospects additional. It’s not a query of if we pursue 6G. Somewhat it’s solely a query of how.
What’s subsequent?
To proceed my home analogy, the subsequent steps shall be surveying the land and designing this future house. We are going to conduct a 4-year research of the 7.1-8.4 GHz, 4.4-4.8 GHz and 14-15 GHz bands to make sure that we are able to construct economically viable and high-performing networks on this spectrum. We will even want to point out that we’ll be good stewards of this spectrum in addition to accountable neighbors to the wi-fi applied sciences working in adjoining bands, and in some instances consider sensible methods to share it with different customers within the band. These findings shall be offered to the Worldwide Telecommunication Union, which can make the ultimate choice whether or not to assign the spectrum to 6G at World Radiocommunication Convention 2027.
In parallel, we might want to design the home that we intend to construct on our potential land. This implies we have to create a 6G commonplace and develop 6G’s underlying applied sciences. It was no coincidence that 3GPP laid out its 6G standardization plans in December, simply because the WRC-23 was finalizing its 6G spectrum choices. 3GPP will draft the blueprint for future 6G programs. Its work will ramp up this yr. In the meantime, researchers from throughout the ICT trade – with initiatives similar to Hexa-X II to 6G-ANNA — will innovate the brand new applied sciences that can set 6G aside from its predecessors.
There are loads of shifting components to this course of, and they’re all about to start out shifting concurrently. A brand new era of wi-fi networking comes about solely as soon as a decade. I, for one, am wanting ahead to having fruitful discussions on 6G at Cell World Congress in Barcelona. It’s time to roll up our sleeves and ensure we as soon as once more ship the next-generation applied sciences the world expects from us.
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