Nobody knows yet what 6G specifications might be, but some directional insight can be gleaned by looking at where the 5G roadmap leads.
Release 16, expected about 2020, will include support for NR-Unlicensed (NR-U), Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB), enhanced Vehicle-to-Everything (eV2X), URLLC and Industrial IoT (IIoT) enhancements, and Service Enabler Architecture Layer (SEAL) for verticals.
Release 17 features might include support for Non-terrestrial Networks (NTNs) (satellites), new frequency bands (7 GHz to 24 GHz and frequencies up to 53 GHz), and NR-Light.
Some believe 6G could offer high-fidelity holograms, multi-sensory communications (touch, taste and/or smell), TeraHertz (THz) communications, and pervasive Artificial Intelligence. Of these, only multi-sensory capabilities seem unlikely.
Every next-generation mobile network since 2G has reduced latency, improved speed and increased bandwidth efficiency. That is about the only safe prediction we can make about 6G. Use cases and business models have been the areas of greatest forecast error in the 3G and 4G eras, and likely will happen in the 5G era as well.
That suggests high caution about anything other than technical performance predictions for 6G.
Much of the work extending the 5G standards will focus on adapting 5G for vertical market applications, including standards for using 5G as a full-fledged local area network in either enterprise or consumer use cases, enabling satellite networks to interwork with 5G, adding connected vehicle and unmanned aerial vehicle support.
Critical medical use cases, audiovisual production, manufacturing and utility grid apps, location-based services and haptic feedback standards will be created.
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