5G Standalone is providing a foretaste of advanced applications such as X-Reality, machine-to-machine communications, digital twins, and 3D video communications. However, X-Reality is not interactive enough without the risk of motion sickness, machine-to-machine communications is in its infancy, digital twins do not yet provide the ability to explore alternative scenarios with multi-media replicas, and the resolution for 3D holograms is underwhelming. 5G’s throughput rate peaks at 20 Gbps while 6G will scale to 1000 Gbps.
Performance of this order of magnitude is not achievable on single-user devices – especially smartphones. The processing will be distributed over multiple devices in pervasive software-defined networks. Ultra-low latencies will be needed for the interworking of these devices.
The Alliance for Telecommunications Solutions (ATIS) has taken the lead to articulate the US vision for 6G. The US has assets to succeed in the future of telecommunications with hyper-scale computing, Open RAN, and open networking, unmatched by other countries. However, success with 6G will also require concurrent advances in integrated chips, quantum computing, and much larger databases for AI.
While the US has an edge in hyper-scale cloud computing, its telecommunications industry has lagged due to a high level of concentration in the industry. Open RAN has opened opportunities to leverage the US’s global leadership in software but is not yet scalable.
The growth of databases for AI has to contend with security and privacy laws. This can be overcome with blockchains and data pools. However, the US has lagged behind Europe in creating an environment for blockchains to grow.
Increasingly, innovations in integrated chips drive innovations in software and hardware. Here, the US is at risk as it has been unable to take advantage of nanotechnologies, and production is increasingly concentrated overseas especially in Taiwan. While the US still leads in the design of integrated chips, this will be short-lived without the ability to manufacture with nanotechnology.
Industry experts have shared their perspective on the US readiness to lead in 6G. Read the entire article at LifeWire.
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