This will be the mobile technology of the future

This will be the mobile technology of the future

We have been hearing many things about the 5G network in recent days. We are already aware to some extent of this technology which has already been commercialized in some countries.

But what will the SixG network from the year 2030 be like? Which technical capabilities that are not available in 5G will come with 6G? Similar issues will be discussed here.

The capacity of SixG network

5G users can experience data speeds ranging from one hundred megabits per second (Mbps) to one gigabit per second (1 Gbps). In 6G, you can experience data speed up to 10 Gbps, which is ten times more than 5G.

Similarly, the latency of 10 milliseconds in 5G link will be reduced to one millisecond in 6G. In this way, from a network with high speed and low latency, a very large amount of data (such as all the data produced by the sensors of an automatic car) can be sent to the server in the network in real time, and the data can be processed and the car can be driven safely without a human driver with the help of the network.

In SixG, the device density will be 10 times higher than that of FiveG, that is, FiveG can connect one million devices to the network in an area of ​​one square kilometer, while SixG can connect one million devices to the network.

Compared to 5G, localization in SixG, i.e., the ability to determine the location of devices connected to the network will also be 30 times more in SixG than in FiveG. The location of the device can be determined at a granularity of one centimeter plus or minus.

Another area of ​​improvement is energy efficiency. Currently, information and communication equipment consumes 5 to 10 percent of the world's electricity. Electricity consumption is projected to double by 2030 as data speeds increase and more devices connect to the network.

This means that 10 to 20 percent of the total energy consumption is estimated to be consumed in the information and communication sector. Therefore, by improving information and communication technology, going from 5G to 6G, energy efficiency will be increased up to 300 times.

SixG Network aims to have the following functional capabilities (i.e. Functional Capabilities).

Connecting Intelligence

The SixG network will not only connect smart phones, tablets or computers, but will also connect devices (such as robots) and software programs that can display intelligent behavior and act intelligently like humans through the extensive use of artificial intelligence technology.

Through this connecting intelligence, we people in the physical world (i.e. the physical world) will be connected with different types of intelligent software tools placed in the cyber world. It is possible to create a digital twin system that can represent the physical objects and their activities in detail in the cyber world by storing various types of data related to physical objects such as people and machines from the physical world through the network to the cyber world.

By using the digital twin system, we can understand in detail about the observation habits and activities of people and the things around us, and also make predictions about the future behavior.

Programmable network

The SixG network will not be a network that works only as a dummy pipe to exchange data from a server in one place to a client in another place, but will be a programmable intelligent network that can optimize every function of the network through software programs.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning programs will be widely used to simplify and automate network service provisioning, operation and management. For that purpose, the use of intelligent network control system over Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and Software-Defined Networking (SDN) technology will be expanded.

One of the advantages of making a network 'programmable' (in the form of a computer program) is that the network can be controlled and managed automatically. The network can be monitored, controlled and reconfigured from a distance after all kinds of software can be installed and controlled from the program when needed by the network administrator in the connected device to provide network services like in the computer.

For example, now most of the network systems are being developed in the 'Network Function Virtualization'-NFV concept. NFV means that just as we create virtual machines in computers, network functions (such as routing, security, caching, transcoding, authentication, etc.) can be installed and deployed by creating many virtual machines or containers in network devices.

Those software functions can be remotely monitored and controlled through the program. We can easily monitor whether those functions are working as expected, how long they are working, whether the allocated virtual resources (such as CPU, memory, storage and bandwidth) are sufficient for them.

If it is insufficient, the required resource can be added automatically through the program itself. Some have even called it 'zero touch configuration'. Monitor everything by the computer program itself and analyze the resource usage in detail, add more if the resource is insufficient.

If it is unnecessarily high, it can be removed and kept in standby mode to reduce energy consumption.

Reliable and quality service i.e. deterministic service

The current internet service is a 'best-effort' service. That is not guaranteed quality service. Mission critical applications (such as automated cars, automatic control of factory machines) cannot be run over a network that can only provide 'best-effort' service.

SixG network aims to provide information communication services of deterministic quality. The bottleneck points of the programmable network can be identified in time and the necessary computing and network resources (such as CPU, memory, storage, bandwidth) can be provisioned through the software.

After the development of this ability to dynamically control the programmable network, the quality of service will be reliable and trustworthy. So that maximum data speed and minimum latency can be guaranteed.

Integrated Sensing

In addition to providing 'communication' services, the SixG network aims to be able to sense the environment in a subtle way. The radio waves used in SixG will not only do the job of communication, but also collect useful information by 'accurately locating' every object by sensing the environment around them in high resolution.

For example, the information about how many people come from where in a big city every day, what is the speed and direction of movement of those people, how much time they spend there can usually be obtained from the current communication network.

Even more information about the environment can be collected through radio waves used in SixG or other means. Changes in the amount of greenery, air temperature and the amount of pollution can be measured regularly.

For example, it would be helpful in analyzing in detail the effect of hot air discharged from a building's air conditioning system on the ambient temperature over time.

Reliable service

The reliability of service in SixG is also aimed to be very good. Since every activity of our daily life and most of the devices and machines we use are connected to the SixG network, its service must be very reliable.

Electrical appliances used daily in our homes such as refrigerators, air conditioners, electric lights and personal safety functions such as opening and closing the house's locks will also be connected to the network. We can control the contents of our home from outside through the network.

For this, the reliability of network connectivity and network service should be very high. A reliable security system to store our personal information and data about our activities in a reliable manner and prevent access by unauthorized persons will not be excluded from the design of the SixG network.

Affordable price

Looking at this, SixG network service may seem like hi-fi. It is also natural to think that this is an expensive service of hi-fi or luxury. But the goal is to provide SixG network services at an affordable price.

It is based on the belief that it should be accessible to all communities in villages, cities, mountains, plains, deserts, seas, developed and underdeveloped regions at an affordable price.

Bridging the digital divide

The networks up to the PaveG technology are mainly city-centric networks. Although high speed data services can be provided in cities, the current cellular network service providers do not want to go to rural areas. Because there is less revenue per user. Placing communication equipment such as base stations and data servers in remote and isolated places also incurs higher costs.

SixG aims to provide high-quality communication facilities even in rural and remote areas by connecting satellite technology to mobile cellular networks. For that, the satellite network (Non-terrestrial network) infrastructure placed in the sky will be connected to the terrestrial network infrastructure. If this is done, the digital divide can be reduced by providing the same high-quality information and communication services to villages and cities, accessible and remote.

Three techniques widely used in SixG networks are discussed below.

Satellite network

How to connect the satellite network with the mobile network is now the main topic of discussion. At present, the satellite has a separate network. But in the future, by connecting it to the cellular network, ordinary mobile phone users in rural, remote areas without a cellular network base station will also be able to use quality communication facilities by directly connecting to the satellite network.

For that, the common smartphones in the market will also have the ability to connect to the satellite network. Consumers carrying such mobile sets will connect to the cellular network while staying in Kathmandu, while going to mountainous areas where there is no cellular network coverage or weak cellular signal, they will catch the satellite signal and remain in constant communication contact.

Now let's talk about the background of the satellite system.

Since the current mobile network is on the surface of the earth, it is called a terrestrial network. The network of satellites in space above is called Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN). Satellites are also placed on three levels.

The highest level is the GEO satellites orbiting the Earth in the 'GEO Stationary Earth Orbit' at an altitude of 36,000 km. One of the properties of these satellites is that they always appear to be in the same place when viewed from Earth. Jio satellite is being used for telecommunication and television broadcasting. JIO satellites work by receiving the signal from the earth's surface (the signal passing through the big antenna) and relaying it to the other side.

The satellite that stays at an altitude of 2,000 km below that is called Middle Earth Orbit Satellite or MEO Satellite. GPS service has been provided by Mio Satellite. The lowest satellites, i.e. at a height of 160 km to 2000 km above the earth, are called 'Low Earth Orbit Satellites' i.e. LEO satellites.

Since the LEO satellites orbit the Earth several times faster than the Earth's rotation speed, these satellites are not always visible from the Earth in the same place. Therefore, in order to provide continuous communication services on earth, it is necessary to keep many LEO satellites as a group (satellite constellation). As soon as one of the satellites leaves the place above us, another satellite arrives at that place.

Companies like OneWeb, SpaceX Starlink, Amazon Cooper, Telesat are now launching Leo satellites in hundreds and thousands. Since the Leo satellite constellation is close to Earth, it does not need to send a very powerful signal, so even our simple smartphones can easily connect to such satellites.

By connecting the Leo satellite constellation to the terrestrial network i.e. the cellular network, it is envisioned to provide coverage of quality communication services even in remote areas. The development of technology to connect satellites to the cellular network control system is going to be made mandatory in SixG.

By connecting the satellite to the cellular system, as soon as the signal of the base station is weak, the technology can be handed over to the satellite signal. When the disaster (such as earthquake, flood, landslide) damages the ground structure, the telecommunication service can be maintained through the satellite. Disaster risk reduction and rescue work can be conducted effectively.

In addition to satellites, another system called 'High Altitude Platform Station' - HAPS (HAPS) is also being developed. HAPs are computer systems connected to communication facilities that can be stuck in the sky like balloons. Recently, there are news that Nepal has also started testing for HAPs.

Technology is being developed to use haps as a cellular base station, just like the Leo satellite. Telecom service providers in many countries, including Japan, are investing heavily in HAPS systems. In this way, it is expected that satellite and HAPs will join the main stream of telecommunication in the near future. SixG will make it possible.

Information Centric Network (ICN)

The method of exchanging data in the current network is based on the 'server-client model'. In this, the client is the consumer, who has computers and smart mobile devices and the server is located far away (in the country and abroad).

We are downloading data by connecting the client device to the server. The main thing we need is data, information or content. Which is available from anywhere, but in today's server-client and host-centric internet systems, one must connect to the designated server to download data.

In most applications today, content is created by the user (such as Facebook and Instagram posts, TikTok and YouTube videos) and that content is consumed locally. Let's take Tiktok video for example. Tik Tok videos are prepared locally by friends who are in our friend list or follow.

But that content is taken to a remote server of Tik Tok. This practice has also been done in other applications like Facebook, YouTube. In this case, if your friends living in the same village, same city or same country want to watch your video, they have to go to a remote server and download the content.

This means that uploading and downloading videos to a remote server takes a lot of time and consumes a lot of network bandwidth. In this way, time and money are being spent unnecessarily. Also, when there is a shortage of bandwidth or when the network is busy, the quality of service becomes low.

To get rid of this problem, it has now become a practice to keep content 'distribution network-CDN' (CDN) servers at the local level. In Nepal and neighboring India, the content cache servers of Tiktok, YouTube, etc. may be kept by the same application provider companies.

But the development of technology that can be cached in the network close to the consumer for the content consumed at the local level has not yet happened. In other words, network service providers have not been able to use the technology to automatically cache content that consumers use a lot in their network.

To solve this problem, a new network architecture called 'Information-Centric Networking-ICN' (ICN) is being developed. In this concept, when the user writes the name of the content he needs and sends a request to the network, the network searches for that content as closely as possible and sends it to the user.

While sending in this way, the content is temporarily stored or cached everywhere in the network. If the content that someone is downloading from the server is very popular, it is automatically cached in the local network (router, access point or server connected to the network, etc.).

When other users in the same network send requests for such content, there is no need to reach the main server to download the content. Cash copies available at the local level can be sent to consumers immediately. Therefore, the content created within Nepal, which is consumed a lot within Nepal, can be cached in the network within Nepal.

By doing this, the upstream bandwidth (international bandwidth) consumption of the Internet is reduced and the foreign exchange payable to the Internet backbone service provider is saved. Also, the content and data we need are available very quickly, so we can experience high quality service.

The example of TikTok may be relevant to understand the benefits of information-centric networking. When Tiktok initially came to Nepal, there was a problem because there was no local content server. After our internet service provider companies faced problems due to the sudden increase in upstream bandwidth consumption, those companies complained publicly.

Many users complained that while using Tiktok, all of them had to connect to the Tiktok server in foreign countries at the same time due to lack of bandwidth and the service quality was not satisfactory. This kind of problem does not exist in 'Information Centric Network'. It is expected that this technology will be readily available in SixG.