Why the future of wireless communications has already begun

"5G is here, but 6G is already knocking on the door," says Alexander Pabst, Vice President Market Segment Wireless Communications at Rohde & Schwarz, with conviction. Yes, the 5G rollout is now in full swing worldwide. And yes, Rohde & Schwarz, as a leading supplier of test and measurement equipment, is a key technology partner in the entire wireless communications ecosystem. But the company is also actively involved in making the sixth generation of wireless communications a reality. Here's a taste of what's to come.

Some of us can still remember their first text message. That was in the 1990s, when mobile phones still had physical buttons and were nothing like today's smartphones. Fast forward three decades and everything looks different. We use streaming services more or less on the go, track deliveries in real time, and make video calls to say Happy Birthday to friends on other continents.

My avatar and me

From the perspective of our current reality, 6G use cases may look like fantasies to many people. Virtual reality and augmented reality, for example, will be turned into extended reality, creating an experience space that blurs the lines between the real and virtual worlds.

Digital avatars of real people will stroll through virtual shopping malls. And what about getting together for a transcontinental birthday party in a virtual room instead of a video call? The metaverse, a sort of global virtual reality, first appeared in a sci-fi novel in 1991. Now the term is being bandied about as the next big trend in digitalization – and not just in Silicon Valley. If their 6G scenarios become reality, we can expect a wonderland of communications in the 2030s.

See more, hear more, feel more

Standardized performance characteristics are still lacking, but superlatives are a common theme in technological discussions. Current technical articles are full of terms such as further enhanced ultra mobile broadband (feUMBB), ultra low latency reliability & security (uLLRS), and ultra high sensing low latency communications (uHSLLC).

A common element of all these terms is data transmission at very high rates with little or no latency and increasing sensitivity to the environment. This mainly involves combining known application profiles, usually in ever higher frequency ranges to suit the requirements of visionary use cases.

Networks with a sixth sense

A new combination: Joint communication & Sensing (JCAS). This approach describes sensor functions as an integral part of future 6G communications networks. Rohde & Schwarz is actively involved in development using its expertise in both areas: wireless communications and radar test & measurement.

In technical terms, this means using multisignal designs or hardware sharing to fulfill native JCAS design requirements. In other words, the goal is to also record environmental parameters on the basis of information exchange within a communications network. In addition to the signals transmitted within the network, their reflections are also received and processed. The basic principle is like the ultrasound technology used by doctors: Different types of tissue reflect ultrasound waves with different intensity levels. Based on the echoes, a computer can generate an image showing the position, shape and structure of internal organs.

Immersion in virtual reality

In wireless communications, reflected signals provide additional information that can be used to substantially optimize network performance. For example, if some object happens to temporarily block signal propagation, the network can respond by changing the direction of the signal – nearly in real time.

The additional spatial acquisition that is being deployed within wireless networks is also enabling very innovative applications on UE. For all the users, for you and for me. A so-called digital twin can represent a virtual model of the physical world. In a 6G scenario, its purpose is to create a fully immersive experience for the users. The current level of market interest is very high, ranging from fun and games in the entertainment world to industrial robotics applications and assistance systems for people with or without disabilities.

Wireless communications made in Germany

After the first analog generation (1G), sending a text message in the 1990s felt like a quantum leap. The first generation of digital wireless communications (2G) enabled additional functions such as roaming and digital voice transmission. The European Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) standard developed into a major export product, just like the GSM simulator from Rohde & Schwarz.

Making it human

The internet grew, and with it the desire to access the internet from wireless devices. The subsequent generations 3G and 4G (the latter also known as LTE, short for Long Term Evolution), therefore focused on data applications. Both are now the most widely used standards worldwide in the wireless communications ecosystem. The use cases were primarily tailored to human-to-human communications. The aim was to optimize the transmission speed of data to wireless devices, so that applications could be fast and easy to use.

The latest wireless communications standard 5G dramatically boosts the speed, but this doesn't make a noticeable difference for personal use. The impetus for further development is coming from a different direction.

Human-machine interaction

Industry 4.0 is the keyword for the fifth generation of wireless communications. The industrial internet of things (IIoT) will play a leading role in the factories of the future. Robots on the production line and autonomous logistics systems will work hand in hand with factory employees.

These 5G use cases make much higher demands on coverage, latency and reliability, so their implementation can pose challenges for network planners and operators. With its own 5G campus network in one of its production sites, Rohde & Schwarz has been intensively acquiring experience in real Industry 4.0 scenarios since 2020 – for itself and for its customers.

When things become smart

Many of our familiar everyday objects will become smarter. In a smart home, nobody has to flip a light switch. In the smart city of the future, connected vehicles will communicate with a smart infrastructure. Visions from last few decades will become a lot closer to reality with the widespread rollout of 5G.

However, the wealth of different applications places even higher demands on the sensor technology of individual systems and the communications of all systems. For this reason, connectivity is not only one of the technologies mastered by Rohde & Schwarz. Figuratively speaking, as a player on the global stage the group is actively connected in the entire wireless communications ecosystem.

Higher, faster, further

Together with the Fraunhofer Institutes HHI and IAF, Rohde & Schwarz has been carrying out research in the sub-terahertz frequency range between 100 GHz and 320 GHz since 2019. However, for virtual shopping malls or parties among avatars, much higher data rates will be needed than with 5G. These can only be realized at very high frequencies. 6G will therefore enter new technological dimensions, and not just in terms of transmission.