A scientific paper entitled “Toward the 6G Network Era: Opportunities and Challenges” has been co-authored by University of Patras, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, EULAMBIA and UBITECH, and is published at the IEEE IT Professional Magazine (vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 34-38). In this paper, Dr Dimitris Klonidis and his co-authors discuss the transformation and convergence of the fifth-generation (5G) mobile network and the internet of things technologies, toward the emergence of the smart sixth-generation (6G) networks which will employ AI to optimize and automate their operation.
The smart 6G networks of the future will integrate intelligent 5G and NG-IoT connectivity infrastructures, with advanced edge-computing hardware that will support the computational-resources’ heavy execution of the AI algorithms. The introduction of AI at the network edge faces many challenges related to the fact that its targeted applications must operate in real-time dynamic environments, which should comply with strict end-to-end bit-rate, latency, reliability, privacy/security requirements, as well as edge devices’ limitations like energy availability, battery lifetime, and memory size.
In this 6G of mobile network, the communications infrastructure connecting the foreseen billions of smart edge devices (collecting and distributing data) should be seen as its “nervous system,” while the edge computing hardware executing AI and other algorithms (like, e.g., blockchain for trustworthiness and security) over an SDN/NFV software control and management platform should be seen as its “brain.” Such evolution, combined with the proliferation of smart (and wearable) wireless devices at the edge, will make the internet of everything (IoE) a reality.
This highlights their vision for the evolution of current 5G and IoT infrastructures toward the smart converged 6G infrastructure that is expected to emerge after 2025, supporting in parallel the actual deployment of the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0), autonomous driving, smart city/building services, AR services, and more that will be able to reshape our way of living.
