The development of communication technology has always been a key area of concern for countries. In recent years, with the acceleration of 5G commercialization, people's discussion of the next generation of 6G is also in full swing. So, why has the application of 5G not fully fulfilled the original expectations, and how will 6G break through the limitations of 5G and bring what kind of changes to the lives of ordinary people?
At the 2024 Global 6G Technology Conference, Sohu Technology interviewed Wang Jiangzhou, a foreign academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and an academician of the Royal Academy of Engineering, to listen to his insights on the development trend of communication technology.
"I had high expectations for 5G"
Looking back on the development process of 5G, it is not difficult to find that its application does not seem to have fully fulfilled the original "ceiling" expectations.
Academician Wang Jiangzhou believes that this is mainly due to the high expectations for 5G at that time. "5G is blowing too much, as if 5G can do anything. He admitted that although the latency of 5G is already very low, it still cannot meet the requirements of some industry applications.
For example, in the fields of autonomous driving and industrial Internet of Things, the requirements for network latency are extremely demanding, and the response time must be millisecond or even microsecond. However, the end-to-end latency of existing 5G networks is not yet up to this standard.
More critically, individual needs are not fully considered in the design of 5G networks. The business needs of different industries and user groups are very different, but 5G adopts a relatively unified technical solution, which is difficult to balance the needs of all parties.
This has also led to a bottleneck in the application and promotion of 5G in some vertical industries. As Wang Jiangzhou said, "For example, the business needs of industrial vertical industries are completely different from those of ordinary users, and the general 5G design cannot effectively meet the requirements of some industry applications." "
Academician Wang Jiangzhou's analysis hit the crux of 5G applications. Excessive expectations and lack of targeted design doom 5G applications in some fields to be difficult to fulfill.
"The core of 6G lies in the combination of virtual and real"
Since 5G has not fully met market expectations, how will 6G break through this dilemma and bring new changes to the lives of ordinary people?
Academician Wang Jiangzhou believes that the core of 6G lies in the combination of virtual and real, and it is mainly augmented reality-related industries that will benefit the most. Compared to previous communication technologies, the key performance indicators of 6G will be very large capacity and very low latency, enough to support the close integration between the real physical world and the virtual digital world.
This means that in the 6G era, we can expect the line between the physical and digital worlds to become increasingly blurred. For example, in the future "metaverse", the high-bandwidth and low-latency connections supported by 6G will make the integration of virtual and reality more seamless, resulting in a more immersive and personalized application experience.
At the same time, Wang Jiangzhou also pointed out that the application of 6G will be more personalized. In the past, the universal design of 5G was difficult to meet the needs of different industries and user groups, and 6G will be optimized in this aspect to better adapt to various vertical application scenarios.
This may mean that in the 6G era, each of us will have a more "privately customized" communication service, whether it is life and entertainment, or work and production, there will be a customized experience that is more suitable for our own needs.
It is foreseeable that with the continuous maturity of 6G technology, innovative applications involving augmented reality, virtual reality, industrial Internet and other fields are bound to bring more surprises and changes to our lives. Whether in entertainment, healthcare, education, or manufacturing, 6G will become a key force in reshaping human society.
Hidden concerns still exist, and energy efficiency improvement is still a hard constraint
However, looking at the development of 6G, we will inevitably have some concerns.
Academician Wang Jiangzhou said frankly that compared with 5G, the overall energy consumption of 6G may be greater. This is because, with the high degree of integration of the physical and digital worlds in the future, the application scenarios and data volume undertaken by 6G networks will increase exponentially.
At present, we have seen that some operators will hibernate some 5G base stations at night in order to reduce costs. This also seems to expose the energy consumption problem of 5G operation. For 6G, how to greatly improve network performance while achieving a significant improvement in energy efficiency is undoubtedly a difficult problem that needs to be solved urgently.
Wang Jiangzhou pointed out that 6G may require a radical change in network structure to achieve significant energy efficiency improvements. For example, in the future, 6G networks will no longer use traditional cellular structures, but will bring wireless access points closer to end users, because energy consumption mainly occurs in the wireless part, which can greatly reduce overall energy consumption.
At the same time, improving energy efficiency must also be a top priority in the development of 6G standards. We must optimize the network architecture, chip design and other levels to ensure that the 6G network can be green and environmentally friendly while high performance.
As Wang Jiangzhou said, "The total energy consumption of 6G may be greater, and we may live in the metaverse and virtual world, so we must greatly improve energy efficiency." "Only by solving this bottleneck can 6G technology truly benefit human society.
It is worth mentioning that in terms of satellite communications, there are indeed some gaps between China and European and American countries. However, this also provides an important opportunity for us to build a 6G space-air-ground integrated network in the future.
As long as we fully absorb foreign advanced experience and increase independent innovation, I believe that China will achieve corner overtaking in this field and eventually form a 6G technology system with independent intellectual property rights.
It is regrettable that 5G applications have not fully fulfilled their original intentions, but it also indicates the direction of 6G development in the future. Only by learning from the lessons of 5G and innovating in key elements such as network performance, personalization, and energy efficiency can 6G be expected to become a technology that truly benefits humanity.
At present, 6G R&D is in its infancy and faces many unknown challenges. However, as long as we maintain a sober understanding and firm confidence, we believe that China will definitely lead in this global technological race.
As a global leader in the development of communication technology, China is paving the way for the future of 6G. The previous 5G R&D process has fully demonstrated the strength of Chinese enterprises and scientific research teams. From chips, base stations to system integration, China has always been at the forefront of technology.
It is worth mentioning that in the process of 5G commercialization, Chinese operators not only lead the world in network construction speed, but also are not far behind in key technological innovation. Huawei, ZTE and other companies have successively launched industry-leading 5G equipment, demonstrating the strength of Made in China.
These valuable experiences and achievements will surely become an important foundation for China to win the initiative in the 6G era. As Academician Wang Jiangzhou said, the technical challenges involved in 6G are more complex, and they need to be tackled from multiple levels such as network architecture and chip design.
But we have reason to believe that Chinese enterprises and scientific research teams with strong strength will surely occupy the commanding heights in this global technology competition.
At the same time, the mainland's continuous investment in basic research and key technology research will also inject lasting impetus into the future development of 6G. In recent years, Chinese scientists and technologists have made a series of breakthroughs in cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum communications, and terahertz, all of which have added color to the blueprint for 6G.
In addition, Continental's continuous efforts in the field of satellite communications have also laid a solid foundation for the realization of the 6G "air-space-ground integration" network concept. Although there is still a gap compared with European and American countries, as long as we increase investment, I believe that in the near future, we can narrow this gap and even achieve corner overtaking.
To sum up, China will undoubtedly play a more important role in the new round of technological change from 5G to 6G. With strong innovation strength and abundant capital investment, the mainland will surely achieve new breakthroughs in the field of 6G and contribute China's strength to the development of global communication technology.
When 6G is truly commercialized, it will bring unprecedented changes to the lives of ordinary people. From the integration of the virtual world with the real world, to the popularization of personalized services, to the digital transformation of all walks of life, 6G will become a key engine to promote social progress.
We look forward to this day and believe that in this process, China will write new scientific and technological brilliance. Let us all hope that in the future 6G era, China's science and technology leaders will create a better tomorrow for all mankind with a more dazzling attitude.