Building a More Sustainable Future with 6G

Building a More Sustainable Future with 6G

By Satish Dhanasekaran, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Keysight Technologies

While 5G is still a few years out from being mainstream, 6G research is already underway and is expected to be commercialized by 2030. This next generation of wireless technology promises to enable new ways for us to interact with our surroundings and unlock new use models across a variety of industries. Its ultra-low latency and increased bandwidth will deliver massive amounts of data across decentralized, intelligent networks

The emerging vision for 6G is to make possible near-instant and ubiquitous connectivity to transform how the human, physical, and digital worlds interact. This means new ways to leverage data, computation, and communication for further integration into society. The technology could support holographic communications, a tactile internet, intelligent network operations, network and computing convergence, and many more exciting possibilities. 6G will both expand upon and go far beyond the capabilities of 5G, marking a new era of wireless that accelerates digitalization and drives business innovation across critical industries

Shaping a more sustainable future

Besides an economic boon, it has become imperative that the technologies of tomorrow deliver positive environmental and social change, and 6G is foundational to this vision. 6G Flagship, a consortium of academic and industry leaders guiding 6G research, released a whitepaper examining the role that this technology can play not just in increasing productivity, but in aiding humanity. The program, which we at Keysight are proud to have co-created, is pushing for 6G to align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which outline efforts to enable more prosperous and sustainable communities around the world. More recently, the Next G Alliance, the North America-focused 6G Consortium of which Keysight is a founding member, released a white paper outlining their vision of their path to sustainability in 6G

6G’s environmental sustainability use cases

As climate change brings rising temperatures and extreme weather, global citizens are demanding urgent action. NASA reports that increased carbon emissions have raised the planet’s average surface temperature 2.12 degrees Fahrenheit (1.18 degrees Celsius) since the late 19th century — and the seven most recent years have been the warmest on record

135 countries and hundreds of companies worldwide have pledged carbon neutrality. The technology sector is poised to create long-term solutions toward environmental sustainability. In particular, electronic design can support the development of clean energy systems, data analytics for environmental applications, and machine technology advancements that reduce carbon emissions

By focusing on sustainability as a key driver of 6G research, we will discover new ways to combat climate change in the following industries and beyond

Transportation

The U.S. transportation industry is currently the largest contributor (29%) of greenhouse gas emissions, according to the EPA. 6G will enable innovations in smart transportation and logistics, including connected vehicles and transit infrastructure. The growth in driverless electric vehicles will not only promote clean energy but will also reduce emissions by optimizing traffic flow. These outcomes will be made possible by applying wireless connectivity to sensor technology, distributed computing, and AI. This combination of new technologies will allow vehicles, traffic cameras, and roads to communicate and coordinate in real time

The Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA)’s 2020 Mobile Industry SDG Impact Report found that the increase in vehicle monitoring, route optimization, and fuel efficiency through telematics helped avoid approximately 105 million tons of greenhouse gases in 2018 — equivalent to taking 23 million cars off the road. In Toronto, a smart traffic management system that enables traffic lights to self-learn and recognizes patterns shortened travel times by up to 25% and reduced emissions by 13%