NIST, University Researchers Propose Model for Future 6G Networks

The National Institute of Standards and Technology and a group of researchers from several universities have proposed an architectural design for future 6G networks.

NIST said that key 6G technologies are expected to become available in 2023, with networks emerging in 2030. 6G will likely unlock data rates more than a hundred times faster than what is offered by 5G and have applications in edge intelligent devices and computing, NIST said Wednesday.

In a research paper titled “6G Cognitive Information Theory: A Mailbox Perspective,” NIST and the researchers outlined their vision for a 6G network that has intelligent applications embedded throughout.

The network would be capable of transmitting, storing and analyzing large chunks of data as well as providing personalized access on demand.

NIST said that current 5G networks are still based on a transmission model that does not account for the meaning and value of the information.

The process, called Shannon’s information theory, is incapable of meeting 6G’s requirements of intelligence, customization and value transmission, NIST said.

To address the shortcoming, the researchers proposed a “mailbox theory” designed to enable distributed algorithm embedding for intelligence networking.

NIST said the design will bring about a network with the intelligence needed for self-organization, self-learning, self-adaptation and continuous evolution.

The proposed architecture would also take advantage of artificial intelligence to enable on-demand resource scheduling based on properties defined by the user.

The research was a collaboration among researchers from the University of Science and Technology, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen Institute of AI and Robotics for Society, Shenzhen University and the University of British Columbia.