6G era research
Looking generations ahead to the network of the future

How we envision the 6G era
With every generation of communications technology, the focus of the network changes. The 2G and 3G eras centered on human-to-human communication through voice and text. The 4G era heralded a fundamental shift to the smartphone and the massive consumption of data. In the 5G era, the attention is now turning to machines as networks power the Internet of Things and industrial automation systems. In the next decade, as the 6G emerges, there will yet another fundamental shift – this time toward people who use those networks. In the 6G era, we’ll see a confluence of the digital, physical and biological worlds with human beings at the center.
We can characterize the 6G era in the following ways:

6G: A generational shift to augment human existence – Peter Vetter, Head of Access and Device Research Lab
Six key technologies for 6G
There are six potential technology transformations that we expect will play a part in shaping the 6G ecosystem of the future.