Читать книгу Shaping Future 6G Networks - Группа авторов - Страница 45

Historically, standardization has been fundamental to the success of each new generation – or “G” – of mobile network technology. It is the process through which we arrive at a set – or sets – of replicable guidelines governing technology, interoperability, and performance for a specific technology that realizes specific technical goals and that enables commercial delivery and operation, from a diverse community of providers.

This success is clear. There are now more than 5 billion mobile people using different generations of network technology, while the industry contributed more than $4 trillion to the global economy in 2019 [1]. In addition, millions more devices are connected via these networks, serving a wide range of Internet of Things (IoT) and machine‐to‐machine (M2M) applications.

For recent “Gs,” a broadly similar process has been followed, which has resulted in the release of standards, which can be adopted and followed by industry stakeholders. These standards provide templates that enable participants to contribute and to develop the solutions required to build a new network.

However, there are a number of factors that suggest the path to 6G may diverge from the most recent path taken to the delivery of a global standard. First, there are historic precedents that highlight alternative paths to realizing the common goal of a particular generation of mobile technology.

Second, regardless of the ultimate realization of 6G, the stakeholder ecosystem has changed dramatically as the mobile landscape has evolved. The traditional mobile value chain has expanded to include new classes of operators, new vendor consortia, as well as new spectrum holders (with license conditions that may differ from the previous model of country‐wide coverage obligations), and has attracted a wide range of new vertical actors, largely drawn by the new capabilities 5G can unlock. 6G will likely lead to further expansion of this ecosystem.

Third, new political pressures and fault lines have emerged, which have already affected the standardization work of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project, commonly known as 3GPP. Fourth, while a broad community of solution providers has been envisaged, in practice, this has narrowed dramatically, leaving many operators dependent on just a handful of suppliers. Efforts are underway to change this, which could lead to deviation from the current standards path – accelerating or impeding progress toward 6G. Finally, 5G is enabled by an entirely new operating model that, in turn, could change the way in which stakeholders interact to define new standards in the future.

This chapter explores the evolving landscape and considers possible future standardization models for 6G – and beyond – based on interviews with selected stakeholders and lessons drawn from the evolution of mobile network technology to date.