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Version 1.0, 03February2022 Page 1 (43) by NGMN Alliance Version: 1.0 Date: 22.02.2022 Document Type: Final Deliverable (approved) Confidentiality Class: P - Public Project: 6G Use Cases Leadership: Quan Zhao (China Mobile) David Lister (Vodafone) Narothum Saxena (UScellular) Editor / Submitter: Javan Erfanian (Bell Canada) Contributors: Anritsu, Apple, Bell Canada, BT, China Mobile, Chunghwa Telecom, Cisco, Datang Telecom, Deutsche Telekom, Ericsson, HKT, Huawei, HUBER+SUHNER, IBM, Intel, InterDigital, ITRI, Keysight, Kings College London, Lenovo, LGE, National Taiwan University, Nokia, NTT DoCoMo, Orange, Peking University, PLDT Smart, Qualcomm, SK Telecom, T-Mobile US, TIM, Telia, TELUS, TNO, Turkcell, TU Dresden, University of Duisburg-Essen, University of Toronto, UScellular, Vodafone, ZTE Approved by / Date: NGMN Board, 17th February 2022 Version 1.0, 03February2022 Page 2 (43) 2022 Next Generation Mobile Networks e.V. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission from NGMN e.V. The information contained in this document represents the current view held by NGMN e.V. on the issues discussed as of the date of publication. This document is provided “as is” with no warranties whatsoever including any warranty of merchantability, non-infringement, or fitness for any particular purpose. All liability (including liability for infringement of any property rights) relating to the use of information in this document is disclaimed. No license, express or implied, to any intellectual property rights are granted herein. This document is distributed for informational purposes only and is subject to change without notice. Readers should not design products based on this document. Version 1.0, 03February2022 Page 3 (43) The journey to 6G continues with the identification of use cases that attempt to predict major trends in usage scenarios helping to steer the needs and requirements for future generational change. These predictions on demand will feed into the ITU-R IMT Vision for 2030 and beyond that specify future connectivity requirements, followed by standards development organisations who develop and standardise appropriate technologies. A similar approach was used for 5G, leading to the introduction of capabilities that fulfil the forecast need of industry and users. For example, 5G introduced new capabilities in both the radio access and core network. Firstly, the 5G radio access network was designed to be forward-looking and flexible to support new frequency bands, able to support many different new applications demanding more critical KPIs. Secondly, the 5G core network, was designed with service-based architecture, access-independent and as a converged framework to support a wide range of services. The increasingly intelligent cloud-native design of 5G allows it to play out beyond this decade. In this context, it is important to consider the drivers and demands when we identify differentiated opportunities for future 6G capabilities. It is with this background that NGMN invited its membership (operators, technology suppliers and academic advisors), to contribute towards their views on which demands and use cases they predict will emerge in the future decade. The approach taken includes multiple steps: methodology design, use case collection, high-level classification, generic use case abstraction, and use case analysis. A total of 50 use cases were contributed, which were categorised into 4 classes, then mapped into 14 generic use cases. At this stage, these use cases are considered provisional to be further explored and prioritised. At first glance, some of these use cases appear to be in the context of 5G and 5G-advanced. Due to the limitation of time and depth, the project has made a preliminary analysis on 5G differentiation. Whilst a variety of usage scenarios have been forecasted (in the 6G time-horizon), many could also be served over advanced 5G networks. It is challenging to identify those use cases that will be addressed specifically after 2030 and aligned with 6G. Therefore, the use cases presented here are provisional. Enhanced Human Communication includes use cases that have the potential to enrich human communications, such as immersive experience, telepresence & multimodal interaction. Version 1.0, 03February2022 Page 4 (43) Enhanced Machine Communication reflects the growth in the use of collaborative robotics, and autonomous machines, the requirement for sensing the surrounding environment and the need for robots to communicate among themselves and with humans. Enabling Services include use cases that require additional features such as high accuracy location, mapping, environmental, or body sensing data. Network Evolution describes aspects related to the evolution of core technologies including AI as a service, energy efficiency, and delivering ubiquitous coverage. High-level analyses and assessments of use cases were conducted at early stage in several areas, including potential technology components, feasibility, impacts on deployed 5G networks, and 5G differentiation. Societal needs, differentiated market demands, and operational necessities are key drivers to prioritise the use cases to guide the 6G system design. An important imperative in 6G drivers is environmental sustainability, both in terms of 6G eco-design as well as its enabling impact to reduce the environmental carbon footprint of industries and human activities. Aspects such as security, trust and privacy are also central in considering future technologies. NGMN will further focus on these imperatives in future phases of work on 6G, particularly with respect to analysis of alignment with demands and drivers. We expect new use cases to emerge, in support of digitisation, as we continue to update the work to be inclusive of the innovation beyond the imagination of today. Version 1.0, 03February2022 Page 5 (43) 1 Introduction . 7 1.1 Context . 7 1.2 Document Structure . 7 2 Motivation and Methodology . 8 2.1 Use Cases Motivation . 8 2.2 Methodology and Approach . 10 3 Use Case Classes and Potential Generic Use Cases . 11 3.1 Enhanced Human Communication . 12 3.1.1 XR Immersive Holographic Telepresence Communication . 12 3.1.2 Multimodal Communication for Teleoperation . 13 3.1.3 Intelligent Interaction & Sharing of Sensation, Skills & Thoughts . 13 3.2 Enhanced Machine Communication . 14 3.2.1 Robot Network Fabric . 14 3.2.2 Interacting Cobots. 14 3.3 Enabling Services . 15 3.3.1 3D Hyper-Accurate Positioning, Localisation, and Tracking . 15 3.3.2 Interactive Mapping . 16 3.3.3 Digital Healthcare . 16 3.3.4 Automatic Detection, Recognition and Inspection . 17 3.3.5 Smart Industry . 17 3.3.6 Trusted Composition of Services . 19 3.4 Network Evolution . 19 3.4.1 Native Trusted AI (AIaaS) . 19 3.4.2 Coverage Expansion . 20 3.4.3 Autonomous System for Energy Efficiency . 21 Version 1.0, 03February2022 Page 6 (43) 4 Use Case Analysis . 23 4.1 Summary of Generic Use Case Analysis . 23 4.2 Discussion . 24 4.2.1 Technology Component Summary . 24 4.2.2 Initial Analysis . 25 4.2.3 Differentiation Relative to 5G . 27 5 Next Steps . 28 List of Abbreviations . 30 References . 31 Appendix A . 32 Appendix B. 33 Appendix C . 36 Appendix D . 40 Version 1.0, 03February2022 Page 7 (43) The scope of this document is to collect and assess proposed use cases for 6G, explore their implications for 6G R&D activities, and enlighten the way forward. It is the second deliverable in the NGMN Alliance 6G Project and follows from its publication of 6G Drivers and Vision 1 in April 2021. 1.1 Context Activity on 6G research commenced in 2019 with interest emerging about the same time around the world. In the years that have followed, billions of dollars have already been pledged by nations and regions across the world to support research and innovations. Consequently, research institutions are devoting significant resource to study future communication needs and technologies. Many vision papers 2-15 have been published containing dozens of use cases; and the ITU has commenced its journey towards defining a vision, timeline, and subsequent set of requirements for a communication system for IMT for 2030 and beyond. Whilst activities are well established in research institutions around the world, a view from the global community that represents mobile network operators and communication service providers, working together with their partners, becomes essential. This contribution from the NGMN Alliance builds on its earlier 6G Drivers and Vision document. It delivers industry guidance considering the proposed use cases, the technical challenge, and the expected considerations that the introduction of a new generation entails. 1.2 Document Structure Section 2 of the document introduces the motivation for deriving, grouping, and analysing use cases, and the methodology and approach conducted. Section 3 describes the Use Case Classes and Generic Use Cases, along with the methodology used by the NGMN Alliance to collect industry views and develop a framework and a set of potential Generic Use Cases for 6G. Section 4 summarises all the analyses applied on the use cases, such as applicability, technical components, 5G differentiation and alignment with NGMN 6G drivers. Section 5 depicts the NGMN 6G projects plan for 6G requirements and provides guidance on how adopted use cases will influence 6G technology development and industry adoption. Version 1.0, 03February2022 Page 8 (43) 2.1 Use Cases Motivation The terminology of Generations is well-established in the context of wide-area mobile communication networks, with new generations such as 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G being introduced over successive 10-year cycles. To date, this approach has served the industry and consumers well: the framework of continuous innovation has led to substantially improved spectrum efficiency and utilisation of network resources to deliver the remarkable capabilities that are increasingly available over 5G. In each transition from one generation to the next, collective views from across the industry attempt to predict the future customer demand, identify shortfalls in capability on the existing generation, and identify or promote new possibilities enabled by new ideas, new technologies or new paradigms. 3G was preceded with predictions on the need to support much greater voice capacity and a demand for video-calls, 4G addressed the forecast growth in mobile broadband demand, and 5G is set to respond to the demand for new vertical applications. The predictions are often derived from use cases describing forecasted customer behaviour and demand, and whilst the predictions have not always or entirely materialized in the expected timeline, they have helped to provide focus to the design of successive technology capabilities. These predictions on demand feed into the ITU-R IMT Vision that specify future connectivity requirements, followed by standards development organisations (SDOs) who develop and standardise appropriate technologies. A similar approach was used for 5G, leading to the introduction of capabilities that fulfil the forecast need of industry and users. For example, 5G introduced new capabilities in both the radio access and core network. Firstly, the radio access was improved to support forward compatibility and new frequency bands, as well as very high data rates, low latency, and high reliability. This means that the radio has a forward-looking capability to support theoretical data rates over wide areas that exceed what can be delivered practically when considering affordability and physical constraints related to radiated power, spectrum bandwidth, and site density. The flexibility that the radio access offers enables it to address applications that have the most demanding characteristics associated with reliability and delay, or massive machine type communications, for bespoke applications, such as manufacturing, in local areas. Version 1.0, 03February2022 Page 9 (43) Secondly, the core network was designed around a service-based architecture using modern IT approaches that are cloud-native, and its design is access-independent meaning that it can natively support fixed and mobile services. The deployment of the 5G core network will play out over this decade and potentially beyond, providing the framework for convergence and support for a wide range of services. Taken together, this future ready approach of the 5G network results in a connectivity framework suitable for further evolution. In this context, it is important to consider what customer demand is forecasted that diverges from the underlying connectivity platform provided by 5G, and to identify opportunities for future capabilities. It is with this background that NGMN have invited its operator members, technology suppliers and academic advisors to contribute towards their view on what customer demand, and use cases, they predict will emerge and be relevant to 6G. Version 1.0, 03February2022 Page 10 (43) 2.2 Methodology and Approach The NGMN Partners were invited to contribute on 6G use cases. To guide contributors on the format sought for a use case description, a template was provided to seek a consistent approach to characterisations. An inclusive approach to collect use cases has been followed. Contributions were provided from the 41 members that participated in this project leading to 50 proposed use cases that were then grouped into 4 classes, relating to Enhanced Human Communication, Enhanced Machine Communication, Enabling Services, and Network Evolution. Then within each of the class the original use cases were further dismantled and regrouped into a few generic use cases based on similarity, and total 14 generic use cases were defined. Finally, for each generic use case, an analysis was applied on multiple dimension and areas, including Applicability, Feasibility and 6G implications. Figure 1: Methodology and Approach Version 1.0, 03February2022 Page 11 (43) Tens of use cases were presented and discussed. The template and the list of proposed use cases are shown in Appendix A and Appendix B. Expectedly, there has been a general similarity among the use cases identified and proposed in global research and the ecosystem related to the 6G. A high-level grouping of use cases into four classes was done based on their key common characteristics and potential technology needs. These classes are labelled as: Enhanced Human Communication such as immersive experience, telepresence and multimodal interaction Enhanced Machine Communication such as robotic communication and interaction Enabling Services such as positioning, mapping, automatic protection, smart health, and manufacturing Network Evolution such as Native Artificial Intelligence (AI) exposed as a service, energy efficiency, and coverage Given similarities and/or complementary
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