Service-aware 6G:An intelligent and open network based on the convergence of communication,computing and caching

With the proliferation of the Internet of Things(IoT),various services are emerging with totally different features and requirements,which cannot be supported by the current fifth generation of mobile cellular networks(5G).The future sixth generation of mobile cellular networks(6G)is expected to have the capability to support new and unknown services with changing requirements.Hence,in addition to enhancing its capability by 10–100 times compared with 5G,6G should also be intelligent and open to adapt to the ever-changing services in the IoT,which requires a convergence of Communication,Computing and Caching(3C).Based on the analysis of the requirements of new services for 6G,this paper identifies key enabling technologies for an intelligent and open 6G network,all featured with 3C convergence.These technologies cover fundamental and emerging topics,including 3C-based spectrum management,radio channel construction,delay-aware transmission,wireless distributed computing,and network self-evolution.From the detailed analysis of these 3C-based technologies presented in this paper,we can see that although they are promising to enable an intelligent and open 6G,more efforts are needed to realize the expected 6G network.

5G ENTERING INTO A NEW ERA

The ever increasing wireless data services, such asimaging, video, audio, multimedia, etc., have de-mands for the very high speed wireless communicationsand network, which are unfortunately a bottleneck whencombining with the wireline core network. Users＇ arenow expecting high quality of experience with low-costdevices, ubiquitous connectivity, energy efficiency, highreliability, or even ultra-low latency if a vehicle terminalis applied.

FULL-DUPLEX WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS

Just as Dickens wrote,it is the best of times,it is the worst of times.Ever increasing traffic demands will bring us into the era of 5G.Vast of unprecedented or even unanticipated fancy wireless applications will definitely change our life.Regarding the beautiful visions promised by 5G,meanwhile the wireless engineers are faced with unprecedented challenges and pressures for realizing much higher spectrum efficiency and

面向空间信息网络的隐蔽通信技术综述

空间信息网络是由部署在不同轨道、执行不同任务的航天器、航空器,以及地面通信设施构成的空天地一体化网络,具有超大规模、多层拓扑结构、开放的通信环境、支持多种业务等特点,通过卫星节点、空中节点和地面节点之间的组网与互联,实现无缝隙的高效全球通信.另一方面,空间信息网处于高度开放的状态,缺少了物理隔离,这在方便信息传播的同时,也容易导致信息的泄露.因此,空间信息网络面临着巨大的安全挑战.隐蔽通信是一种重要的安全传输技术,当发送端向接收端发送信息时,能够保证非法窃听者检测到该传输的概率足够小,从而隐藏发送端的传输行为.利用隐蔽通信技术可以保障空间信息网络传输的可靠性与安全性.本文对空间信息网络的隐蔽通信进行综述,从背景介绍、关键技术、应用场景和未来挑战等几个方面介绍空间信息网络中隐蔽通信的研究工作与最新进展.

Green UAV communications for 6G: A survey

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles(UAVs) have received a wide range of attention for military and commercial applications. Enhanced with communication capability, UAVs are considered to play important roles in the Sixth Generation(6G) networks due to their low cost and flexible deployment. 6G is supposed to be an all-coverage network to provide ubiquitous connections for space, air, ground and underwater. UAVs are able to provide air-borne wireless coverage flexibly,serving as aerial base stations for ground users, as relays to connect isolated nodes, or as mobile users in cellular networks. However, the onboard energy of small UAVs is extremely limited. Thus,UAVs can be only deployed to establish wireless links temporarily. Prolonging the lifetime and developing green UAV communication with low power consumption becomes a critical challenge.In this article, a comprehensive survey on green UAV communications for 6G is carried out. Specifically, the typical UAVs and their energy consumption models are introduced. Then, the typical trends of green UAV communications are provided. In addition, the typical applications of UAVs and their green designs are discussed. Finally, several promising techniques and open research issues are also pointed out.

An overview of multi-antenna technologies for space-ground integrated networks

Multi-antenna technologies have already achieved a series of great successes in the development of information networks. For future space-ground integrated networks(SGINs), the traditional various kinds of separated information networks will converge to a whole fully connected information network to provide more flexible and reliable services on a world scale. Regarding their great successes in existing systems, multiantenna technologies will be of critical importance for the realization of SGINs and multi-antenna technologies are definitely one of the most important enabling technologies for future converged SGINs. In this article, a comprehensive overview on multi-antenna technologies is given. We first investigate multi-antenna technologies from a theoretical viewpoint. It is shown that we can understand multi-antenna technologies in a general and unified point of view. This fact has two-fold meanings. First, the research on multi-antennas can help us understand the relationships between different technologies e.g., OFDMA, CDMA, etc. On the other hand,multi-antenna technologies are easy to integrate into various information systems. Following that, we discuss in depth the potentials and challenges of the multi-antenna technologies on different platforms and in different applications case by case. More specifically, we investigate spaceborne multi-antenna technologies, airborne multi-antenna technologies, shipborne multi-antenna technologies, etc. Moreover, the combinations of multiantenna technologies with other advanced wireless technologies e.g., physical layer network coding, cooperative communication, etc., are also elaborated.