Hexa-X The European 6G flagship project

Abstract

Hexa-X will pave the way to the next generation of wireless networks (Hexa) by explorative research (X). The Hexa-X vision is to connect human, physical, and digital worlds with a fabric of sixth generation (6G) key enablers. The vision is driven by the ambition to contribute to objectives of growth, global sustainability, trustworthiness, and digital inclusion. Key 6G value indicators and use cases are defined against the background of technology push, society and industry pull as well as objectives of technology sovereignty. Key areas of research have been formulated accordingly to include connecting intelligence, network of networks, sustainability, global service coverage, extreme experience, and trustworthiness. Critical technology enablers for 6G are developed in the project including, sub-THz transceiver technologies, accurate stand-alone positioning and radio-based imaging, improved radio performance, artificial intelligence (AI) / machine learning (ML) inspired radio access network (RAN) technologies, future network architectures and special purpose solutions including future ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) schemes. Besides technology enablers, early trials will be carried out to help assess viability and performance aspects of the key technology enablers. The 6G Hexa-X project is integral part of European and global research effort to help define the best possible next generation of networks.

Multi-Sensory HMI for Human-Centric Industrial Digital Twins: A 6G Vision of Future Industry

“…This implies to introduce a plethora of emerging human-centric industrial use cases to further enhance I4.0. According to the on-going European 6G flagship project Hexa-X [8], [17], 6G use cases can be clustered into several use case families:…”

“…3) Dependability: for applications intolerant to outages, 6G intends to deliver guarantees for multiple end-to-end (E2E) performances, such as achievable data rate, maximum E2E service latency, bounded jitter, and E2E packet reliability with robust mobility. This is known as the concept of dependability [8], which is especially critical for use cases such as humanmachine interaction and automation. As an essential stage of the E2E service chain in 6G-driven industrial DT, the HMI must cope with these requirements.…”

“…Despite the immature conceptualization of 6G, and the debate among different technical proposals, there is one feature of 6G that we know for sure to distinguish it from 5G: the human-centric orientation [8], [10]- [13].…”

6G Vision, Value, Use Cases and Technologies From European 6G Flagship Project Hexa-X

“…Most of these projects will explore specific technology enablers, such as AI/ML or meta-surfaces [25]. With key industry stakeholders and academia in Europe the Hexa-X project is positioned to be the European 6G Flagship project with the ambition to strongly contribute to harmonizing the global 6G vision and define the foundations for the end-to-end 6G systems [26] in cooperation with key stakeholders worldwide [27]. On national levels, several programs and projects have been started in the last couple of years in Europe, North America and Asia, also in conjunction with various research fora.…”

Towards 6G zero touch networks: The case of automated Cloud-RAN deployments

“…Automation, edge computing and artificial intelligence are key enablers of 6G technologies. 6G use-cases particularly address sustainable development, massive twinning, tele-presence, robots and local trust zones [1], [2]. The requirement of local coverage for temporary usage will rapidly increase to achieve ephemeral and massive video transmissions during sportive/cultural events or even to launch medical emergency systems for specialized teleassistance.…”