The 6G series workshop by Hexa-X-II
Tuesday, 3 June 2025, 9:00 – 12:30, room 1.A
Organisers:
- Patrik Rugeland (Ericsson Research, SE)
- Mikko Uusitalo (Nokia Bell Labs, FI)
- Mauro Boldi (Telecom Italia S.p.A., IT)
Motivation and Background
The European 6G flagship research project Hexa-X-II (HORIZON-JU-SNS-2022- STREAM-B-01-05) comprising 44 partners, covering the entire value chain to create the blueprint system design of 6G ahead of the initiation of the technical standardization for 6G. The project has worked on 6G values and requirements seeing how the 6G design could strive for economic, social, and environmental sustainability in all its facets.
The project has also conducted research on architectural enablers, radio evolution, 6G devices & infrastructure, and smart network management.
As such, the workshop will accurately address the conference tracks ‘PHY—Physical Layer and Fundamentals’, ‘WOS – Wireless, Optical and Satellite Networks’, ‘NET – Network Softwarization’ ‘AIU Applications, IoT, Use Cases’ and ‘NVS – Next-generation Visions and Sustainability’, by providing an overview on the 6G research from the major European players.
This workshop provides an opportunity to highlight the important flagship role of Hexa-X-II, showcasing the work done with presentations, as well as provide an opportunity to connect and align with the 6G research performed elsewhere. This will be accomplished by inviting other SNS-JU working groups, and the phase 3 sustainability lighthouse project SUSTAIN-6G.
Structure
09:00 – 10:30: Session 1
- Keynote 1 The road to 6G: Driving advanced wireless innovations for the next decade – Amira Alloum (Qualcomm): 20 min+ 2 min Q/A
6G is being designed to introduce technical innovations that will optimize system efficiencies and transform user experiences. From more capacity and enhanced coverage to immersive communications and smarter AI-enabled applications, 6G will be driven by both evolutionary advancements and revolutionary technologies. The transition to 6G offers a unique opportunity to improve network architecture and radio access, enhancing efficiency, scalability, and agility in service delivery. This talk will explore our vision on the key enabling technologies for 6G. - Keynote 2 Operator’s view on 6G and future roadmaps– Enrico Buracchini (Telecom Italia): 20 min+ 2 min Q/A
The Keynote will touch upon various items experienced already with 5G and evolution, such as business sustainability, particularly critical in Italy, and energy one, including verticals. Besides of that, importance of these experiences will be highlighted for 6G scope and definition. Finally roadmap of 3GPP and impacts will be analyzed. - Update from Hexa-X-II and global alignment– Mikko Uusitalo (Nokia) & Patrik Rugeland (Ericsson): 12min + 3 min Q/A
Hexa-X-II is the European 6G flagship project and will be is wrapping up its work in June 2025. This presentation will provide an overview of the technical work that’s been done in the project related to sustainability, end-to-end architecture, and enablers for the radio interface, AI/ML, JCAS; architecture, zero-energy devices, and management & orchestration. In addition, it will highlight the impact the project has had on the global scale. - European view of 6G – Alexandros Kaloxylos (6G-IA): 12 min + 3 min Q/A
This presentation will outline the key priorities set by the 6G-IA for the future evolution of 6G smart networks and services. It will highlight the critical technological domains where Europe must concentrate its efforts in the coming years to maintain its leadership in next-generation connectivity and the provision of novel services. Additionally, the presentation will explore opportunities for international collaboration, showcasing how the European industry can engage with other global regions to drive innovation, establish strategic partnerships, and shape the global 6G ecosystem. - SUSTAIN-6G: Sustainability Lighthouse – key ambitions and objectives – Christoph Schmelz (Nokia): 12 min + 3 min Q/A
The SUSTAIN-6G key ambition is to take the next step towards the “Sustainability by Design” paradigm for the 6G ecosystem, by leveraging a holistic perspective on sustainability: addressing all three areas (environmental, societal, economic) for both, Sustainable 6G technology and 6G technology for Sustainable vertical applications. The project’s objectives are thereby to extend concepts and results achieved by the previous and ongoing research initiatives (including Hexa-X-II) with dedicated 6G technical enablers in e.g. RAN, Core, Cloud, AI, or network and service management. These enablers are integrated with a set of vertical use cases and applications in the scenarios of agriculture, smart grid and telemedicine. By means of an iterative process and proof-of-concept implementations, the end-to-end sustainability impact (i.e., from device via network and service infrastructure to the vertical application) is evaluated and optimised, reflecting potential trade-offs between optima in the different technology domains as well as identifying the trade-offs between different sustainability values. The identification of the relevant sustainability goals and values as well as the development of the respective assessment methodology and metrics are furthermore objectives of the project. Finally, the insights gained from the development, implementation and evaluation are consolidated into a set of best practice recommendations on a sustainable 6G design and implementation and are further used as baseline for creating a strategic roadmap towards sustainability-driven standardisation and policies.
Coffee break
11:00 – 12:30: Session 2
- Hexa-X-II: 6G use cases and requirements – Stefan Wendt (Orange) and Cristóbal Vinagre Zuniga: 12 min + 3 min Q/A
The Hexa-X-II project approaches sustainability through three interconnected pillars: environmental, social, and economic sustainability, which collectively underpin sustainable development.
Sustainability is further categorized into two dimensions: 6G for Sustainability and Sustainable 6G. The former highlights how 6G can support various sectors in enhancing their sustainability initiatives, while the latter focuses on ensuring that the sixth generation of mobile communications itself is sustainable.
The project introduces an innovative, use case-oriented analysis methodology. Furthermore, six distinct use case families have been identified, with a representative use case selected from each. These representative use cases have undergone a comprehensive analysis, encompassing technical, business, and sustainability evaluations, resulting in the identification of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Key Values (KV), and their respective indicators (KVI). This process will be summarized in the presentation. - SNS-JU TMV WG: 6G Requirements and KPIs – Towards building a consolidated view by SNS JU projects – Anastasius Gavras (Eurescom): 12 min + 3 in Q/A
The Test, Measurement, and KPIs Validation (TMV) Working Group (WG) of SNS JU is dedicated to establishing unified methodologies for 6G testing, monitoring, and analytics, ultimately shaping the European vision for the 6G network lifecycle. This presentation delves into the work of the TMV WG on consolidating 6G Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) from SNS JU projects (also published in the latest white paper). It provides comprehensive definitions, target values, and contextual insights towards aligning 6G development with ITU-R IMT 2030 capabilities and promoting global harmonization.
In this presentation, we will explore the KPI families defined in the WG, which address both contextual definitions and new target values for traditional KPIs – i.e. for “IMT 2030 Enhanced Capabilities”, and gaps in the definitions of the “IMT 2030 New Capabilities” -currently only defined as targets for R&I. The latter have been addressed by proposing how they can be technically interpreted and evaluated. Emphasis will be given on the necessity to go beyond single KPI evaluations to Joint Contextual KPIs and Cross-domain metrics that measure interactions between sensing, communication and compute layers, as well as on the need for standardization and alignment across 6G research, industry and standardization efforts.
Join us to discover how SNS JU’s initiatives are driving innovation through KPIs, supporting diverse 6G use cases, and ensuring a sustainable, inclusive, and high-performing future for global networks - Hexa-X-II: 6G architectural framework and enablers – Sylvaine Kerbeouf (Nokia) & Mårten Ericson (Ericsson): 12 min + 3 min Q/A
Although 6G will build upon the foundations of previous generations, it requires an evolution in system architecture to be highly flexible and adaptable, serving as a versatile platform for a diverse ecosystem of players. While efficient mobile communication remains a core function, 6G must also accommodate a broader range of services, including beyond communication services such as AI, compute offloading, and spatial/temporal data services. The expansion of capabilities redefines the network’s role beyond traditional communication. This presentation explores the Hexa-X-II E2E system blueprint, examining specific system views developed to meet the requirements of 6G use cases. This presentation explores the Hexa-X-II E2E system blueprint, examining specific system views developed to meet the requirements of 6G use cases. It further delves into the key architectural enablers that differentiate a 6G system such as flexible networks for enabling seamless and adaptable access for diverse users and devices, and integration of new service types and their exposures. The new 6G services such as Sensing, Compute, and AI as a Service all requires new architecture solutions to make them accessible across the ecosystem. Further on, framework for managing and orchestrating services across the cloud continuum, involving various stakeholders is presented. This includes the integration of AI/ML and data framework for embedding AI/ML mechanisms to enhance network performance and efficiency, and advanced security, privacy and resilience controls for implementing rigorous security measures to ensure the reliability and trustworthiness of the overall system. The 6G system E2E blueprint is further analyzed in terms of its impact on environmental, economic, and social sustainability. - SNS-JU Arch WG vision for 6G architecture – Ömer Bulakci: 12 min + 3 min Q/A
To address the architectural evolution towards 6G and to establish the consolidated European view on the 6G architecture, the SNS JU 6G Architecture Working Group (WG) has brought the SNS JU projects working on the architectural innovations together. To this extent, the WG has released the first 6G Architecture white paper based on the initial research findings on 6G from the ongoing SNS JU Call 1 and Call 2 projects. This white paper identifies key architectural features required for future 6G mobile telecommunications networks and revolves around key technology enablers and design recommendations encompassing areas, such as, network infrastructure for extending 5G services and new services, spectrum utilization, connectivity, sustainability, security, privacy, as well as AI and integrated communication and sensing, among others. These findings can be taken as valuable input and feedback to the main SDOs like 3GPP to drive their standardization directions for 6G.
This presentation, capitalizing on the released white paper, will provide the key highlights on the 6G Architecture vision including the overall 6G system blueprint and essential architectural components as well as trends. - 6G-IA Vision WG whitepaper: European vision for the 6G network ecosystem – Carlos Jesus Bernados Cano (UC3M): 12 min + 3 min Q/A
This talk presents the white paper “6G IA Vision WG White Paper: European Vision for the 6G Network Ecosystem”, developed by the 6G Industry Association (6G-IA) to outline a shared European perspective on the evolution toward 6G. Grounded in European values such as sustainability, trust, and digital inclusion, the paper defines a comprehensive vision for a secure, human-centric, and intelligent 6G infrastructure.
The presentation will briefly introduce the structure and objectives of the white paper, focusing on selected key challenges and enablers. These include the integration of AI as a native component, the convergence of communication and sensing, energy efficiency, and the need for open experimentation platforms and holistic system design.
It will also highlight the importance of aligning technological advances with policy and societal priorities, ensuring that Europe not only contributes to global standards but also strengthens its strategic autonomy and industrial leadership. - NGA – 6G in North America (NAM) – Ozge Kaya (Nokia): 12 min + 3 min Q/A
Because of 6G’s economy-wide impacts, the strategic needs of vertical industry segments will be critical to the success of 6G systems both in terms of enabling capabilities and commercial realization. It’s no secret that the full potential of 5G has not been realized when it comes to providing benefits to Vertical Industries. With 6G standardization about the begin, it is a critical time to ask the question on how telecom and verticals can work better together to create value in the roadmap ahead.
The presentation will begin with a brief overview of the prioritized 6G use cases presented at the 3GPP SAI meeting in 2024. It will then be followed on how 5G/6G can help meet the applications needs of a broad range of vertical industries, including Agriculture; Automotive; Education, Gaming and Entertainment; eHealth; Industrial; Mining; Public Safety and Smart Cities. We will then discuss the outcome of ATIS Next G Alliance recently hosted workshop on cellular connectivity for Vertical Industries, at the ATIS headquarters in Washington, D.C. where we focused on three key verticals: (i) agriculture, (ii) public safety, and (iii) utilities with an aim to:- Gain a deeper understanding of vertical industry communication needs and the value mobile technology can provide.
- Identify key barriers to the adoption and integration of mobile technology in vertical industries.
- Establish a framework for ongoing collaboration to address challenges and optimize the benefits of mobile technology, fostering cooperation with selected vertical industries.
Finally, the presentation will briefly highlight important strategic initiatives within NGA including Joint Communication and Sensing (JCAS), channel measurements in midbands/JCAS and its partnerships with regional alliances, such as Europe’s 6G-IA, Japan’s 6G XGMF, Korea’s 6G Forum, and Bharat 6G and how it impacts the various verticals.
