Enabling Massive IoT Services in the Future Horizontal 6G Network: From Use Cases to a Flexible System Architecture

The fifth generation of wireless communication technologies, or the 5G, is expected to cope with the global data traffic explosion predicted for years to come. Beyond improving the technical capabilities of the 4G network, this new standard crosses the final essential frontier for massive and simultaneous communications between machines and the Internet of Things. However, the 5G mobile network rollout has just begun; it is reaching its limits regarding the connectivity endowed with advanced intelligence. In addition, future and fast-growing emerging technologies require more sequential flows, strict latency, and solid reliability. The need to improve 5G has thus paved the way for the sixth generation (6G), exploiting other relevant techniques to meet future requirements. In the future 6G, there will be no hierarchical core net-work like the one we are used to seeing in 5G and 4G. The Federation of peer-to-peer and radio core networks comprising the future 6G technology will be horizontal and flat. This article presents the main uses of a vertical IoT architecture for the next technology, 6G, and their needs and discusses the main technical improvements to meet these requirements.