NGA published a white paper exploring how the integration of advanced communications technology in these systems will transform industries

ATIS’ Next G Alliance (NGA) announced the publication of a new white paper on network-enabled robotic and autonomous systems, in which it explores how the integration of advanced communications technology in such systems will transform industries including logistics, transportation, manufacturing, education and healthcare, among others.

The NGA said that the new white paper “provides an overview of the 5G mobile technology poised to have the greatest impact on robotic and autonomous systems.”

NGA also noted that the combination of these systems with future 6G technologies and applications will create great potential, adding that “pivotal factors to the integration include how efficiently and reliably a 6G system can support the interfaces and other means necessary to incorporate multi-modal sensor dataadvanced communication technology.”

The NGA white paper examines service scenarios of individual robots or a group of robots that have autonomous decision-making capabilities, including delivery robots, autonomous driving, collaborative robots in smart factory settings or personal assistance service robots. 

“The future success of robotics and autonomous systems largely depends on development of advanced communication systems to support these technologies,” said Next G Alliance Managing Director Mike Nawrocki. “With this paper, the Next G Alliance takes a forefront look at how — from everyday living to transportation to industrial manufacturing — intelligent compute and communication between systems and humans will be crucial to ensuring safety, efficiency, accuracy, privacy and resilience in the robotic world to support human needs.”

“Along with NGA’s 6G audacious goals, this white paper assessed the evolution of intelligent cyber-physical control and applications in key verticals and highlighted implications for 6G systems and services, such as requirements and socioeconomic impact,” said Ki-Dong Lee, chair of the NGA Applications Working Group. ”Thanks to the NGA Applications Working Group members who contributed to this effort. We are excited to see the path towards 6G technology enablers,” Lee added.

Last month, NGA published a report on artificial intelligence wireless networks which addresses one of the “six audacious goals” set forth in the NGA’s roadmap to 6G.

“Native support of artificial intelligence (AI) is projected to be one of the major features of the next generation wireless network. AI-native networks are one of NGA’s research priorities that will require strong collaboration among industry, government and academia. This work is meant to identify driving forces, technical challenges and research directions,” the NGA had said.

The NGA also noted that the initial application of AI/ML to wireless networks began with 5G technology. However, the entity explained that its application in 6G will be more real-time, increasingly comprehensive and seamlessly integratedthe design of the wireless system. The white paper also outlines the research and technology directions required to make the vision of an AI-native wireless network a reality.

“6G will build up its capabilities on distributed clouds, and a tight AI-native integration between communication and computing is the natural evolution. It is expected that 6G wireless standards need to be developed in an AI-native way, enabling a large set of applications that may rely on enhanced real-time capabilities. Overall, the application of AI/ML to 6G will bring a shift in how networks are designed and implemented,” the NGA said.

According to the report, initial applications of AI/ML are expected by 6G’s launch, with more advanced applications emerging by 2030 and beyond.