LG Uplus has published a white paper titled ‘6G White Paper – Ambient IoT’ projecting the future commercialization of 6G mobile communication services.
Last October, LG Uplus had previously released a white paper containing its vision for the 6G era, encompassing sustainability, intelligence, and expandability. This time, the sequel white paper highlights the ‘Use Cases’ of how customers will use 6G.
As the chair of the 6G Forum, a public-private organization focused on next-generation mobile communication, LG Uplus detailed one of the key use cases of 6G by exploring core technologies, service requirements, and the current status of standardization from the perspective of service providers. The company plans to continue releasing white papers on new topics until the full commercialization of 6G.
As its first focus, LG Uplus proposed ‘Ambient IoT’ as a leading use case in the 6G era. In previous generations, such as 4G and 5G, IoT has been recognized as a core technology for both new business opportunities for telecommunications companies and the onset of the ubiquitous era. However, there remain challenges, such as limitations related to battery power supply and relatively high terminal costs regarding the standard IoT technology ‘NB-IoT’ from 3GPP.
In contrast, Ambient IoT offers the advantage of connecting hundreds of millions of low-cost IoT devices nationwide, utilizing energy resources from the surrounding environment, such as electromagnetic waves and solar power, allowing for continuous usage without battery replacement.
The international standard organization 3GPP, through its working group SA1, defined 30 use cases and three traffic scenarios, which include environmental monitoring, healthcare, logistics/inventory management, and smart city/factory solutions. Based on this research, the radio access standardization (RAN) group is working on classifying the main use cases into eight categories for standardization efforts.
With the commercialization of Ambient IoT, telecom operators like LG Uplus can offer B2C services that enable real-time management of valuable assets, such as precious items, and tracking the location of family members and pets.
In logistics, it will facilitate the real-time tracking and management of delivery histories and categorization within logistics centers, integrating the condition monitoring of fresh produce, like seafood and meat, throughout the transportation process through a ‘Cold Chain’ system.
Additionally, utilizing devices that can operate in extreme environments will allow monitoring of environmental sensing information in places where humans cannot reside, such as mountainous areas, helping to prevent natural disasters like wildfires and floods.
However, for Ambient IoT services to be commercially available in 6G, standardization discussions regarding detailed core technologies, such as device management, interworking control, positioning, mobility, frequency, and authentication, must take priority. Therefore, on the 27th, the 3GPP SA meeting in Jeju Shinhwa World will discuss 6G use cases for the first time, with LG Uplus anticipating meaningful progress in setting standards.
Choi Yoon-ho, CTO of LG Uplus in charge of future technology and strategy, stated, “Ambient IoT is expected to be an important inflection point that will change the customer’s life by realizing a truly ubiquitous network. LG Uplus will actively participate in 6G technology research and standardization activities to prepare for the 6G era, providing new value to our customers,” he noted.
Meanwhile, the content of the 6G white paper can be found on the official LG Uplus blog (blog.uplus.co.kr).
Written by Jinn Lee, daedusj@autodiary.kr