ULTRA-LOW LATENCY AND RELIABLE COMMUNICATIONS FOR FUTURE WIRELESS NETWORKS
Several Key Technologies for 6G:
Challenges and Opportunities
Baofeng Ji, Ying Han, Shuwen Liu, Fazhan Tao, Gaoyuan Zhang, Zhumu Fu, and Chunguo Li
Abstract
5G networks have been widely deployed all
over the world, which involve massive multiple-in-
put multiple-output (MIMO), millimeter-wave
communication, and other technologies to
improve the performance of the whole system.
In contrast, the emerging key technologies includ-
ing terahertz (THz) communication, intelligent
reflective surface (IRS), blockchain, and so on
have been proposed to enhance the signal qual-
ity for the future 6G networks. IRS can program
the signal propagation by intelligently controlling
a large number of passive reflecting elements,
and blockchain can improve the system security
in the whole communication process. The article
provides a survey of the recent research and com-
pares the system performance between 5G and
6G, which can bring about the rapid increase in
wireless data traffic and the achievable rate can
be reached up to terabits per second to improve
the communication quality dramatically.
Introduction
The sixth generation (6G) mobile communication
system has been discussed extensively following
the large-scale commercial deployment of 5G/
beyond 5G (B5G) networks. 6G is expected to fur-
ther bring about major changes to human produc-
tion and lifestyles, and the global network. As early
as September 2018, it was pointed out that the 6G
frequency band may move toward the THz era
when the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) first talked about 6G technology. In March
2019, the FCC unanimously voted to open the
THz frequency range from 95 GHz to 3 THz for
6G experiments, which is expected to be applied
to the 6G network. In January 2020, it was pro-
posed that it is necessary to solidly promote and
pre-research the 6G forward-looking and key tech-
nologies. Many communication experts and schol-
ars pointed out that the standardization of 6G may
be carried out around 2025, and the 6G pre-com-
mercial network will be put into use around 2030.
The peak transmission speed of 6G reach-
es 100 Gb/s–1 Tb/s, while 5G is only 10 Gb/s;
indoor positioning accuracy reaches 10 cm and
outdoor is 1 m, which is less than 1/10 of 5G;
the communication delay is as low as 0.1 ms,
which is 10 times higher than 5G; the reliabili-
ty is increased from the current 99.9 percent to
99.999 percent with ultra-high reliability; the den-
Baofeng Ji is with Henan University of Science and Technology,LAGEO, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the University of Electronic Science and
Digital Object Identifier: Technology of China; Ying Han, Shuwen Liu, Fazhan Tao, Gaoyuan Zhang, Zhumu Fu are with Henan University of Science and Technology;
10.1109/MCOMSTD.001.2000038 Chunguo Li is with Henan University of Science and Technology and Xizang Minzu University.
44 2471-2825/21/$25.00 © 2021 IEEE
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sity of connected equipment reaches more than
100/m3 with ultra-high density, and the coverage
rate is increased from 70 percent to 99 percent;
and THz frequency band communication can
greatly increase network capacity. Table 1 com-
pares the main features of 5G and 6G.
Wireless networks are no longer limited to the
ground in terms of coverage. In order to meet
the requirements of high altitude and deep sea
communications and reduce the cost of connect-
ing dense cellular networks worldwide, 6G will
integrate non-terrestrial networks to provide com-
plete wireless coverage and achieve integrated
communications between air, space, and ground
[1]. Realizing the seamless connection of ground,
satellite, and airborne networks will expand cover-
age and increase system capacity [2, 3].
The rapid development of network technol-
ogy, display technology, sensing and imaging
equipment, and low-power processors makes 6G
sufficient to achieve high-precision positioning of
massive Internet of Things (mIoT) devices. 6G will
realize the integration of virtual reality (VR), aug-
mented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) into
one extended reality (XR), seamless integration
of sensor networks and human senses (e.g., glass-
es may replace smartphones; wearable displays
have become the main tool for human life and
work, and can also be used in remote education,
remote office, and advanced 3D simulation). 6G
is deeply integrated with artificial intelligence and
machine learning, and the degree of intelligence
has increased greatly.
THz and visible light technologies can be the
basis for 6G to realize the utilization of new spec-
trum resources as well as a new modulation meth-
od of orbital angular momentum, which has a 3D
architecture and intelligent mobility management
to expand coverage based on the integration of
terrestrial and satellite mobile communications.
ZTE pointed out at the Second 6G Summit that
the perception Internet, artificial intelligence Inter-
net, and industry Internet will be new services that
may be born in the 6G era [4], which can inte-
grate the physical and digital worlds with more
difficult network performance indicators that 5G
networks may be unable to satisfy.
Key Characteristics of 6G
The physical layer security may be further devel-
oped to provide a layer of security defense in
addition to encryption technology for various
IEEE Communications Standards Magazine • June 2021
6/8/21 8:14 PM
 devices and machines with different functions. Key features 5G 6G
As a new next-generation mobile communication
of the future, the overall capabilities of 6G will Operation frequency 3–300 GHz > 1 THz
undoubtedly be 10 to 100 times higher than 5G.
It is worth noting that 6G will integrate terrestrial Data rate uplink 10 Gb/s 1 Tb/s
wireless mobile communications, medium/low Data rate downlink 20 Gb/s 1 Tb/s
orbit satellite communications, and short-range
direct communication technologies, especially Communication time-delay 1 ms < 0.1 ms
the air-sky-ground-underwater autonomous net- Peak throughput 10 Gb/s 100 Gb/s–1 Tb/s
work structure, which can provide full coverage
and ultra-wireless connectivity to provide a full Coverage area Ground Space, ground (desert), ocean
range of wireless coverage [2]. 6G communica-
tion technology will integrate communication, Positioning accuracy Outdoor (10 m) 2D Indoor (10 cm), outdoor (1 m) 3D
computing, navigation, perception, control, Spectrum efficiency 10 b/s/Hz/m2 1000 b/s/Hz/m2
sensing, buffering, radar, imaging, artificial intel-
ligence, and other new technologies. Among Reliability 10–5 10–9
them, 6G key technologies mainly include THz Maximum mobility 500 km/h 1000 km/h
communication, IRS, holographic beamforming
(HBF), orbital angular momentum (OAM) multi- U-plane latency 0.5 ms < 0.1 ms
plexing, visible light communication (VLC), block-
chain-based spectrum sharing, nano Internet, and C-plane latency 10 ms < 1 ms
more. The key features of 6G can be described Processing delay 100 ns 10 ns
as follows:
• 6G should be a ubiquitous integrated net- Transmission capacity 10 Mb/s/m2 1–10 Gb/s/m2
work to achieve wider and deeper coverage. User experience rate 50 Mb/s 2D >10 Gb/s 3D
It can integrate terrestrial communications,
satellite communications, and short-distance DL spectrum efficiency 30 b/s/Hz 100 b/s/Hz
ultra-low latency device-to-device communi-
cations. DL data rate 20 Gb/s > 1 Tb/s
• The 6G network will have an internal securi- Personal data rate 1 Gb/s 100 Gb/s
ty mechanism or “functional safety integrat-
ed design.” 6G has self-awareness, real-time Flow density 10 Tb/s/ km2 100 Tb/s/ km2
dynamic analysis, and adaptive risk and trust Connection density 1 million/km2 10 million/km2
assessment functions through trust and secu-
rity mechanisms, all of which can help real- Fraction of coverage 70 percent 99 percent
ize cyberspace security.
• 6G can integrate computing, navigation, Reliability 99.9 percent 99.999 percent (highly reliable)
sensing, and communication functions. Receiver sensitivity –120 dBm < –130 dBm
These functions can be integrated into not
only satellite communication systems, but Table 1. The performance comparison for 5G and 6G.
also satellite navigation and positioning sys-
tems, and even radar sensing systems. 6G • Compared to millimeter-wave (mmW) under
will adopt a more open architecture and the same transmitter aperture, THz wave-
have a software-defined core network to length is shorter, and its free space diffrac-
achieve rapid, self-intelligent, and dynamic tion is less, so the THz frequency band can
deployment of network functions. achieve higher link directivity and reduce
• 6G can generate large amounts of data different antennas. Between the trans-
through the Internet of Everything. In addi- mission power and interference, the pos-
tion, 6G can be combined with new tech- sibility of eavesdropping is low. The huge
nologies such as cloud computing, edge bandwidth (>50 GHz) used to support tera-
computing, artificial intelligence, and block- bits-per-second links can provide abundant
chain to achieve “all things intelligence” and spectrum resources for ultra-high-speed
group collective intelligence. 6G can finally communications. The beam of THz signals
support ubiquitous smart ultra-low-latency is relatively narrow, and information trans-
mobile networks for smart life and vertical mission requires that the transmitting beam
industries. Figure 1 shows the key technolo- can be completely aligned with the receiving
gies, functions, and usage scenarios of 6G. antenna, and the large bandwidth also has
good anti-interference ability. THz communi-
Terahertz Communication cation can significantly improve the security
THz communication technology is a key technol- performance of communication.
ogy of 6G and has broad application prospects. • THz has good penetrability compared to
Moreover, terahertz waves are characterized by infrared and visible light when in bad weath-
wide frequency band, high speed, good directiv- er or noise. Moreover, THz is not only
ity, high security, low scattering, and good pen- unaffected by ambient light, but also solves
etration. The 0.1–10 THz frequency band has the problem of VLC not allowing non-line-
richer spectrum resources and ultra-wideband of-sight transmission, and can also realize
frequency bands for ultra-high-speed communica- uplink transmission.
tion, in particular, which can reduce the spectrum • For the vibration and rotation frequency of
scarcity and capacity limitations of current wire- biological macromolecules in the THz fre-
less communication systems. quency band, THz provides an effective

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 ther increase power loss. The power attenua-
tion of a THz signal on a wall may be as high
THz as 40–80 dB.
• Due to the high frequency attenuation
and path loss characteristics [6], 300 GHz
is about 100 dB at a distance of 10 m. In
THz frequency VR technology addition, the resonance of air molecules will
Legitimate downlink
trans mission
Wiretap link
cause excessive attenuation. When the fre-
Remote jamming
links quency exceeds 1 THz, radio waves will be
Quantum spectrum absorbed by water vapor and oxygen mole-
3D holographic schematicc
conversion cules in the atmosphere, and will be attenuat-
Cellular ed 10 times at a propagation distance of 1 m.
Security
Network
Visible light changes Terahertz Communication
Ultra-low latency Medical photon orbital
6G Application Scenarios
angular momentum OAM+Medical
Holographic call applications
AI Spectrum
ca
demander
Spectrum
THz communication scenarios are mainly divided
into nano-scale networks for communication at
l lcu
tr o provider1
lear ning

feedback

n lat Spectrum provider2

co e Spectrum
IoT Cloud
Big Data calculate computing
demander
Large-scale
a distance of 1 m or less, microscopic networks
collect stor age Spectrum
provider3
consensus
mechanism with limited biological transmission distances from
Cloud 6G spectrum sharing 1 m to 10 m, and macro networks with transmis-
sion distances from several meters to several kilo-
interconnection
based on blockchain
Age of multi-intelligence

Large-scale IRS meters. Figure 2 shows the THz communication

AI smart
life
IRS+IOT
IRS
FIGURe 1. The key technologies, functions, and usage scenarios of 6G.
means for detecting biological information.
Moreover, its photon energy is low, it will not
cause damage to the detector, it has good
penetrating ability to dielectric materials,
and it can be used to detect hidden objects.
In addition, the THz band is a non-ionizing
band, which is healthier for the skin and eyes
than ultraviolet (UV) communication.
• Ultra-fast channel fluctuations and intermittent
connections; for example, the coherence time
in the THz band is very short and the Doppler
frequency is relatively high, so the transmis-
sion delay can be reduced to 0.1 s. Higher
frequencies (short wavelengths) with spatial
resolution can be used for super-resolution
sensing and high-precision positioning. Short
pulses (picoseconds) with high resolution in
the time domain can obtain THz time domain
spectra with high signal-to-noise ratio, which
makes it easier to perform spectral analysis on
various materials.
Challenges Facing the
Terahertz Spectrum
• When the frequency is high, it is difficult to
manufacture miniaturized chips in order to
suppress noise and interference between
components. And in order to overcome the
limitation of impedance, various research
studies continue to develop, such as dis-
tance-aware physical layer design [5], super-
mass MIMO communication, smart surface,
and graphene transistors.
• The output power of the THz transceiver is
limited. Dealing with ultra-large bandwidth
and ultra-large antennas leads to extremely
high power consumption. Also, due to weak
diffraction effects, shadows and blocking fur-
application scenarios.
Macro network: Usually used in outdoor
scenarios, wireless point-to-point links have
been widely used to transmit information to
base stations in macrocells. THz macro network
requirements need to meet coverage of several
kilometers, high throughput of up to 1 Tb/s, and
low latency of less than 1 ms. In the future, exper-
imental data is still needed to evaluate outdoor
channel models, reduce transmission distance lim-
itations, and increase link capacity.
Micro network: At this time, the THz frequen-
cy band provides small cellular communications,
which can provide mobile users with ultra-high
data rates within a transmission range of up to
20 m. The communication rate of terrestrial ultra-
high-speed networking such as wireless access,
wireless download, and wireless interconnection
requires from 1 GB/s to several hundred giga-
bytes per second. THz waves have a communica-
tion rate of more than 10 GB/S, and can be used
for wireless secure access with high transmission
rates and ultra-low latency.
Nano-scale network: Nano-scale network
applications include chip-to-chip links and inter-
nal communication within the human body. It
is a new type of network topology technology
with ultra-short wavelengths. Nano-scale network
communication mainly relies on more intelligent
nano-scale technology and equipment. At pres-
ent, advanced nano-technology has been used
in channel modeling in the THz frequency band.
THz communication can calculate the channel
capacity of the nano network. In addition, the
channel model of the nano network can also use
beamforming technology, which can significantly
improve system capacity and coverage.
In addition to the above three ground sce-
narios, outer space communication is also an
important scenario for THz communication. In
the THz frequency band of outer space, relative-
ly transparent atmospheric windows are about
350, 450, 620, 735, and 870 m. The signal is
hardly absorbed by moisture, and long-distance
communication can be realized. The 6G network
based on THz technology is expected to com-
plete the effective integration of the 5G network,
satellite communication network, and deep-sea

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 ocean network, covering natural spaces such as
space, air, land, and ocean, and realizing a high-
speed broadband wireless communication net-
work with multi-layer coverage and multi-network
integration. It is of great significance to realize
global ultra--reliable low-latency communication
(URLLC). At present, some research results have
been achieved in the application of THz fre-
quency band in radar monitoring, biomedicine,
unmanned vehicles, and other fields. In the future,
THz technology is expected to have further
research in biological imaging, rapid detection of
THz spectrum, and through-wall radar.
Intelligent Reflective Surface
IRS, also denoted as reconfigurable intelligent sur-
faces (RISs), can have potential value to improve
the system performance of the 6G network. Sev-
eral scholars also call it large intelligent surface,
metasurface, software defined surface/metasur-
face, and so on. Specifically, it can independently
reflect the incident signal by integrating a large
number of low-cost passive reflective elements
on the plane by controlling its amplitude and/
or phase. Thereby, it can intelligently reconfig-
ure the wireless propagation environment and
finally significantly improve the performance of
wireless transmission. Smart surfaces were pro-
posed as early as the 20th century, and are mainly
used in military radars and anti-radar equipment
in high frequency bands such as mmWave and
THz. Based on the current existing research, this
technology is defined as intelligent reflection tech-
nology in this article. The following focuses on
the technical characteristics and research status
of IRS.
IRS is considered to be a promising new tech-
nology that can reconfigure the wireless propa-
gation environment through software-controlled
reflection. Specifically, IRS is a plane composed of
a large number of low-cost passive reflective ele-
ments, each of which can independently induce
changes in the amplitude and/or phase of the
incident signal, thereby synergistically achieving
fine 3D reflected beam formation. In sharp con-
trast to the existing transmitter/receiver wireless
link adaptation technology, IRS actively modifies
the wireless channel between them through high-
ly controllable and intelligent signal reflection.
This provides a new degree of freedom for further
improving the performance of the wireless link,
paving the way for the realization of an intelligent
programmable wireless environment. By proper-
ly adjusting 3D passive beamforming, the signal
reflected by the IRS can be constructively added
to signals from other paths to enhance the desired
signal power at the receiver or destructively elimi-
nate undesired signals such as co-channel interfer-
ence. Since IRS eliminates the use of the transmit
RF chain and only works within a short distance, it
can be densely deployed and have a scalable cost
and low energy consumption without the need
for complex interference management between
passive IRSs.
Characteristics of
Intelligent Reflective Surface
IRS has emerged as an innovative technology to
achieve cost-effective improvement in commu-
nication coverage, throughput and energy effi-
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THz
Communication
link
holographic
communicatio
n Eavesdropping
link
THz secure
communication
THz wireless
User
Eve access point
2 User1 IRS
Eve
Micro network
THz wireless
access point Micro
cellular
base
chip Nano Macro network station
sensor base
Nano
station Macro network
Circuit
controller
board
Nanoscale network
FIGURe 2. THz communication application scenarios.
ciency[7]. Different from the existing technologies
that are only able to adapt to the dynamic wire-
less channels, IRS can program the signal propa-
gation by intelligently controlling a large number
of passive reflecting elements[8], each of which is
capable of altering the amplitude and/or phase of
the reflected signal, thus collaboratively enabling
the real-time reconfiguration of a wireless propa-
gation environment. Furthermore, IRS can achieve
full-duplex passive beamforming without requiring
any costly processing for self-interference can-
cellation and signal decoding/amplification, thus
substantially reducing the complexity, energy con-
sumption, and hardware cost.
At present, IRS has received extensive atten-
tion from communications scholars. Next, the
main features of IRS technology are introduced:
• IRS may not require radio frequency and
baseband processing circuits, and IRS equip-
ment adopts passive components, which
greatly reduces power consumption and
improves energy efficiency.
• IRS devices have lower cost and implemen-
tation complexity [9]. In addition, IRS is thin
and light, and can be deployed flexibly for
mIoT.
• Compared to other related technologies,
IRS mainly features active relay, backscatter
communication, and massive MIMO based
on active surface.
• Compared to active wireless relays that assist
source-destination communication through
signal regeneration and retransmission, IRS
does not use any active transmitter modules
(e.g., power amplifiers), but only reflects the
received signal as a passive array.
• Active relays usually operate in half-duplex
mode, so their spectral efficiency is lower
than IRS operating in full-duplex mode.
Although full-duplex relay is also achievable,
it requires advanced and powerful self-in-
terference cancellation technology, and the
implementation cost of these technologies
can be high.
• IRS is different from traditional backscat-
ter communication, such as radio fre-
47
6/8/21 8:14 PM

IRS
Power
transfer controller
IRS
controller
Massive D2D
communications
Barrier
User
IRS IRS
controller controller
Source
Base Eve
IRS communication
in IoT
IRS User
controller Physical layer
User Eve
User secrecy
Indoor IRS communication
FIGURe 3. IRS application scenarios.
quency identification (RFID) tags that
communicate with the reader by iden-
tifying the reflected signal sent from the
reader. Therefore, the reader in backscat-
ter communication needs to realize self-in-
terference cancellation at its receiver to
decode the tag’s message[10].
• Both the direct path signal and the reflected
path signal can carry the same useful infor-
mation in IRS-assisted communication, so
they can be coherently added at the receiver
to improve the decoded signal strength.
• The IRS array architecture (passive and
active) and operating mechanism (reflection
and transmission) is different, and is also dif-
ferent from massive MIMO based on active
surfaces.
Intelligent Reflective Surface
Application Scenario
Figure 3 shows the IRS application scenario. The
user is in the dead zone where the direct link
between the user and the serving base station
(BS) can be severely blocked by obstacles. In this
case, deploying an IRS that has a clear connection
with the BS and the user helps to bypass obstacles
through intelligent signal reflection, thereby creat-
ing a virtual line-of-sight (LoS) link between them.
This is particularly useful for coverage extension in
mmWave communications that are highly suscep-
tible to indoor congestion. When the link distance
from the BS to the eavesdropper is less than the
link distance to the legal user, or when the eaves-
dropper is located in the same direction as the
legal user, the achievable secure communication
rate is highly limited.
However, if the IRS is deployed near the bug,
the signal reflected by the IRS can be tuned to
cancel the (non-IRS-reflected) signal from the BS
at the bug, thereby effectively reducing informa-
tion leakage. For cell edge users who suffer from
both high signal attenuation from their serving BS
and severe co-channel interference from neigh-
boring BSs, IRS can be deployed at the edge of
the cell. By appropriately designing its reflected
beamforming, it will help improve the desired
signal power and help suppress interference,
thereby forming a “signal hotspot” and an “inter-
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ference-free zone” nearby. When an IRS is used
to achieve large-scale device-to-device (D2D)
communication, the IRS acts as a signal reflection
hub to support simultaneous low-power transmis-
sion through interference suppression.
In addition to the above applications, IRS has
many other uses. First, IRSs are usually made with
low profile, lightweight, and conformal geome-
try, which makes it easy to install/remove them
on walls, ceilings, building facades, advertising
panels, and so on. Deploying it in an existing wire-
less system (e.g., cellular or WiFi) may not need
to change its standards and hardware, but only
needs to modify the communication protocol.
Therefore, the integration of IRS into the wireless
network can be transparent to users and superior
to compatibility and high flexibility with existing
wireless systems. Therefore, IRS can be actually
deployed and integrated in wireless networks at
a lower cost.
Different from cell-free massive MIMO sys-
tems, cooperative relays usually use active com-
ponents to improve the propagation environment,
while IRS requires only a little operating power,
so it is suitable for implementation in systems with
limited energy. In addition, IRS can be a very thin
material, allowing it to be deployed on building
exterior walls, ceilings, and so on. Therefore, IRS
is very suitable for places such as airport termi-
nals and stadiums. Moreover, the compatibility
between the IRS and the existing conventional
network can be efficient in the existing network;
the IRS can be flexibly deployed to enhance the
performance of the current communication net-
work.
The Performance of
Intelligent Reflective Surface in
Different System Models
The beamforming scheme of the signal trans-
mission through the intelligent reflective sur-
face can obtain a high diversity gain, which is
proportional to the square of the refl ected ele-
ment[11]. Table 2 describes the performance of
IRS in different system models. IRS can improve
the security performance of the physical layer if
there is an eavesdropper. In different antenna
models, IRS will significantly improve the speed
and energy efficiency of the network, there-
by reducing delay time and achieving URLLC,
which is of great significance for the develop-
ment of 6G research.
Blockchain
6G mobile communication technology is grad-
ually developing toward a marginal and dis-
tributed structure, and blockchain will play an
important role in 6G and later networks. As a
safe and reliable decentralized distributed net-
work, blockchain technology has been used in
many fields to ensure the privacy and safety of
legitimate users. Blockchain enables the entire
network entity to safely access key data and to
share an unmodifiable distributed ledger contain-
ing all data among all related entities in order to
ensure the entire communication process can be
more secure [12].
Kim and co-author in [13] proposed a dis-
tributed machine learning (DML) model based
on privacy protection. Compared to other rules,
IEEE Communications Standards Magazine • June 2021
6/8/21 8:14 PM
 Paper Model IRS Contribution Method Conclusion

Secure wireless
communication via
intelligent reflecting
surface
Propose an efficient algorithm to Applying the alternating
One user; one Passive Outperform a heuristic
obtain high-quality suboptimal optimization and semidefinite
eavesdropper (Eve) beamforming scheme
solution relaxation methods.

MISO wireless
Maximize the spectral efficiency; Large-scale IRSs is more
communication systems Passive Jointly optimize the Access
One user; one Eve solve the resulting non-convex efficient than increasing
via intelligent reflecting scatter Point and the IRS phase shifts
optimization problem the antenna array size
surfaces

Design and analysis minimum

Intelligent-reflecting-
surface-assisted multi-user
MISO communication
Multi-user MIMO Coverage and user rates of Results to illustrate the
Passive mean squared error (MMSE)
communication the proposed system over efficiency of the proposed
scatter based channel estimation
system conventional MISO systems system.
protocol

Intelligent reflecting
surface vs. decode-and-
forward: are large surfaces
needed to beat relaying?
High rates and/or large IRS needs hundreds of
One user,single input
Scatter metasurfaces are needed to Comparing DF relaying to IRSs reconfigurable elements to
single output (SISO)
outperform DF relaying be competitive

Jointly optimize the AP and Deploying large-scale

Enabling secure wireless
communications via
intelligent reflecting
surfaces
Solve the problem of non-convex
Phase shifts; the IRS phase shifts; the block IRSs is more efficient
One single-antenna optimization of small and large
Passive coordinate descent (BCD) and than enlarging the
user and Eve IRS results; greatly improve
scatter minorization maximization antenna array size of the
physical layer security
(MM) techniques transmitter

Reliability analysis of large

intelligent surfaces (LISs):
rate distribution and
outage probability
Asymptotically analyzed the An LIS can provide reliable
Two-dimensional LIS; Passive Derived the outage probability for
sum-rate of an uplink LIS communication in terms
multi-device scatter LIS system
system of the outage probability

Compare IRS to beamforming/

Intelligent-reflecting-
surface-enhanced wireless
network via joint active
and passive beamforming
Multi-antenna
Significantly improved in terms of relaying, jointly optimizing the IRS-aided MIMO system
access point (AP) Passive
energy consumption, coverage as transmit beamforming at the can achieve the same rate
and multiple single- beamforming
well as achievable rate AP and reflect beamforming performance
antenna users.
at the IRS

Exploit deep learning tools

Deep learning for large
intelligent surfaces in
millimeter-wave and
massive MIMO systems
Passive and a Based on deep learning, design to learn how to predict the Achieve near-optimal
A transmitter and a
few active IRS an effective solution to the LIS optimal LIS reflection matrices data rates with negligible
receiver
elements interaction matrix problem directly from the sampled training overhead
channel knowledge

Closed-form and semi-closed

Secrecy rate maximization
for intelligent-reflecting-
surface-assisted multi-
antenna communications
One multi-antenna
form solutions were successfully Jointly optimize transmit
source; one single- Passive The security performance
obtained for the transmit covariance and IRS’s phase
antenna legitimate reflecting of the system is improved
covariance of source and the shift matrix
receiver and Eve
phase shift matrix of the IRS

Intelligent-reflecting- An alternating optimization

A primary and IRS can greatly enhanced secrecy
surface-assisted secure (AO) algorithm is proposed to IRS-assisted design greatly
secondary transmitter, Passive rate secondary receiver; secrecy
multiple-input single- jointly optimize the transmit enhances the secondary
a secondary receiver reflecting rate keeps increasing with
output cognitive radio covariance and phase shift user’s secrecy rate
and an Eve transmit power
transmission coefficient at IRS
Table 2. Recent research on IRS technology.

the proposed error-based aggregation rules have
stronger anti-attack ability and lower computa-
tional complexity in different private scenarios. It
is a system to solve privacy, security, and perfor-
mance issues. Network sharding is an on-chain
capacity expansion technology. Through mod-
eling the blockchain network sharding, research
shows that under a certain degree of credibility,
blockchain network sharding can reach the opti-
mal scale and realize the sharding network. The
development from credibility to credibility of the
entire network and the evolution of a more large-
scale fragmented network credibility solution is
analyzed.
Gai and co-author in [14] shared the privacy
protection scheme of IoT edge computing based
on blockchain technology using differential pri-
vacy technology in the blockchain system to
achieve task allocation, privacy protection, and
anti-tampering functions, effectively preventing
illegal attacks. Moreover, in the big environment
of medical data sharing, blockchain can be used
to protect the security of cloud medical data.
In addition to security, a blockchain-based
decentralized control mechanism can establish
direct communication links between network enti-
ties, which not only reduces management costs,
but also improves spectrum efficiency [15]. More-

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The full coverage of block-
chain is not yet clear, and
the Lightning Network has
been threatened due to
increased centralization.
Although blockchain
improves network secu-
rity when data is illegally
traded or tampered, the
decentralized character-
istics of blockchain will
cause the data to be irre-
vocable or altered, which
may cause irreparable
consequences.
50
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over, by providing a unified system, blockchain
allows roaming between operators and networks.
Blockchain Characteristics
Decentralization: Traditional online transactions
are made on a credit-based model. Transactions
between users need to submit their own informa-
tion to a third-party organization, which not only
increases transaction costs, but also causes irre-
versible consequences such as users’ inability to
conduct normal transactions when the third party
makes a mistake or is absent. Blockchain estab-
lishes a decentralized network in a distributed
environment. After reaching a consensus agree-
ment, point-to-point transactions are realized.
Each node has equal status and can issue trans-
actions and read information on the chain. Based
on the degree of decentralization and the range
of participating nodes, blockchains are divided
into three types: public chains, private chains, and
alliance chains.
• The public chain is a fully open blockchain
with the highest degree of decentralization,
and all nodes can participate. It has the
highest reliability and large storage space.
Meanwhile, it can handle the smallest scale
of requests. Typical applications of public
chains are Bitcoin, Ethereum, and others.
• The private chain allows nodes within an
organization to participate with the lowest
degree of decentralization. The user informa-
tion of the private chain is more private and
has higher throughput. Private chains can be
used for internal use by enterprises.
• The nodes in the alliance chain need permis-
sion to join, and it can be jointly maintained
by multiple organizations, so it is suitable for
use by multiple organizations with coopera-
tive relationships.
Cannot Be Tampered With: In the blockchain,
a hash encryption algorithm is used to encrypt
data blocks. For a chain storage structure based
on timestamp, the consensus mechanism of the
blockchain network is jointly determined by all
nodes. Only a malicious node with 51 percent
of the computing power of the entire network
or a malicious node with a Byzantine fault toler-
ance of more than 1/3 can possibly tamper with
information, but the difficulty and cost of modify-
ing the hash value of multiple blocks is very high.
Therefore, blockchain ensures that information is
almost immutable.
Open and Transparent: In blockchain, every
data block recorded on the main chain will be
broadcast to the entire network immediately, real-
izing timely synchronization of the entire network
data block. All nodes can save the information of
the longest main chain, and can trace all trans-
action information on the chain, so transaction
records are completely open and transparent.
Safe and Reliable: Blockchain uses cryp-
tographic principles such as hashing algorithm,
asymmetric encryption, digital signature, and pub-
lic and private key verification to encrypt infor-
mation, and at the same time uses an effective
consensus mechanism to resist malicious attacks
and ensure data security.
Completeness: A blockchain system based on
a distributed database serializes data in blocks
according to time. The entire network has only
one final state, which has the characteristic of
data integrity. Integrity requires the support of
cryptographic components such as hash func-
tions and digital signatures at the underlying data
level such as transactions. At the consensus level,
achieving data integrity depends on the security
of the consensus mechanism.
Therefore, it can be seen from the above infor-
mation that blockchain has the advantages of
openness, transparency, security, and non-tamper-
ability. In addition, in terms of copyright protec-
tion and government processing, data sharing also
makes people’s lives more convenient.
Challenges Faced by Blockchain
The full coverage of blockchain is not yet clear,
and the Lightning Network has been threatened
due to increased centralization. Although block-
chain improves network security when data is ille-
gally traded or tampered with, the decentralized
characteristics of blockchain will cause the data to
be irrevocable or altered, which may cause irrepa-
rable consequences.
Other Key Technologies
In addition to THz communication, IRS, and
blockchain, there are several other key technol-
ogies for 6G, including holographic communi-
cation technology (HCT), AI technology, orbital
angular momentum (OAM) technology, and so
on. In the 6G era, remote holographic propa-
gation will become reality with the continuous
development of high-resolution imaging, sensing,
wearable displays, mobile robots, drones, proces-
sors, and wireless network technologies. Due to
the progress and growth of 3D display research,
holographic communication technology trans-
mits 3D holographic images of people in differ-
ent places to the same location through real-time
capture, transmission, and rendering technology,
which can provide virtual face-to-face video con-
ferences to facilitate communication.
The 6G network is characterized by more intel-
ligence. Personalized intelligent networks com-
bined with AI can achieve virtualized personal
mobile communications. AI technology will be
the main innovative technology of 6G intelli-
gent networks and combine AI technologies to
achieve virtualized personal mobile communica-
tions. Wireless communication using OAM has
been a research hotspot in recent years. Recent
results have shown that metasurfaces can be
programmed to change the phase, amplitude,
frequencym and even OAM of electromagnetic
waves without the need for mixers and RF chains
to effectively perform radio signal modulation.
If significant benefits can be achieved, this tech-
nology will have considerable destructive power
according to its progress.
Conclusion
The research process of 6G in various countries
is also accelerating with the continuous improve-
ment of 5G related deployment. This article
mainly introduces the main content and research
progress of 6G, which will further increase the
transmission rate on the basis of 5G, realize
ultra-low-latency communication, and expand the
communication range of the Internet of Things.
6G can realize the technical goal of intelligent
IEEE Communications Standards Magazine • June 2021
6/8/21 8:14 PM
 connection of all things, and we have analyzed
and discussed the potential key technologies of
6G such as THz communication, IRS, and block-
chain.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Nat-
ural Science Foundation of China under Grants
61801170, 61901241, 61671144, 61701172, and
61902041; the National Thirteen Five Equipment
Research Fund under Grant 6140311030207;
the National Key Research and Development
Plan under Grant 2018YFB0904905; the Proj-
ect of Education Department Cooperation
Cultivation under Grants 201602011005 and
201702135098; the China Postdoctoral Science
Foundation under Grant 2018M633351; LAGEO
of the Chinese Academy of Sciences under Grant
LAGEO-2019-2; the Program for Science Tech-
nology Innovation Talents at the University of
Henan Province (20HASTIT022, 17HASTIT025);
the 21st Project of the Xizang Cultural Inheri-
tance and Development Collaborative Innovation
Center in 2018; the Natural Science Foundation
of Xizang Research of Key Technology of Mil-
limeter Wave MIMO Secure Transmission with
Relay Ehancement in 2018; the Xizang Autono-
mous Region Education Science 13th Five-Year
Plan Major Project for 2018 (XZJKY201803); the
Young Backbone Teachers in Henan Province
(2018GGJS049); and Natural Science Foundation
of Henan (20230041012);；Top Young Talents in
Central Plains;；Henan Province Young Talent Lift
Project (2020HYTP009).
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Biographies OAM of electromagnetic
Baofeng Ji (fengbaoji@126.com) received his Ph.D. degree in
information and communication engineering from Southeast
waves without the need
University, China, in 2014. Since 2014 he has been a postdocto- for mixers and RF chains
rial fellow in the School of Information Science and Engineering,
Southeast University. He has published over 40 peer-reviewed to effectively perform
papers and three scholarly books. In 2009, he was invited to
serve as an Associate Editor for the International Journal of Elec- radio signal modulation. If
tronics and Communications, and has been a reviewer for over
20 international journals. He was selected as the Young Aca-
significant benefits can be
demic Leader of Henan University of Science and Technology achieved, this technology
in 2015.
will have considerable
Y ing H an (hanyingyj58@163.com) received her Bachelor’s
degree in electronic information science and technology from destructive power accord-
Chongqing Normal University, China, in 2018. She is currently
ing to its progress.
pursuing an M.S. degree in the School of Information Engineer-
ing at Henan University of Science and Technology. Her current
research interests include cooperative relay networks, secrecy
communication, and multi-layer heterogeneous networks.
Shuwen Liu (1458780981@qq.com) is currently pursuing her
Bachelor’s degree in the School of Information Engineering
at Henan University of Science and Technology. Her current
research interests include cooperative relay networks, secrecy
communication, and multi-layer heterogeneous networks.
F azhan T ao (taofazhan@haust.edu.cn) received his Ph.D.
degree in engineering from the Tokyo University of Agriculture
and Technology, Japan, in 2017. He is currently a lecturer with
the School of Information Engineering, Henan University of
Science and Technology. His research interests include robust
control for nonlinear systems, EMS, PHEV, FCHEV, and RL.
Gaoyuan Zhang (zhanggaoyuan407@163.com) received his
Ph.D. degree from the National Key Laboratory of Communica-
tions, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China,
Chengdu, in 2015. He is currently an associate professor with
the School of Electronic and Information Engineering, Henan
University of Science and Technology. His current research
interests include short-distance communication, physical layer
security, modulation, and error control coding.
Zhumu Fu (fuzhumu@haust.edu.cn) received his Ph.D. degree
in control theory and control engineering from Southeast Uni-
versity, Nanjing, China, in 2007. He is currently a professor with
the School of Information Engineering, Henan University of
Science and Technology. His research interests include wireless
sensor networks, nonlinear systems, and hybrid electric vehicle
systems.
Chunguo Li [SM] (chunguoli@seu.edu.cn) obtained his Mas-
ter’s and doctoral degrees in communications from Southeast
University in 2007 and 2010, respectively. He was promoted
to professor in 2017. He did postdoctoral research at Concor-
dia University in Canada from June 2012 to June 2013, and
studied at Stanford University, California, from July 2013 to
August 2014. He is a Senior Member of CCF, a Senior Member
of Chinese Institute of Electronics, and serves as deputy editor
of seven international SCI journals. He has long been a reviewer
of several important international journals.
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