Abstract

In this paper, an initial vision of what the sixth generation mobile communication system (6G) might be is presented. This is done through the primary ideas of the 6Genesis Flagship Program (6GFP), a recently formed Finnish academic and industrial consortium aiming at developing key enabling technologies for 6G. 6GFP is an eight-year large-scale research initiative set to ultimately develop, implement and test key enabling technologies for 6G. Motivations, visions, trends and expectations for 6G are first discussed to set the ground for further development. Four main research areas are proposed as the starting point, encompassing not only wireless communications but also computer science, electronics and material science as well as applications and services. The paper provides an in-detail list of technical topics going to be studied in this program, and in general, worth considering for everyone planning to develop beyond 5G technology. The paper also shed some light on how the research will be implemented, showing the logic and relationships between the research areas, discussing already selected promising enabling technology for 6G, as well as envisioning how the proof-of-concept of the developed system will be carried out. An existing state-of-the-art 5G network will be used as the starting point for developing and testing the novel concepts and technologies created in the program.