6G: Why will simulation change everything?

While 5G deployment continues, the telecommunications industry is already preparing for 6G, with standardisation efforts beginning this year.

The transition to 6G requires radical innovations, particularly in thermal management and infrastructure design. Miniaturised components, coupled with increasing computational demands and higher operating frequencies, pose significant heat-dissipation challenges.

AI-powered optimisation and real-time analytics further complicate power consumption and heat management.

Simulation plays a crucial role in addressing these challenges.

By modelling heat dissipation, optimising materials and refining architectures, engineers can prevent overheating, improve energy efficiency, and extend equipment lifespan.

Another major challenge is wave propagation and interference management. The use of the FR3 band (at 7-15 GHz) offers a wider spectrum and higher data rates but reduces signal penetration and increases sensitivity to obstacles.

Simulation helps engineers determine optimal antenna placement and refine baseband and MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output) strategies to enhance connectivity in dense urban environments.

Beyond infrastructure, reducing interference requires the optimisation of electronic components. Semiconductor manufacturers use electromagnetic simulation to improve radio-frequency integrated circuits for 6G networks.

This enhances IC performance prediction, mitigates signal and thermal integrity issues, and accelerates development — ensuring optimal high-frequency performance.

Digital twins, combined with AI, are crucial for 6G development. By creating virtual models of network infrastructure, engineers can optimise architecture early in the design process.

Simulating real-world scenarios enhances spectrum utilisation, interference management and energy efficiency –essential factors in dense urban environments. For example, Nvidia’s 6G Research Cloud platform integrates Aerial Omniverse Digital Twin technology to model network scenarios at both individual and city-wide scales.

AI also plays a key role in real-time network optimisation. By analysing vast data streams and leveraging predictive models, AI can anticipate congestion and allocate network resources. Unlike previous technology generations, 6G networks will proactively adjust, ensuring continuous optimal service.

A crucial aspect of this evolution is synthetic data. Training AI models and optimising networks requires extensive data sets that are often unavailable in real-world conditions.

Simulation generates realistic synthetic data sets, allowing AI algorithms to anticipate failures, test routing strategies and validate transmission efficiency before large-scale deployment.

Though commercial 6G deployment is not expected before 2030, Europe and the US have launched initiatives to guide this transition. The European Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking allocated €900 million for research and development from 2021 until 2027, while the US is focusing on harmonisation of standards and infrastructure security through transatlantic collaborations.

These initiatives address not only industrial advancements, but also digital sovereignty concerns. Standardisation and interoperability are crucial, as 6G must integrate diverse systems.

Establishing common standards and fostering industry cooperation will be essential for developing an open, secure ecosystem and accelerating 6G adoption.

Meanwhile, simulation will play a pivotal role in testing infrastructure interoperability, ensuring high-performance global connectivity and providing industry leaders with a competitive edge in what will be the next technological revolution.

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