Full-Spectrum Wireless Communications for 6G and Beyond: From Microwave, Millimeter-Wave, Terahertz to Lightwave

TL;DR

This paper introduces Full-Spectrum Wireless Communications (FSWC), a novel concept utilizing the entire electromagnetic spectrum from microwave to lightwave to meet 6G's extreme bandwidth and performance demands.

Contribution

It defines FSWC as a comprehensive spectrum utilization approach for 6G, highlighting its potential and discussing opportunities and challenges across various spectral bands.

Findings

FSWC can significantly increase available bandwidth for 6G.

Exploiting different EW bands enables new communication paradigms.

Challenges include spectrum management and technological development.

Abstract

As of today, 5G is rolling out across the world, but academia and industry have shifted their attention to the sixth generation (6G) cellular technology for a full-digitalized, intelligent society in 2030 and beyond. 6G demands far more bandwidth to support extreme performance, exacerbating the problem of spectrum shortage in mobile communications. In this context, this paper proposes a novel concept coined Full-Spectrum Wireless Communications (FSWC). It makes use of all communication-feasible spectral resources over the whole electromagnetic (EW) spectrum, from microwave, millimeter wave, terahertz (THz), infrared light, visible light, to ultraviolet light. FSWC not only provides sufficient bandwidth but also enables new paradigms taking advantage of peculiarities on different EW bands. This paper will define FSWC, justify its necessity for 6G, and then discuss the opportunities and challenges of exploiting THz and optical bands.