Capacity and Energy Trade-Offs in FR3 6G Networks Using Real Deployment Data

TL;DR

This study uses real-world data to analyze the capacity and energy trade-offs in 6G networks operating in the upper mid-band, revealing that strategic deployment can significantly improve throughput efficiency while managing power consumption.

Contribution

It provides a data-driven, deployment-informed analysis of 6G strategies using real deployment data, contrasting co-located and non-co-located approaches for optimal performance.

Findings

6G can increase median throughput by up to 9.5x over 4G/5G networks.

Power consumption can increase by up to 59% with 6G deployment.

Non-co-located, traffic-aware deployments offer better throughput-to-watt efficiency.

Abstract

This article presents a data-driven system-level analysis of multi-layer 6G networks operating in the upper mid-band (FR3: 7-24 GHz). Unlike most prior studies based on 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) templates, we leverage real-world deployment and traffic data from a commercial 4G/5G network in China to evaluate practical 6G strategies. Using Giulia-a deployment-informed system-level heterogeneous network model-we show that 6G can boost median throughput by up to 9.5x over heterogeneous 4G+5G deployments, but also increases power usage by up to 59%. Critically, co-locating 6G with existing sites delivers limited gains while incurring high energy cost. In contrast, non-co-located, traffic-aware deployments achieve superior throughput-to-watt efficiency, highlighting the need for strategic, user equipment (UE) hotspot-focused 6G planning.