Toward Wisdom-Evolutionary and Primitive-Concise 6G: A New Paradigm of Semantic Communication Networks
Ping Zhang,
Wenjun Xu,
Hui Gao,
Kai Niu,
Xiaodong Xu,
Xiaoqi Qin,
Caixia Yuan,
Zhijin Qin,
Haitao Zhao,
Jibo Wei,
Fangwei Zhang
Affiliations
Ping Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Networking and Switching Technology, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing 100876, China; Peng Cheng Laboratory, Shenzhen 518066, China
Wenjun Xu
Key Laboratory of Universal Wireless Communications, Ministry of Education, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing 100876, China; Corresponding author.
Hui Gao
Key Laboratory of Trustworthy Distributed Computing and Service, Ministry of Education, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing 100876, China
Kai Niu
Peng Cheng Laboratory, Shenzhen 518066, China
Xiaodong Xu
State Key Laboratory of Networking and Switching Technology, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing 100876, China
Xiaoqi Qin
State Key Laboratory of Networking and Switching Technology, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing 100876, China
Caixia Yuan
School of Artificial Intelligence, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing 100876, China
Zhijin Qin
The School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, UK
Haitao Zhao
College of Electronic Science and Technology, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China
Jibo Wei
College of Electronic Science and Technology, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China
Fangwei Zhang
School of Humanities, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing 100876, China
The sixth generation (6G) mobile networks will reshape the world by offering instant, efficient, and intelligent hyper-connectivity, as envisioned by the previously proposed Ubiquitous-X 6G networks. Such hyper-massive and global connectivity will introduce tremendous challenges into the operation and management of 6G networks, calling for revolutionary theories and technological innovations. To this end, we propose a new route to boost network capabilities toward a wisdom-evolutionary and primitive-concise network (WePCN) vision for the Ubiquitous-X 6G network. In particular, we aim to concretize the evolution path toward the WePCN by first conceiving a new semantic representation framework, namely semantic base, and then establishing an intelligent and efficient semantic communication (IE-SC) network architecture. In the IE-SC architecture, a semantic intelligence plane is employed to interconnect the semantic-empowered physical-bearing layer, network protocol layer, and application-intent layer via semantic information flows. The proposed architecture integrates artificial intelligence and network technologies to enable intelligent interactions among various communication objects in 6G. It features a lower bandwidth requirement, less redundancy, and more accurate intent identification. We also present a brief review of recent advances in semantic communications and highlight potential use cases, complemented by a range of open challenges for 6G.
