2nd IEEE Workshop on “The Path Towards 6G: Standardization and Research Vision”

Call for Papers

5G is still on its way being deployed across the world, but it is already the time for academia and industry to shift their attention to beyond 5G or the sixth generation (6G) systems, in order to satisfy the future demands for information and communications technology (ICT) in 2030. Indeed, the main drivers towards 6G are: i) the explosive growth of mobile traffic, ii) disruptive use cases, iii) novel usage scenarios, iv) developing communication and computing systems that are sustainable. In general, 6G is expected to fully exploit the revolutionary concepts introduced by 5G, especially the softwarization and virtualization features of the 5G Service Based Architecture, and enable increased autonomicity, security and adaptation to the service requirements. The 5G standardization has been progressing at an astonishingly rapid phase, and in 2024-2025 activity is mainly focused on 3GPP Release 19, including NTN, energy efficiency and AI/ML integration.

The European networking research community started the Smart Networks and Service Joint Undertaking (SNS-JU) programme (900M€) as a Public Private Partnership that focuses on the development of 5G advanced and 6G systems in order to boost the 6G deployment in Europe and to support the 6G standardization activities. The 6G-Industry Association (6G-IA) represents the private side and the European Comission the public side. 6G SNS-JU brings together a global industry community of telecoms & digital actors, such as operators, manufacturers, research institutes, universities, verticals, SMEs and ICT associations. In addition, similar research-funded programs and initiatives exists in other continents and countries. 

The goal of this workshop is twofold. On the one hand, it will focus on highlighting the key architectural innovations required for future 6G mobile and wireless networks, while on the other hand, provide updates on the latest generation of 6G projects worldwide. Moreover, the workshop aims at enabling discussion and identify areas of collaboration among existing ongoing activities worldwide. This will be enabled by providing social networking opportunities through the introduction of poster sessions and panels with related projects. 

The topics of interest of the workshop include (but are not limited by):

  • AI-driven network management
  • AI/ML empowered RAN Intelligent optimization
  • Dynamic dependability and high resilience
  • Time-sensitive wireless/mobile networks
  • High-resolution localisation
  • E2E Network Slicing and Deep Slicing to support diverse verticals
  • Open Testbeds and facilities to assess new technology enablers
  • Network Architecture Evolution from 5G to 6G
  • 6G architectural enablers addressing e.g. important KPIs such as energy efficiency
  • Industry landscape and Standardization efforts for 6G
  • Testbeds/Experimentation to validate or support 6G solutions
  • 3GPP and ETSI standardization activities related to 6G

Important dates:

  • Paper submission deadline: January 25, 2025
  • Authors notification deadline: February 28, 2025
  • Camera ready due: March 15, 2025
  • Workshop date: TBD

The workshop is technically co-sponsored and scientifically supported by the following projects: 6G SNS JU HORSE, 6GREEN, ADROIT6G, 6G-BRICKS, FIDAL, AC3, PRIVATEER, SUPERIOT and PRIN PNRR 6GTWINS.

This year’s edition is held in conjunction with IEEE ICC 2025. The first edition of the workshop was held in conjunction with IEEE Globecom 2023.