Received July 17, 2020, accepted August 21, 2020, date of publication August 26, 2020, date of current

version October 5, 2020.

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/ACCESS.2020.3019590

A Prospective Look: Key Enabling Technologies,

Applications and Open Research
Topics in 6G Networks
LINA BARIAH 1 , (Member, IEEE), LINA MOHJAZI 2 , (Senior Member, IEEE),
SAMI MUHAIDAT 1 , (Senior Member, IEEE),
PASCHALIS C. SOFOTASIOS 1,3 , (Senior Member, IEEE),
GUNES KARABULUT KURT 4 , (Senior Member, IEEE),
HALIM YANIKOMEROGLU 5 , (Fellow, IEEE),
AND OCTAVIA A. DOBRE 6 , (Fellow, IEEE)
1 KU Center for Cyber-Physical Systems, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
2 School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, U.K.
3 Department of Electrical Engineering, Tampere University, 33101 Tampere, Finland
4 Electronics and Communication Engineering Department, Istanbul Technical University, 34469 Istanbul, Turkey
5 Department of Systems and Computer Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada
6 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Memorial University, St. John’s, NL A1C 5S7, Canada

Corresponding author: Sami Muhaidat ([email protected])

This work was supported in part by Khalifa University under Grant KU/FSU-8474000122 and Grant KU/RC1-C2PS-2/847400012237.
The work of Octavia A. Dobre was supported in part by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), through
its Discovery Program.

ABSTRACT The fifth generation (5G) mobile networks are envisaged to enable a plethora of breakthrough
advancements in wireless technologies, providing support of a diverse set of services over a single plat-
form. While the deployment of 5G systems is scaling up globally, it is time to look ahead for beyond
5G systems. This is mainly driven by the emerging societal trends, calling for fully automated systems
and intelligent services supported by extended reality and haptics communications. To accommodate the
stringent requirements of their prospective applications, which are data-driven and defined by extremely low-
latency, ultra-reliable, fast and seamless wireless connectivity, research initiatives are currently focusing on a
progressive roadmap towards the sixth generation (6G) networks, which are expected to bring transformative
changes to this premise. In this article, we shed light on some of the major enabling technologies for
6G, which are expected to revolutionize the fundamental architectures of cellular networks and provide
multiple homogeneous artificial intelligence-empowered services, including distributed communications,
control, computing, sensing, and energy, from its core to its end nodes. In particular, the present paper
aims to answer several 6G framework related questions: What are the driving forces for the development
of 6G? How will the enabling technologies of 6G differ from those in 5G? What kind of applications and
interactions will they support which would not be supported by 5G? We address these questions by presenting
a comprehensive study of the 6G vision and outlining seven of its disruptive technologies, i.e., mmWave
communications, terahertz communications, optical wireless communications, programmable metasurfaces,
drone-based communications, backscatter communications and tactile internet, as well as their potential
applications. Then, by leveraging the state-of-the-art literature surveyed for each technology, we discuss the
associated requirements, key challenges, and open research problems. These discussions are thereafter used
to open up the horizon for future research directions.

INDEX TERMS 6G, backscatter communications, drone-based communications, terahertz communications,

metasurfaces, mm-wave, optical wireless communications, tactile internet.

I. INTRODUCTION
The phenomenal growth of connected devices and the
The associate editor coordinating the review of this manuscript and increasing demand for high data rate services have been the
approving it for publication was Zihuai Lin . main driving forces for the evolution of wireless technologies

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. For more information, see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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in the past decades. A forecast study reported by the Interna- TABLE 1. List of abbreviations.
tional Telecommunication Union demonstrates that the vol-
ume of mobile data will continue to grow at an exponential
rate, reaching up to a remarkable figure of about 5 zettabytes
per month in 2030 [1]. Meanwhile, due to the emergence of
the Internet-of-Everything (IoE) paradigm, supporting smart
homes, smart cities, and e-health applications seamlessly
through connecting billions of people and devices over a
single unified communication interface, there is an urgent
need to shift the focus from the rate-centric enhanced mobile
broadband services to ultra-reliable low-latency communi-
cations (URLLC) in order to provide a networked society
through massive machine-type communications (MTC)
[2], [3]. Besides generating massive data, the upsurge of
IoE will naturally give rise to a myriad of new traffic and
data service types, leading to diverse communication require-
ments. This grand vision requires a radical departure from
the conventional ‘‘one-size-fits-all’’ network model of fourth
generation systems.
The fifth generation (5G) of wireless technology represents
a technological breakthrough with respect to the previous
communication networks. In addition to reducing latency,
enhancing connectivity and reliability, and achieving gigabits
per second speeds, 5G is set to deliver a variety of ser-
vice types, often characterized by conflicting requirements
and diverse sets of key performance indicators, simultane-
ously over one platform [4]. These features make 5G a key
enabler for the Internet-of-Things (IoTs) application envi-
ronments, where machine-to-people (M2P) communications
(e.g., industry automation, smart cities, and intelligent mobil-
ity) and machine-to-machine (M2M) communications (e.g.,
autonomous communications between sensors and actuators)
are expected to take place alongside people-to-people com-
munications, (e.g., voice over internet protocol (IP), video
conferencing, video streaming, and web browsing).
Delivering a plethora of services, with profound differ-
ences in terms of quality of service (QoS) requirements,
poses major challenges, such as the need to manage a huge
volume of a mixture of human-type and machine-type traf-
fic, which is heterogeneous in nature. To cater to these
unique challenges, 5G deployment tends to adopt two
main network functionalities, namely softwarization and
virtualization [5], [6]. By jointly exploiting softwarization multiple-output (MIMO), non-orthogonal multiple access
and virtualization, cognition and programmability of the end- (NOMA), and network ultra-densification [7], [8].
to-end network chain may be achieved by decoupling the Despite the strong belief that 5G will support the basic
network functions from the hardware platform. This yields MTC and URLLC related applications, it is arguable whether
enhanced flexibility and reliability, as well as fast network the capabilities of 5G systems will succeed in keeping
auto-reconfiguration, enabling a larger portfolio of use cases the pace with the rapid proliferation of ultimately new
and applications to be supported concurrently. IoE applications, which are expected to increase by 12%
In parallel with addressing the aforementioned chal- yearly, and which are enabled by massive connectivity and
lenges, 5G has introduced potential disruptive technologies are based on data-centric and automated processes. Mean-
to meet stringent requirements in terms of capacity, con- while, following the revolutionary changes in the individual
nectivity, communication resilience, reliability, deployment and societal trends, in addition to the noticeable advance-
costs, power consumption, latency, and data rate. These ment in human-machine interaction technologies, the market
technologies include, but are not limited to, millimeter demands by 2030 are envisaged to witness the penetration
wave (mmWave) communications, massive multiple-input of a new spectrum of IoE services. These services span

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from extended reality (XR), which comprises augmented • Incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) to support
reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality ser- seamless data-centric context-aware communications
vices, to flying vehicles, haptics, telemedicine, autonomous for controlling environments such as smart struc-
systems, and human-machine interfaces. The unprecedented tures, autonomous transportation systems, and smart
requirements imposed by these services, such as delivering industry [15].
ultra-high reliability, extremely high data rates, and ultra-low • Meeting the extremely high levels of communication
latency simultaneously over uplink and downlink, will push reliability (e.g., more than 99.9999%) and the low end-
the performance of 5G systems to its limits within 10 years to-end latency to support ultra-high mobility scenarios,
of its launch, as speculated in [9]. Moreover, the emergence such as flying vehicles.
of such new IoE services necessitates integrating the comput- The envisioned 6G requirements, technologies and appli-
ing, control, and communication functionalities into a single cations are presented in Fig. 1.
network design.
In order to deliver future cutting-edge services and B. RELATED WORK AND CONTRIBUTIONS
accommodate their aforementioned heterogeneous require- While 5G services have begun to roll out across markets,
ments, a new breed of challenges have to be effectively interest in 6G trends has already gained significant momen-
addressed. Examples of these challenges include leverag- tum both in academia and industry. Several research studies
ing sub-terahertz (THz) bands, governing the network per- have appeared in the recent literature reporting key techno-
formance set by a targeted rate-reliability-latency trade-off, logical trends and new research directions that would bring
provisioning flexibility in the network architecture and func- 6G into reality, for example, see [9]–[13], [16]–[21]. In [9],
tionalities, and designing an intelligent holistic orchestration the authors presented a speculative study on the main use
platform to coordinate all network resource aspects, including cases that are expected to be brought by 6G and discussed
communication, control, computing, and sensing, in an effi- their associated challenges and the potential enabling tech-
cient, self-sustainable, and scalable manner, which is tailored nologies. The authors in [10] presented a vision of some
to the demands of a specific application scenario or use potential 6G applications and trends, and discussed the asso-
case [10]–[13]. ciated service classes and their performance requirements.
Additionally, they briefly listed their enabling technologies
A. 6G VISION AND REQUIREMENTS and pointed out some key open research avenues. In [11],
The evolution of 5G has urged the conceptualization of the authors presented an overview of a number of potential
beyond 5G (B5G) wireless systems, including the sixth gen- 6G revolutionary technologies and the associated network
eration (6G), which should be capable of unleashing the full architectural innovations that are envisioned to address the
potentials of abundant autonomous services comprising past, shortcomings of 5G systems. Likewise, the authors in [12]
as well as emerging trends. More precisely, 6G is envisioned delivered a roadmap towards enabling AI in 6G. In partic-
to bring novel disruptive wireless technologies and innovative ular, they discussed key AI methodologies that can play a
network architecture into perspective. It is further envisaged central role in the design and optimization of 6G networks.
that 6G will ultimately realize the next-generation connec- In [13], the authors highlighted that in order to support future
tivity, driven by the evolution from connected everything use cases, the current communication infrastructure has to
to connected intelligence, thus enabling ‘‘Human-Thing- evolve at both physical and architectural levels. They also
Intelligence’’ interconnectivity. Additionally, it will support discussed the need to develop mechanisms for enabling a
high-precision communications for tactile and haptic appli- holistic resource management platform and described the
cations in order to provide the required sensory experi- resulting challenges in terms of privacy and security. In [17],
ence at different levels, including smell, touch, vision, and the authors investigated the 6G vision from the economic
hearing [14]. The key technical requirements to realize this standpoint, where they compared the previous wireless gen-
vision include: erations to the envisioned 6G networks, and predicted that
• Offering extreme data rates to address the correspond- 6G networks will offer a cost reduction by 1000 times, when
ing massive-scale connectivity aspect and to provide compared to 5G mobile networks. Moreover, they demon-
ultra-high throughput, even in extreme conditions or strated the role of AI towards accomplishing this vision. In the
emergency scenarios, where varying device densities, same context, the authors in [18] presented the new themes
spectrum and infrastructure availability, as well as traffic that are likely to emerge and shape the future 6G wireless
patterns may exist. networks, such as human-machine interface, universal local
• Achieving the targeted quality of immersion and and cloud computing, multi-sensory data fusion and precision
per-user capacity and offering a unified quality of expe- sensing. Furthermore, they emphasized on the potential of AI
rience required by AR and VR applications, which will as the foundation of 6G networks, in addition to transforma-
hit retail, tourism, education, etc. tive 6G technologies, such as spectrum sharing techniques,
• Delivering real-time tactile feedback with sub-millisecond novel network architectures, and new security mechanisms.
(ms) latency to fulfill the requirements of haptic appli- The contribution in [19] outlines the envisioned new use
cations, such as e-health. cases of 6G networks in addition to the revealed paradigms

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FIGURE 1. 6G vision: requirements, technologies and applications.

of future wireless networks, including the new radio fron- as mmWave communications, THz communications, opti-
tier, micro-service network architecture, deterministic ser- cal wireless communications, metasurfaces (also known as
vices, and network automation. In [20], the authors re-stated intelligent reflective surfaces), backscatter communications
the 6G vision, trends, requirements and challenges. In par- (BackCom), tactile internet (TI), and aerial networks, which
ticular, they provided an in-depth discussion about future are envisaged to ultimately promote the 6G revolution. This
6G methods, including the integration of terrestrial and survey also delves into the emerging applications of each
satellite communications, new spectrum utilization, modu- technology and identifies their associated challenges. This
lation schemes, AI, and intelligent mobility management. discussion is used to provide a directional guidance towards
Dong et al. in [21] provided a framework to define the future research work.
expected future applications and outline the required tech- The remainder of the article is organized as follows:
nologies and anticipated challenges. Finally, the authors In Section II, we present a comprehensive overview of five
in [16] presented a vision of 6G and its requirements. With disruptive 6G technologies. This is followed by outlining
respect to users’ perspectives, they also identified innovations some of their potential applications in Section III, whereas
that need to be considered towards realizing this vision. Section IV highlights the fundamental challenges associated
It is noted that the aforementioned reported contribu- with each technology discussed in Section II. Finally, the arti-
tions mainly take a rather use cases-centric approach to the cle is concluded in Section V.
roadmap of 6G era with a focus on the associated services and
technological trends. Conversely, in this survey, we approach II. KEY ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES FOR 6G NETWORKS
the 6G vision from the angle of enabling technologies that Future 6G systems will require the support of novel tech-
manifest themselves as the paradigms needed for the real- nologies to enable unprecedented functionalities in the
ization of 6G. Specifically, we present an in-depth concep- network. These technologies are envisioned to introduce
tual overview of the main revolutionary technologies in a a plethora of new applications associated with remark-
holistic manner, taking into explicit account the key drivers, ably stringent requirements in terms of latency, reliability,
performance metrics, and major ongoing research for every energy, efficiency, and capacity, compared to their
single technology. Apart from the technologies discussed 5G counterparts. In this section, we provide a concrete
in the previous surveys, which are reviewed here in detail, conceptual background of major disruptive technologies that
we shed light on additional innovative technologies, such will shape the future 6G networks, which includes mmWave

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communications, THz communications, OWC, programmable TABLE 2. mmWave communications specifications.

metasurfaces, drone-based communications, BackCom,
and TI.

A. MILLIMETER-WAVE AND TERAHERTZ

COMMUNICATIONS
One of the key challenges towards realizing 6G networks is
the scarcity of spectrum, owing to the unprecedented broad-
band penetration rate and the emergence of new use cases
with rigorous bandwidth requirements. In a recent meeting, Motivated by this, several research efforts have been devoted
3GPP introduced many new features for the upcoming on developing blockage control or scheduling protocols to
3GPP-Rel. 17 towards the evolution of 5G New Radio. Most minimize the effect of blockage in mmWave transmissions.
notably, the enhancement of the physical layer through the For example, the authors in [28] utilized multiple relays with
support of frequency bands beyond 52.6 GHz, up to 71 GHz. optimum relay selection and scheduling schemes to steer
To this effect, it is envisioned that future releases will go the signal around obstacles, and hence, to minimize incurred
beyond this range towards the THz band [22]. Yet, there are signal blockages. In [29], the authors addressed the issue of
several challenges that must be addressed in order to realize blockage by proposing a proactive base station (BS) selection
this vision. Specifically, the current PHY-layer, which has scheme based on human blockage prediction, where they
been mainly optimized for bands below 52.6 GHz, has to be utilized RGB depth cameras to estimate the location and
technically redesigned and redeveloped. velocity of a passing pedestrian, and consequently, estimating
the time when the pedestrian blocks the line-of-sight (LOS)
1) MILLIMETER-WAVE COMMUNICATIONS component of a mmWave link. In the same context, several
Millimeter-wave (mmWave) communications operate over other research contributions have investigated the blockage
the 30-300 GHz frequency band, with a corresponding wave- issue in mmWave systems, e.g., [30]–[32].
length ranging from 10 to 1 mm [23]. Thanks to the short In addition to the above, there has recently been a vast
wavelength, mmWave communications allow the realization attention on the application of non-orthogonal multiple
of small-sized antenna arrays with a large number of elements access (NOMA) in the context of mmWave communication
in a small physical dimension. Accordingly, narrow direc- scenarios [33]–[42]. In particular, the research activity in
tional beam can be achieved, yielding multipath reflection NOMA-based mmWave systems is mainly directed towards
suppression [24], high immunity against jamming and eaves- investigating the secrecy rate of these systems, in addition
dropping attacks [25], as well as robustness to co-user inter- to their performance in different realistic communication
ference, since the involved wireless channels will be largely scenarios, such as drone-based communications, massive
uncorrelated. Due to these promising potentials, several activ- MIMO, simultaneous wireless information and power trans-
ities were carried out to standardize the mmWave technol- fer (SWIPT) and M2M communications.
ogy. In particular, mmWave communication was introduced Other relevant research directions are focused on the
in IEEE 802.11ad and IEEE 802.15.3c standards [26]. The areas of mmWave channel modeling [43]–[47], transceiver
specifications of mmWave communications are summarized design [48]–[52] and antenna design [53]–[58]. The core
in Table 2. research directions in mmWave wireless systems are summa-
Nevertheless, despite the undoubted advantages of rized in Table 3.
mmWave communications, there are still many associated
TABLE 3. Research directions in mmWave wireless systems.
challenges that need to be addressed prior to effective design,
and successful deployment and operation. For example,
small-sized components manufacturing constitutes a major
challenge, due to the increased manufacturing cost. More-
over, severe signal attenuation (as high as 15 dB/km degra-
dation [27]), caused by strong atmospheric absorption, limits
the transmission range of mmWave communications to few
kilometers.

2) STATE-OF-THE-ART 3) TERAHERTZ COMMUNICATIONS

Wireless links in mmWave systems are extremely prone to As noted earlier, a promising solution to the current spec-
obstacles blockage (including humans), especially when the trum crunch is to explore the THz-band, which is envisioned
physical size of the obstacles is greater than that of the to bridge the gap between the mmWave band and infrared
wavelength, which is in general short in mmWave commu- light-waves (optical communications), by providing a con-
nications. In particular, it was shown that a human block- siderably wider bandwidth and enabling the development of
age can cause 20-30 dB degradation in the mmWave link. new use cases with high data rates requirements. In addition

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to extending the bandwidth, THz communications offer an method for modeling LOS and NLOS components and is
amplified gain due to the shorter wavelength experienced at utilized extensively to characterize the deterministic and
these bands, allowing for the deployment of a large number stochastic channel coefficients. For instance, in [86]–[92],
of antennas. the authors proposed efficient propagation deterministic
On the other hand, THz based communications require models for THz nano-communications while incorporating
rethinking of existing solutions and investigate novel the LOS and NLOS components for 2D and 3D scenarios.
approaches that offer a seamless operation over the Although deterministic models provide higher accuracy in
entire THz band. For example, the design of efficient beam- describing channel coefficients compared to stochastic mod-
forming and tracking techniques that are able to dynami- els, the underlying high computational complexity and the
cally and precisely track down the location of THz-enabled required geometrical information of the propagation environ-
devices is of great importance, and an open research problem. ment are critical drawbacks of such models. On the other
Other open issues include hardware architecture design and hand, statistical characterization of THz channels is rather
the integration of massive MIMO and intelligent surfaces. challenging, especially when taking into account channel
An overview of the opportunities and challenges associated mobility, channel state information estimation, and channel
with THz communications is given in [59]. correlation. The recent advancements in the design of THz
communications systems are summarized in Table 4.
4) STATE-OF-THE-ART
Motivated by the important role of THz modulators in TABLE 4. Advancements in the design of THz wireless systems.
enabling THz technology in future wireless systems, the per-
formance of several amplitude and phase modulators
was examined for various materials and fabrication pro-
cesses [60]–[67]. For example, silicon (Si) substrates, coated
with effective materials such as gold [60] and manganese iron
oxide [61], as well as graphene-based modulators [68], [69]
are proven to offer a performance enhancement to the THz
modulators by extending the transmission range and pumping B. OPTICAL WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS
power density, in addition to their tunability and high-speed Optical wireless communication (OWC) systems has
characteristics. Nevertheless, the main drawbacks of these emerged as a key technology for 6G networks and beyond,
nano-particle-based THz modulators are the high cost and enabling broadband connectivity. There has been an increas-
the increased complexity. On the contrary, graphene-based ing interest in OWC with terrestrial, space and underwater
modulators suffer from a low modulation depth and high applications. This interest is stimulated by the advance-
energy consumption. ment in solid state optical technology, in addition to the
The implementation of THz communications in outdoor promising features of OWC. These features include ultra-high
environments is rather challenging, which is particularly bandwidth, inherent physical layer security, spatial reuse,
due to the inevitable loss caused by molecular absorp- ultra-low latency, high data rates, immunity to interference,
tion and other atmospheric conditions, such as rain [70]. and low cost, hence, fulfilling the demanding requirements
Accordingly, THz transceiver and antenna designs have of beyond 5G wireless networks [101]. It is recalled that
to be thoroughly investigated prior to the effective design information in OWC is carried over optical links, whose
and deployment of these systems. To this end, antenna wavelengths vary between infrared and ultraviolet, including
and transceiver designs have attracted great interests in the visible light. OWC systems in the infrared frequency
the research community [71]–[84]. Specifically, the devel- range enables long-range data transmission over high-speed
opment of Si-germanium signal generators, quantum cas- wireless links, which are often encountered in wireless back-
cade laser photonic sources, compact graphene antennas and haul networks [102]. In the following, we summarize the most
graphene/liquid crystal based phase shifters are some of the common OWC technologies.
reported research work in the field of THz transceiver and Visible light communication (VLC) has emerged as a
antenna designs [85]. prominent technology that is anticipated to offer high-speed
Moreover, channel modeling is vital in THz communi- indoor connectivity. In VLC systems, light-emitting diodes
cations in order to ensure reliability and high spectral effi- (LEDs)/laser diodes (LDs) are used as transmitters while
ciency. Existing research is focusing on the characterization the receivers consist of photodetectors (PDs) [103], [104].
of LOS and non-LOS (NLOS) components, with empha- The transmission range of VLC can reach up to 20 m, with
sis on scattering properties for the NLOS component and data rates of 10 Gbps and 100 Gbps, when using LEDs and
free space loss, molecular absorption and harsh weather LDs, respectively [105]. Furthermore, low-complexity imple-
conditions for the LOS component. In particular, research mentation in VLC scenarios can be realized by using LEDs,
efforts are mainly centered around characterizing channel where extra power supplies are not required. In this case,
coefficients for deterministic and statistical conditions in LEDs can be utilized to perform illumination, communication
indoor and outdoor environments. Ray-tracing is a reliable and localization simultaneously [104], [105].

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Light-Fidelity (LiFi), a promising optical solution that TABLE 5. Research in OWC impairments.
is envisioned to complement wireless fidelity (WiFi), is a
subset of OWCs that realizes bidirectional and high-speed
wireless communication [106]. LiFi leverages visible light
in downlink to realize illumination as well as wireless com-
munication, and infrared or RF in uplink. Similar to VLC,
LiFi communication systems depend on LEDs and PDs as
transmitters and receivers, respectively [107].
Optical camera communication (OCC), is another promis- C. PROGRAMMABLE METASURFACES FOR WIRELESS
ing OWC technology, which is mainly used for positioning COMMUNICATIONS
and navigation in indoor environments. An OCC receiver The mmWave and THz communications are envisioned as
consists of embedded cameras or image sensors, while trans- key enablers for 6G systems. They are expected to satisfy the
mitter is a typical commercial LED [108]. Moreover, OCC stringent requirements of various potential 6G use cases by
spectrum spans between the infrared and ultraviolet bands, exploiting higher frequency bands. However, owing to the
with wavelength in the range of 10,000 nm [109]. Due severe attenuation and scattering properties, the detrimen-
to the wide spread of smartphone devices with sophisti- tal effects on communication efficiency remains the grand
cated embedded cameras, OCC can be easily implemented challenge in wireless communications. For example, small
in these smart devices, rendering it as the practical version and large objects in indoor environments, e.g., walls and
of VLC. furniture, typically scatter rays in all directions, leading to
Free space optical (FSO) communication, which takes severe multipath propagation environments. The Doppler
place in the near infrared, is considered an effective approach effect is another key challenge, which can limit the realiza-
in realizing high data rate communications over several tion of ultra-broadband communications, particularly in the
kilometers [110]. For example, for reasonable distances mmWave and THz bands [139]. Existing solutions mainly
(around 1 km), FSO can achieve data rates in the order rely on device-side approaches, which consider the wire-
of 10 Gbps [111]. High frequency reuse factor, physical secu- less environment to be uncontrollable and hence, it remains
rity, and robustness against electromagnetic interference are unaware of the on-going communication processes.
other advantages exhibited by FSO systems, when restrict-
ing the use of a very narrow laser beam at the transmitter 1) METASURFACES
side [112]. Metasurfaces have recently emerged as an innovative tech-
nology, which is envisioned to revolutionize wireless com-
munications by allowing wireless system designers to fully
1) STATE-OF-THE-ART manipulate the propagation of electromagnetic (EM) waves
Despite their superior features, OWC systems are impaired in a wireless link. The building block of a metasurface is a
by several factors that have detrimental effects on their perfor- meta-atom, which is an artificial conductive structure with
mance, such as ambient light noise, nonlinearity of LEDs, etc. engineered EM properties that is repeated periodically across
The authors in [113]–[120] quantified the effect of ambient a rectangular surface (also called tile). At the macroscopic
light noise on the performance of different optical systems, level, metasurfaces exhibit unique EM properties such as
and presented efficient solutions to enhance the performance customized permittivity and permeability levels, and nega-
of OWC in the presence of ambient light noise. Atmospheric tive refraction [140]. As a consequence, metasurfaces enable
loss represents another major challenge in OWC, and severely unprecedented capabilities when interacting with impinging
degrades the performance of OWC systems in indoor and EM waves, which include wave focusing, absorption, imag-
outdoor environments. Particularly, free space loss is domi- ing, scattering, polarization, to name but a few [140]. It is
nating in indoor scenarios, while path loss and atmospheric worth mentioning that metasurfaces leverage these unique
turbulence are the main affecting factors on the performance abilities without any limitation on their operating frequency.
of outdoor OWC. Research works in [121]–[130] investi- Recently, there has been a steadily growing interest in
gated the effect of atmospheric loss on the performance of both industry and academia on tunable metasurfaces, also
OWC systems. Moreover, OWC performance is vulnerable to called programmable metasurfaces. In this context, the meta-
pointing errors, which is caused by the horizontal movement atom design can be dynamically altered through a simple
of high buildings due to thermal expansion, weak earthquakes external stimuli, such as a binary switch, empowering meta-
and wind [131]. Due to pointing errors, transmitters and surfaces with unique adaptivity. More specifically, dynamic
receivers in OWC may experience misalignment, resulting meta-atoms are fitted with tunable switching components,
in the degradation of the system performance. The conse- such as micro-electro-mechanical switches or CMOS tran-
quences of pointing errors on OWC systems under different sistors, which can alter the structure of the meta-atoms. This
scenarios have been thoroughly investigated in the litera- allows metasurface tiles to receive commands from an exter-
ture, e.g., [132]–[138]. A summary of the research efforts in nal programming interface, where parameters of the incident
OWC impairments is provided in Table 5. and reflected waves, e.g., phase, amplitude, frequency, and

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polarization, are carefully manipulated in order to enable the smart programmable metasurfaces, allowing them to achieve
EM behavior of interest [139]. Moreover, the discovery of a complex level of coordination, and thereby maintaining a
communicating nodes in the surrounding wireless environ- desired global behavior while ensuring scalability, energy
ment can be realized by equipping the metasurface tile with and overhead reduction [144]. In this setup, a metasurface
efficient sensing and reporting features. interface can be empowered with intelligence by applying
Tunable mechanisms of metasurfaces facilitate massive novel data processing paradigms that can learn from data and
connectivity, interference mitigation, and enhanced diversity perform functionalities to complete complex tasks efficiently.
by introducing an additional degree of freedom. These tun- This would support self-organization and automation of all
able features are essential in order to realize the flexibil- metasurface functions, including maintenance, management,
ity needed for future wireless communications. The authors and operational tasks. A recent research study proposed a
in [141] presented the first model to describe a programmable deep learning (DL)-based ML approach to achieve signal
wireless indoor environment using programmable metasur- focusing through learning the mapping between the estimated
faces. The introduction of programmatically controlled wire- channel state information (CSI) at a user location and the
less environments has undeniably opened the door for a broad optimal configuration of the metasurface’s unit cell [145].
range of functionalities to be ultimately achieved even at the Furthermore, adaptive control and coordination of multiple
mmWave and THz bands. Some metasurface functionalities metasurfaces in programmable wireless environments was
are summarized as follows: demonstrated for a set of users through the application of
− Beam steering: This function can be achieved by allow- neural networks [146]. More recently, convolutional neural
ing a metasurface to change the direction of the imping- network approaches were proven to exhibit their merit for
ing wave towards the desired direction through manipu- beamforming by learning the physics of the beamform-
lating either the refraction or reflection index which can ing from computed data to make online prediction of the
override the outgoing directions defined by the Snell’s coding matrices, to fulfill the network requirements [147].
Law [139]. Additionally, the principle of ML-enabled imager was
− Beam splitting: In this function, a metasurface tile splits proposed for programmable metasurfaces to produce
an incident wave into customized orthogonal multiple high-quality EM imaging and high-accuracy object recogni-
beams steered towards multiple directions to serve mul- tion [148]. The results are promising in real-time compressed
tiple users simultaneously [141]. imaging applications in the microwave, millimeter-wave, and
− Wave absorption: Blocking the access of an unautho- THz frequencies [148].
rized wireless device can be accomplished by adjust-
ing the properties of the metasurfaces to ensure no or 3) STATE-OF-THE-ART
minimal reflection or refraction of the incident wave. Programmable metasurfaces have recently attracted a large
This functionality can be utilized to prevent eaves- attention of the international scientific community. In partic-
dropping and optimize the network physical-layer secu- ular, a number of research studies examined the potentials of
rity. As demonstrated in [142], for a given incident programmable metasurfaces as modulators [149]–[153]. Fur-
wave, metasurfaces are able to reduce the wave power thermore, the research works in [154]–[157] investigated the
by 35 dB. design of smart beamforming in metasurface-based wireless
− Wave polarization: This function allows a metasurface secrecy communication systems. Researchers also explored
to fully control the polarization of impinging waves and the use of metasurfaces in wireless power transfer (WPT)
manipulate their oscillation orientation [141]. [158]–[160]. The role of machine learning in controlling
− Phase control: This functionality of metasurfaces allows the functionalities of metasurfaces to actively improve the
for the alteration of the carrier phase [141]. coverage of the highly dynamic indoor environments is ana-
lyzed in [161]–[163]. The aforementioned state-of-the-art is
2) ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)-EMPOWERED summarized in Table 6.
METASURFACES
To facilitate simultaneous functionalities within an TABLE 6. Advancements in metasurfaces.

uninterrupted connectivity, AI tools are envisioned to be

indispensable in programmable metasurfaces as they enable
the identification of the best operation policy based on data
driven techniques [143], [144]. Leveraging AI is particu-
larly attractive in heterogeneous wireless applications, with
diverse networks, and QoS user requirements, as it can
potentially provide an efficient and dynamic means to adapt
network parameters, such as coding rate, route selection, D. DRONE-BASED COMMUNICATIONS AND
frequency band, and symbol modulation. AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS
Machine learning (ML)-enabled solutions, which are a A key driving force behind the vision of 6G is the deployment
subfield of AI, are expected to be a core component in of connected and autonomous vehicle (CAV) systems and

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FIGURE 2. Advantages, categories, applications, and challenges of drone-based systems.

drone-based communications. The research efforts in CAV ground BSs, have to be met. User-centric cell-free mas-
and drone (also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs))- sive MIMO, also known as distributed massive MIMO, was
based communication systems, have been steadily growing recently proposed as a prominent solution to efficiently
in both academia and industry, targeting strict requirements, increase the system coverage and energy efficiency of aerial
particularly ultra-low latency and unprecedented communi- networks [168], [169]. By efficiently utilizing cell-free mas-
cation reliability. The advantages, categories, applications, sive MIMO, in which massive number of antennas are
and challenges of drone-based systems are depicted in Fig. 2. distributed over a wide area to serve multiple drone-UEs,
In the following, we focus our attention on the current and the effect of large scale fading becomes less as all users
futuristic application scenarios of UAVs, as well as the state- approximately have equal distances to the allocated access
of-the-art. An in-depth discussion of the underlying chal- point. This is beneficial for cell-edge users who experience
lenges is then provided in the following section. severe large scale fading. Recent results showed that the
utilization of cell-free massive MIMO architecture brings
1) DRONE-ASSISTED WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS substantial benefits to the performance of drone-UEs, com-
Drones constitute the basic building block of aerial networks, pared to multi-cell massive MIMO, as inter-cell interfer-
whose inherent features, such as mobility and flexibility, ence is eliminated in the former [170]. In some applications,
enable several imminent and futuristic applications in wire- drone-UEs will require high-speed connectivity from ground
less networks [164]. It is shown that the use of drones can sig- BSs or from drone-BSs (i.e., drones operating as BSs).
nificantly improve the coverage and transmission rates [165]. It should be pointed out that nowadays cellular networks are
Furthermore, standardization activities led by 3GPP are cur- designed for ground users with unique mobility and traf-
rently ongoing to adapt the necessary changes in order to fic characteristics that are considerably distinct from those
integrate drones in the future wireless networks [166]. experienced with drone-UEs. Therefore, the integration of
Drone-assisted wireless communications can be catego- drone-UEs into cellular networks in a single wireless network
rized as follows: presents a set of new key challenges and design considera-
tions that must be addressed for the efficient realization and
a: CELLULAR-ENABLED DRONES (CED) successful deployment of CEDs [171].
CEDs are operated as user equipments (UEs) (i.e., drone-
UEs) in order to enable several key applications such as b: WIRELESS INFRASTRUCTURE DRONES (WIDs)
mining, oil and gas, transportation, surveying and moni- WIDs are intended to extend the network capabilities by
toring, with a velocity of 160 km/h in urban and rural enhancing network coverage or capacity. WIDs can be further
environments [167]. To ensure connectivity with cellular net- classified based on their functionalities into:
works, several essential requirements, which include reliable • Drone-BSs: Drone-BSs are aerial nodes with some
and low-latency communications between the drone-UEs and BS features and functionalities, that are envisioned to

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provide capacity and coverage enhancements for management, self-organization, energy consumption, and
6G networks. They are cost-effective solutions that backhauling [177].
render wireless connectivity to hard-to-reach areas,
as well as geographical areas with limited cellular 3) DRONE-BASED MULTI-ACCESS EDGE COMPUTING
infrastructure. Drone-BSs are also attractive solutions Multi-access edge computing (MEC), enables cloud com-
for delivering reliable, broadband and wide-scale tem- puting capabilities at the edge of cellular networks, and has
porary wireless connectivity in special events or harsh recently emerged as one of the potential technologies for
scenarios, such as sport events and natural disasters. 5G networks. In particular, MEC enables mobile devices with
Furthermore, high altitude drone-BSs are expected to limited resources to offload their computation tasks to the
provide a long-term and cost effective connectivity for edge of the network.
rural areas. The integration of drone-BSs with other In drone-enabled networks, mobile devices can offload
physical layer techniques such as mmWave and massive their computationally demanding tasks to drones with
MIMO, cognitive radios, etc., is a promising solution to MEC capabilities, typically at the edge of the network, thus
provide data-hungry services and is expected to create a reducing the network congestion and allowing for the rapid
new set of challenges for the next generation of flying deployment of new applications. Additionally, the drone-
BSs [171]. Optimal positioning of the drone-BSs is one based network can provide an effective mobility management
of the critical challenges that needs to be addressed in without the necessity of handover, as well as uninterrupted
dense deployment scenarios [172]. MEC services for high mobility users, due to their large-scale
• Aerial Relays: Relaying has been extensively inves- coverage and LOS connection [178], [179].
tigated in the context of terrestrial communications Within the same context, the limited on-board processing
aiming to enhance network reliability, throughput, and capabilities of drones, which are mainly due to their storage
coverage. However, such relays are subject to limited and battery constraints, bring about several concerns towards
mobility and often are constrained by wired backhaul- the efficient execution of complex tasks [180]. In particular,
ing [173]. On the contrary, drones acting as wireless heavy computation demanding applications, such as real-time
relays, are versatile and offer high mobility. This fea- image processing, may not be supported by the anticipated
ture makes them a promising candidate for providing vision of drones. Recent research efforts proposed efficient
enhanced wireless connectivity beyond LOS. Moreover, techniques to tackle these limitations by leveraging cloud
aerial relays can play a significant role in extending the computing to offload the computation-intensive tasks from
battery life of drones [174]. the drones to remote cloud servers [181]. The role of these
• Aerial Backhaul for Cellular Networks: Wireless servers can be summarized as follows [182]:
back-hauling has been shown to provide a cost-effective − Storage: Storage services can be offered by the cloud to
solution compared to wired backhauling. However, it is store drones data streams that include environment and
subject to interference, blockage and path loss, which mission-related parameters, captured images and sensed
can significantly degrade the performance and reduce data.
the data rate [175]. In this respect, drone-based networks − Computation: Intensive computations are executed in
are foreseen to play a fundamental role in achieving the cloud in order to minimize the processing time and
robust and high-speed backhaul connectivity for cellular energy consumption at the drone. Moreover, the large
networks [176]. Such networks are expected to provide amount of stored data from the drones can be exploited
flexible drone-based backhaul communications that will to perform data analytic tasks in order to enhance
enhance the network capacity, reliability, as well as the the performance of drones-enabled networks, in terms
operation cost [171]. of trajectory adaptation, altitude optimization, and
energy consumption customization, in an intelligent
manner.
2) AIR-GROUND-SPACE INTEGRATED Networks
There is a strong belief that existing terrestrial, aerial and 4) SWIPT-ENABLED DRONES
satellite networks will not be able to cope with the massive Short built-in battery lifetime restricts the utilization of
volume of generated data, which will continue to grow at an drones in numerous applications, due to the limited size
exponential rate together with the rapid proliferation of new and weight of drones, which results in a limited energy
IoE applications. On the other hand, the integration of these storage, and consequently, short cruising duration. Aiming
networks is viewed as the next evolution of wireless infras- to prolong the system’s lifetime, trajectory design, location
tructure, that is envisioned to cater to diverse use cases with adjustment, and power allocation optimization approaches
different QoS requirements, particularly in realistic scenarios have been proposed in the literature as promising mechanisms
such as urban, rural, and lightly dense areas. Yet, despite to overcome the energy shortage issue in drones [183]–[185].
their indispensable benefits, the envisioned integrated archi- However, these schemes are not always feasible in
tecture will introduce unprecedented challenges that include, practice and do not provide fundamental solutions to
but are not limited to, heterogeneity, security, resource the involved energy inefficiency problem [186]. In this

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context, SWIPT has been foreseen as an emerging E. THE NEXT FRONTIER FOR IoE: BACKSCATTER
energy-replenishment solution, in which drones harvest COMMUNICATIONS AND WIRELESS POWERED
energy from received RF signals to extend the cruising NETWORKS
duration [187]–[189]. Despite their remarkable advantages, The exponential growth of connected devices, constituting
SWIPT-enabled drones are more vulnerable to physical the emerging IoE, is a major driving force towards the
layer attacks, such as eavesdropping, spoofing and jamming development of energy-efficient solutions to sustain wireless
attacks, due to the LOS and broadcast features of drone chan- communication among connected nodes [226]. Nonetheless,
nels. There have been several attempts to propose efficient despite the notable advancements, the short battery lifetime of
solutions in order to enhance the secrecy rate performance the deployed battery-operated devices still constitutes a major
of SWIPT-enabled drones, including conventional physical design challenge, which requires a paradigm shift towards
layer security mechanisms, such as cooperative jamming, the development of the next generation green communication
artificial noise, and multiple antenna techniques, in addition architecture. Accordingly, ambient BackCom have emerged
to position optimization and resource allocation [186], [190], as a new communication paradigm for low power communi-
[191]. An interesting work reported in [192] investigated cations in 5G networks. This approach is based on the concept
the resource allocation optimization in UAV-assisted SWIPT that a transmitter sends data to its receiver by backscattering
systems, in which drones are exploited to send data to ambient signals, e.g., TV or Wi-Fi signals. Compared to con-
specific ground receivers, in addition to transmitting the ventional systems, backscatter transceivers consume signifi-
same RF signals to ground energy receivers, which are cantly less power (orders of magnitude), rendering it a strong
equipped with wireless power harvesting devices. These candidate for low power networks and IoE applications [227].
energy receivers may be possible eavesdroppers. Therefore, Owing to its promising features, several new and disruptive
the authors in [192] formulated an optimization problem to technologies can be integrated with BackCom.
obtain the optimum resource allocation scheme that maxi-
mizes the secrecy rate of the information receivers.
1) RADIO-FREQUENCY (RF)-POWERED BackCom
NETWORKS
5) STATE-OF-THE-ART RF energy harvesting (RF-EH) has been recently proposed
The research efforts have focused thus far on basic and as a promising solution to provide perpetual energy replen-
more advanced design aspects of drones, including CEDs and ishment for such networks. RF-EH is realized by allowing
WIDs. Specifically, extensive research efforts are directed wireless devices, equipped with dedicated EH circuits, to har-
towards proposing encryption and authentication mecha- vest energy from either ambient RF signals or dedicated RF
nisms to ensure a robust secure communication infrastructure sources. It can be divided into two main categories, namely
that also maintains privacy [193]–[203]. wireless-powered communications [228] and simultaneous
The energy efficiency and battery properties are key prac- wireless information and power transfer, which have been
tical design aspects, in which the battery lifetime, charging shown to provide noticeable gains in terms of power and
mechanism and energy consumption must be optimized to spectral efficiencies by enabling simultaneous information
enable seamless and uninterrupted wireless communications. process. Despite the remarkable advantages, RF-EH tech-
In this context, the optimization of energy consumption and niques still suffer from particular limitations, especially in
charging time of drones have lately received significant atten- the context of low power wireless networks. Specifically,
tion [204]–[211]. wireless-powered devices are not able to communicate per-
Various design issues, that allow for the realization of the petually, as they require dedicated time for energy harvesting.
full potential of drone networks, are tackled in the literature, Additionally, these devices depend on active RF signals for
such as network architecture [177], [212]–[214], image pro- communication; as a consequence, they suffer from relatively
cessing [215]–[217], interference management [218]–[223] high power consumption, which can pose major issues, par-
and storage [224], [225]. Recent advances in aerial networks ticularly in large-scale low power wireless networks [227].
are summarized in Table 7. Motivated by this concern, a new trend is to integrate Back-
Com systems with various RF-EH techniques in a single
network. This promising paradigm is envisioned to address
some of these challenges and catalyze the deployment of new
technologies and services [229].
TABLE 7. Recent advancements in aerial networks.

2) RF-POWERED COGNITIVE RADIO NETWORKS AND

AMBIENT BackCom
The integration of RF-EH techniques with cognitive
radio (CR) networks has led to the development of a
new communication paradigm, called RF-powered CR net-
works [230]. In such networks, a CR transmitter harvests

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RF energy when a primary (licensed) user (PU) is active, techniques have been recently reported in the open
which is subsequently utilized for data transmissions between technical literature [243]–[250].
secondary (unlicensed) users (SUs) [230], [231]. Evidently, It is noted that BackCom networks are not optimized and/or
the performance of these networks greatly depends on the designed for large-scale low power networks comprising a
availability of PU signals. In this context, BackCom is envi- massive number of IoT devices, e.g., sensors in environmen-
sioned as a potential solution to address this challenge by tal monitoring, sensors in smart roads to collect data about
allowing SUs to harvest energy from PU signals in addition to the pavement conditions and traffic, etc. Furthermore, such
transmitting data by backscattering the PU signals. Therefore, systems are different from human-centric communications
it is evident that although BackCom and energy harvesting with diverse and unique traffic characteristics as well as QoS
have not played a major role yet in 5G, they are envisaged to requirements, which requires the development of efficient
be a core part of 6G with full potentials. physical layer and media access control schemes to pre-
vent access congestion. Within this context, multiple access
3) VISIBLE LIGHT BackCom techniques in BackCom systems are regarded to be instru-
VLC is a new paradigm that is foreseen to provide ubiqui- mental in improving the efficiency of backscatter networks.
tous connectivity while addressing some of the limitations In particular, conventional orthogonal multiple access and
and challenges of RF communications. It is based on inten- non-orthogonal schemes (e.g., NOMA [251] and rate splitting
sity modulation and direct detection, where the intensity of multiple access), are recognized as promising candidates for
LEDs is modulated to convey information, and then demodu- enabling massive connectivity, while maintaining high energy
lated/detected directly using a photodiode. There are several and spectral efficiency [252]–[260].
key advantages of VLC that include inherent communica- In addition to the aforementioned studies, major research
tion security, high degree of spatial reuse, and its immu- efforts have focused on channel modeling and estimation
nity to RF interference, which makes it safe to be used in [261]–[266], resource allocation [252], [253], [267]–[269]
critical places with high electromagnetic interference, e.g., and wireless energy harvesting [270]–[276] in BackCom sys-
hospitals and industrial plants. The principle of visible light tems. Table 8 summarizes the timely open research topics in
BackCom (VLBC) systems is similar to its RF counterpart, the field of BackCom.
in which VLBC leverages ambient light to harvest energy and
then modulates VLC signals to transmit its data to backscatter TABLE 8. Open research topics in BackCom systems.
receivers [232], [233].

4) QUANTUM BackCom
Quantum backscatter communications is another promising
technology which is anticipated to contribute towards the
development of 6G and the next generation IoT, particularly
in terms of performance and security [234]. In this new
paradigm, a transmitter produces entangled signal-idler (S-I)
photon pairs. The S-photon is transmitted and backscattered
from a backscatter transmitter, while the I-photon is kept F. TACTILE INTERNET
at the receiver. This quantum setting provides a signifi- Tactile Internet (TI) is seen as the next frontier of IoE,
cant gain in the error exponent for the communication link focusing on M2P and M2M interactions. With the recent
and facilitates secure communication by exploiting quantum advances in tactile/haptic devices, it is predicted that TI will
cryptography. catalyze the deployment of a plethora of new applications
ranging from health care to education and smart manufac-
5) STATE-OF-THE-ART turing. Therefore, it is expected to reshape our daily lives
BackCom networks are subject to critical security threats, and ultimately realize the full potential of the next industrial
such as eavesdropping and jamming. This stems from the typ- revolution, also known as Industry 4.0.
ical simplicity and low-complexity of BackCom transceivers. To fully realize TI, the communication infrastructure (CI)
As a result, existing security solutions, including encryp- has to meet strict design guidelines, as it is currently unable to
tion and digital signatures, may not be applicable due to address the stringent requirements of the use cases envisioned
the power and complexity constraints of BackCom devices. for TI. In particular, the CI has to support extremely low
This has motivated the international research community to end-to-end latency with high-reliability [277]. Furthermore,
investigate new security mechanisms that can guarantee fully it must ensure data security without jeopardizing the latency
secure and private wireless communications [235]–[242]. requirements imposed by the computationally demanding
Self-interference is another major limitation in BackCom encryption techniques.
systems. The sources of self-interference include: (i) signals To address these requirements and catalyze the deployment
from ambient RF sources, and (ii) multipath propaga- of new use cases with unique requirements, the develop-
tion. Based on this, several self-interference cancellation ment of unique and disruptive B5G wireless communication

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technologies is of paramount importance. To this end, wireless communication between wearable devices and
we envision the development of: 1) communication technolo- the smart receiver (which can be a smartphone) can
gies in the THz band; 2) novel wireless network architectures; be efficiently realized by incorporating mmWave com-
and 3) AI-enabled communication networks. munications as a perfect candidate to establish high
data rate, low interference and reliable communica-
1) STATE-OF-THE-ART tion between the device and the receiver, especially in
The use cases of TI have recently drawn significant research densely populated indoor environments [316].
and industrial attention, as they are envisioned to have • Imaging and Tracking: Given that signals in the 60 GHz
great potential to advance all aspects of our daily lives. band will be mostly reflected from objects larger than
As reported in the literature, TI has been adopted in their short wavelength, mmWave communications is
numerous applications, such as VR and AR [278]–[287], considered as a promising candidate in imaging and
healthcare [288]–[294], education [295]–[299], intelli- tracking systems. Particularly, objects’ dimensions can
gent transportation [300]–[303], industry [304]–[307] and be accurately measured by relying on the highly direc-
robotics [308]–[313]. Table 9 summarizes the envisioned tional beams of the 60 GHz links, which also helps
applications of TI. reducing the interference, and subsequently, providing
a precise imaging and tracking systems. Furthermore,
TABLE 9. Applications of tactile internet. the miniaturized antenna arrays facilitate the integra-
tion of these antennas in small receivers (such as smart
phones or tablets).

B. TERAHERTZ COMMUNICATIONS
The wide bandwidth in the THz band is envisioned to drive
the deployment of a large array of new use cases, as outlined
next.
• Wireless Data Centers: Today’s data centers suffer from
high complexity, power consumption, maintenance cost,
III. DRIVING APPLICATIONS OF 6G TECHNOLOGIES and wasted spaces occupied by large cables. Therefore,
In this section, we highlight the potential applications asso- there have been attempts to address these issues in order
ciated with the aforementioned technologies, which are to enable fast and reliable access to cloud-based ser-
expected to realize the vision of 6G systems. vices. According to [317], the power consumption of
all data centers will reach 73 billion KWh by 2020.
A. MILLIMETER-WAVE COMMUNICATIONS Therefore, THz communications could be a promising
• Wireless Backhaul: Due to ultra-dense deployment of candidate for the next generation of data centers, satisfy-
heterogeneous multi-tier small cells in future wireless ing the peak data rate of 10-20 Gbps required by 5G, and
communications, fiber-based backhauling will no longer even higher [318]. Although still in infancy, there have
be an economical option to connect multiple BSs to each been recent research investigations on channel modeling
others and to the gateway, due to several installation for indoor environments, which have paved the way
restrictions. Therefore, wireless backhaul represents a for utilizing THz communications in indoor wireless
scalable promising alternative to connect multiple BSs data centers [319], [320]. Initial results showed that the
in small cells. This can be achieved by utilizing the cabling cost can be reduced without compromising the
wide and underutilized mmWave bandwidth, such as bandwidth.
the unlicensed 60 GHz band, as well as the 70-80 GHz • Secure Drone Communications: Drone communications
band. Specifically, leveraging the mmWave band to in the THz band is one of the envisioned applica-
realize wireless backhaul solutions is expected to pro- tions of THz communications that are expected to
vide increased flexibility, high speed transmission, cost achieve higher capacity gains and support increased
efficiency and enhanced data rates [314]. Another key mobility [321]. Moreover, the deployment of large
advantage of adopting the mmWave band in wireless antenna arrays for coverage extension enables extremely
backhauling is the controlled level of inter-cell interfer- narrow beams, which inherently limits the probabil-
ence, due to the LOS nature of the mmWave links [315]. ity of eavesdropping, and therefore, it achieves secure
• Wearable devices: Recent advancements in miniature communications [322].
electronics fabrication technology prompts the spread of • Health Monitoring: THz communications is a promis-
smart high-end wearable devices, which require higher ing candidate in the field of health care. Specifically,
data rates and longer battery lifetime, such as smart several nano-sensors can be utilized to monitor different
watches, smart AR/VR glasses and helmets, health-care ions in the human blood, such as glucose and sodium,
gadget, and motion trackers [27]. Given that the trans- in addition to cholesterol levels, infections and can-
mission range constraint is relaxed in these applications, cer bio-markers. The collected data by the sensors are

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FIGURE 3. Indoor and outdoor applications of THz communications.

forwarded to a micro interface, e.g., a cellular phone or passengers audio and video files transmission, in addi-
a medical device, using THz communications [317]. It is tion to instant messaging and data exchange [325].
noted that the THz radiations are considered safe for the • Underground Mining: Serious accidents, due to cave
human-being bodies compared to the gamma rays [323]. collapsing, chemical leakage, and gas explosions,
• Wireless local area networks (WLANs)/Wireless per- in underground mining raise a critical issue in the mining
sonal area networks (WPANs): THz band communi- industries. In such events, it is of paramount importance
cations are envisioned to enable bandwidth-intensive to detect the location of the miners in order to provide
applications such as high definition holographic video the proper assistance. Recently, VLC has emerged as a
conferencing and ultra-high speed data transfer. This promising technology for indoor positioning, due to its
stems from the fact that a seamless interconnection may suitability in enclosed places, in addition to its low cost,
be facilitated between ultra-high wired networks (e.g., low interference and high data rates features [326].
fiber optical links) and wireless devices (e.g., laptops or • Healthcare: Electromagnetic interference caused by
tablets) in WLANs or between personal wireless devices RF signals is considered as a threatening factor for
in WPANs [322]. expensive medical machines. Moreover, intensive care
units pose restrictions on the use of mobile phones
Potential applications of THz communications are outlined
operating over the RF band [327]. Intra-clinical data
in Fig. 3.
transmission is considered an attractive application to
OWC, which is reported as safe for human health. OWC
C. OPTICAL WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS can be implemented in healthcare buildings to provide
• Smart Transportation Systems: The wide spread of safe and high data rate transmission over short distances,
LEDs in current transportation lighting systems, such as in addition to lighting, which minimizes the implemen-
vehicles lights, street lamps and traffic signals, facili- tation cost and provides a health-friendly alternative to
tates the utilization of these LEDs to perform wireless RF communications [328].
communications besides their original role of illumi-
nation. LEDs can be exploited to implement OWC to D. METASURFACES FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS
realize safe and smart transportation systems, by allow- • Metasurfaces in WPT Applications: WPT is foreseen
ing vehicles to communicate road-related information, as a game-changing technology, in which future net-
including vehicles speed, navigation, and traffic sta- works are envisioned to provide perpetual energy replen-
tus, while maintaining low-complexity and low-cost ishment, particularly for low power devices/sensors.
implementation [324]. A major concern, however, is the ability of devices
• Airplane Passenger Lights: OWC can be interestingly to harvest enough energy in wireless channels. The
applied to travelers lighting in airplanes, in which unique properties of metasurfaces, that include their
LEDs can realize wireless communications for in-flight abilities to steer and concentrate electromagnetic waves,

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enable efficient power transfer and energy harvesting. efficiently embedded in homes to perform a wide range
The work in [329] discussed the potentials of integrat- of tasks, such as gas leak detection, smoke and carbon
ing smart tables with metasurfaces in order to enable oxide detection, and movement monitoring. Another
multiple wireless devices to be powered/charged simul- driving application of BackCom is smart dustbins,
taneously. The integration of WPT in metasurfaces for in which backscatter devices keep track of the garbage
biological applications was studied in [159], where a level and report it to garbage collecting trucks.
metasurface-based wearable device was placed over the • Smart Cities: Backscatter enabled sensors can be flex-
human skin surface to improve the efficiency of an ibly placed in street lamps, parking lots, buildings, and
implanted WPT system. bridges to realize the envisioned energy-efficient low-
• Metasurface-based Textiles for Wireless Body Sensor cost smart cities. BackCom can be utilized in smart cities
Networks (WBSNs): Very recently, metasurface-based to enhance air quality by monitoring the pollution and
textiles were developed for energy-efficient and secure noise level in the air. Additionally, it can be used to man-
WBSN applications [330]. In this approach, regular age traffic in closed parking areas and ease the process
clothing is fitted with conductive metasurface textiles, of finding an available parking place by indicating the
where wireless signals can glide around the surface of available slots.
the body on the clothes to interconnect wireless wearable • Biomedical Applications: Wearable and implantable
devices with each other forming a WBSN. In this appli- human medical devices, in addition to plants and ani-
cation scenario, wearable devices are located in close mals monitoring, are some of the key drivers of Back-
proximity to the body. This results in a significant reduc- Com technology. For example, Smart Google contact
tion in the power dissipated by the wireless devices, lenses, which are equipped with miniaturized Back-
leading to an improvement in the battery life and data Com devices, are designed to continuously measure the
rates of these devices. In fact, this innovative WBSN is glucose levels in the tears for diabetes patients and
foreseen to boost the received signal compared to con- backscatter the reported results to a wireless controller.
ventional technologies. Furthermore, metasurface-based Other serious diseases, such as epilepsy and Parkin-
textiles may enable personal sensor networks, which are son’s, are envisioned to be diagnosed and treated by
highly efficient, immune to interference, and inherently the assistance of BackCom technology. In particular,
secure [330]. Looking ahead, they are envisioned to have it is envisaged that brain-implantable BackCom neural
future applications in high-tech athletic wear, health devices will play the role of the brain-computer interface
monitoring, and human-machine interfaces. needed for studying and diagnosing diseases of interest.
Potential applications of BackCom systems are presented
E. DRONE-BASED COMMUNICATIONS AND
in Fig. 4.
AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS
• Search and Rescue Missions: Search and rescue mis-
sions are some of the critical driving applications of G. TACTILE INTERNET
drone networks. This is primarily due to the flexibility • Industry: Automation in industry realizes the control
of drones compared to manned vehicles, which take a of machinery and processes through a large network of
longer time to deploy [331]. sensors and actuators in order to improve productivity
• Mailing and Delivery: Package delivery is one of the and reduce labor costs. Industrial automation is steadily
attractive civil applications of drones, adopted by major growing in the context of TI, enabling the full control
courier companies around the world in order to accom- of rapidly moving devices with high sensitivity while
plish fast, cost-effective and reliable delivery. This meeting the end-to-end latency requirements. However,
is motivated by the fact that most of the packages’ the ever-growing need for control processes with differ-
weights are below the maximum tolerable load of a ent latency, reliability, data rate, and security demands is
single drone [180]. For example, Amazon reported that envisioned to catalyze the development of new wireless
83% of their packages weights fall below the 2.5 kg solutions tailored to these requirements.
[332], while FedEx average package weight is less • Virtual Reality (VR): VR enables users to physically
than 5 kg [180]. interact with each other by applying various motor
• Marine Drones: Underwater drones can accomplish sev- skills over a VR simulation platform. In this context,
eral military and civil underwater missions, such as oil TI is anticipated to provide the low latency required
spills exploration and identification, in addition to per- to facilitate shared virtual environments. High-fidelity
forming intensive studies relating to marine organisms interaction requires haptic feedback to allow users to
and ecosystem [333]. touch objects in a VR environment and enable users to
feel one another’s actions on the same touched object.
F. BackCom AND ENERGY HARVESTING This requires a stable and seamless user communication
• Smart Homes: Low power battery-less backscatter sen- coordination, which is not supported by today’s VR sys-
sors equipped with energy harvesting devices can be tems. Hence, TI is foreseen as a key enabler for haptic

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FIGURE 4. Applications of BackCom systems.

communications with ultra-low delay communication music instructor to apply instant actions over the haptic
and reliability requirements. overlay to correct the hand moves of a student learning
• Augmented Reality (AR): AR applications are fast grow- a musical instrument.
ing, owing to the availability of AR glasses and powerful
smart devices equipped with small sensors and cam- IV. CHALLENGES AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS
eras. However, the present AR systems are restricted to In this section, we discuss the open research issues associated
deliver pre-processed content due to the limited com- with the previously presented potential 6G technologies and
putational capabilities of the small wireless devices highlight their research challenges.
and the inherent delays in the communication network.
TI, on the other hand, is perceived to enable the aug- A. MILLIMETER-WAVE COMMUNICATIONS
mentation of dynamic and real-time information to the • User Mobility: User mobility constitutes a major chal-
contents. lenge in the implementation of mmWave networks,
• Healthcare: Potential applications of TI in health- that severely affects the system’s capacity. Therefore,
care include tele-surgery, tele-rehabilitation, and tele- to realize the full potential of mmWave communications,
diagnosis. Different from healthcare services provided there is a need to develop novel, efficient and adaptive
by current communication networks, which are location- modulation and coding schemes in order to compensate
dependent, medical expertise provided by the TI will for channel variations. Moreover, in indoor small cell
not be bounded by time and/or a physical location. scenarios, which comprise sets of access points serving
For example, a physician can diagnose patients at their multiple devices (each set called basic service set), user
locations by remotely controlling a robot while receiv- mobility causes severe and rapid load fluctuations in
ing haptic feedback as well as audio-visual informa- each set, in addition to recurrent handovers between
tion. Tele-surgery is another example, which has the multiple access points [334]. This calls for the devel-
potential to revolutionize healthcare delivery in the next opment of sophisticated user association and handovers
decade. mechanisms between multiple access points, which are
• Education: Improved learning experiences over dis- capable of providing a guaranteed QoS, balanced load,
tances can be achieved via TI by allowing teachers and improved system capacity for the realization of
and learners to exchange haptic information. Identical efficient mmWave communications in future wireless
multi-modal human-machine interfaces are required to networks.
enable auditory, visual, and haptic interactions, which • Interference Management: To overcome the short range
can be realized by enabling ultra-low latency commu- limitation in mmWave communications, a large num-
nication systems. For example, TI may allow a remote ber of access points are employed to extend the link

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coverage in small cell environments. In several indoor modulators, with approximately 1 picosecond response
scenarios, such as office cubicles and conference rooms, time, to enable efficient and reliable THz wireless com-
networks experience interference due to the deployment munications [317].
of a large number of access points (i.e., large number of • Channel Modeling for THz Communications: Existing
basic service sets). This interference can be detrimental low frequency channel models can not accurately cap-
if the device is close to the interfering access point, ture the entire behavior of high frequency THz links,
which is a highly probable event. Therefore, research which experience severe attenuation due to molecular
interests should be directed towards developing novel absorption and antenna aperture, in addition to the free
interference management mechanisms to prevent sig- space loss. Note that the multi-path channel of THz com-
nificant deterioration in the performance of mmWave munications compromises LOS and NLOS components.
communications. On the contrary, LOS attenuation, represented by path
• Blockage and Shadowing Control: Sensitivity to block- loss, is measured by the addition of the spreading and
age represents a fundamental challenge for wire- molecular absorption losses, which are encountered due
less mmWave communications. Specifically, a sudden to wave expansion and molecular absorption, respec-
blockage for the LOS transmission between the BS tively. The severity of molecular absorption is deter-
and the user causes a disconnected session, yielding a mined based on the density of molecules experienced
significant degradation in the system’s reliability. Addi- along with the transmission link, distance, weather con-
tionally, re-establishing a new connection between the ditions (e.g., heavy rain), and frequency window in
user and another BS increases the network overhead, the THz band. Accordingly, LOS channel component
affecting the system’s latency, which is a major issue in the THz band is described as severely frequency
in the envisioned 6G mobile networks. Signal steering, selective. Therefore, it is essential to develop an accu-
to avoid human blocking, requires a very large number rate model to represent the LOS component in the THz
of access points, which augments the level of interfer- wireless system, which is necessary to identify the per-
ence in addition to the increased complexity. Therefore, formance limits of THz communications and propose
the design of reliable anti-blockage schemes is neces- enhancement schemes for such technology [335].
sary before implementing efficient mmWave communi- On the other hand, due to the unavailability of the LOS
cations in future wireless networks. components in some scenarios, the THz link might be
limited to the NLOS component, which can be classified
B. TERAHERTZ COMMUNICATIONS into specular reflected, diffusely scattered and diffracted
• Transceiver Architecture: Transceiver architectures in EM waves. Therefore, for precise channel characteri-
the THz band is one of the critical aspects to be consid- zation, it is required to accurately trace the reflection,
ered due to the unique characteristics of the propagation scattering and diffraction coefficients of the incident
environment of THz links. In order to realize the full beam in the THz system [336], which depend on the
potentials of the THz-band, there is a growing interest in incident angle and surface material and geometry.
the development of novel transceiver architectures that Hence, the development of realistic and accurate channel
can operate across the entire THz-band. The developed models for THz links is still an open research prob-
architectures are expected to combat the severe path loss, lem, which requires thorough investigation to enable the
thus, enabling high sensitivity and high power gains. implementation of an efficient THz wireless system.
Moreover, the co-existence of different frequency bands,
such as THz, mmWave, and microwave cells, requires C. OPTICAL WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS
thorough investigations over different layers. • Physical Layer Security: Heterogeneous ultra-dense net-
• THz Modulator: The characteristics of THz modulators, works are envisioned to shape the future 6G wireless
including amplitude and phase modulators, play a cen- networks, in which hybrid RF/optical wireless com-
tral role in quantifying the efficiency of THz commu- munications are widely deployed. Although physical
nication systems. These characteristics include, but not layer security in OWC is thoroughly investigated in
limited to, modulation speed and depth in amplitude the literature, implementing secure hybrid RF/optical
modulators and phase shift amount in phase modulators. networks, which require the development of efficient
Current modulators designs, with the adopted architec- physical layer security mechanisms, represents a major
ture and utilized materials, limit the modulator ability challenge in such systems. By noting that legitimate
to achieve ultra-high speed and consequently to realize users and eavesdroppers in hybrid networks are con-
efficient THz wireless systems. This stems from the fact nected to either RF or VLC sources, it is essential to
that the existing modulators do not allow EM radiation propose physical layer security mechanisms to associate
manipulation in the THz band, which is required in order users to the appropriate source in a way that maximizes
to facilitate high-speed control of the modulator char- the system secrecy rate [337].
acteristics. Therefore, this calls for research interven- • Multiple Access Networks: The limited modula-
tion to develop intelligent and tunable ultra-high speed tion bandwidth and peak optical power represents

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a performance limiting factor in the realization of independently, raising the need to develop effective dis-
efficient OWC systems, as it directly affects the spec- tributed meta-atom control mechanisms and to examine
tral efficiency in such systems, particularly in VLC the performance of the variety of functions supported
scenarios. Several multiple access schemes have been by each metasurface. Additionally, since metasurfaces
proposed in the literature to accommodate multiple are envisioned to be deployed in application scenarios
users, and hence improve the spectral efficiency in involving the operation over a wide frequency range
OWC networks, such as NOMA, rate splitting multi- (varying from 1 to 60 GHz), designing efficient metasur-
ple access (RSMA) and space-division multiple access face structures that are capable of dynamically switching
(SDMA) [338]. It is worth noting that existing research the operation frequency poses an essential research
in the field of optical multiple access is primarily relying goal [140].
on perfect impractical scenarios. In specific, in the • Efficient Programmable Interface: Apart from the need
reported work, perfect CSI, Gaussian noise, and avail- to develop metasurface structures capable of realizing
ability of LOS assumptions are considered. Therefore, different functions in real-time, there is a compelling
it is essential to examine the performance of OWC need to investigate advanced multi-functional metasur-
systems under imperfect scenarios, such as investigating faces that can switch from one EM behavior to another
the effect of ambient light. Additionally, considering in a fast manner to cater for the increasingly diverse
that VLC links may experience fading and shadowing, user demands, especially in high mobility scenarios
it is essential to examine the performance of different where the system convergence rate may not be within
optical multiple access schemes under imperfect channel the coherence time of the surrounding wireless environ-
conditions. Moreover, physical layer security of NOMA, ment. As a result, research efforts should be directed
RSMA, and SDMA systems, in the context of OWC, towards developing control software that incorporates
remains an open research problem. low-complexity and fast configuration optimizers to
• Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces for FSO: The exis- facilitate the optimization and adaptation of metasur-
tence of a LOS link constraint constitutes a major chal- faces functionalities to the surrounding environment.
lenge in the implementation and generic deployment Also, advanced signal processing and machine learn-
of FSO networks. This is due to the fact that optical ing algorithms may be developed to leverage the sens-
links in FSO systems are usually impaired by several ing capabilities of metasurfaces for enabling intelligent
factors, such as atmospheric turbulence and geometric system performance optimization, which can converge
and misalignment losses [339]. Consequently, optical within the coherence time of the environment and can
reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS) have emerged be aligned with the network requirements of 6G systems,
as an efficient solution to relax the LOS constraint in such as massive connectivity, ultra-low latency, and high
FSO networks. Different than relay, RIS is considered an reliability [140].
energy efficient technology to extend the coverage area • High-order Modulation: The design of high-order mod-
of FSO wireless networks at low implementation cost ulation and novel waveform designs for metasurface-
and complexity. Motivated by the promising potentials based wireless communication systems constitute
of RIS in FSO networks, the research community has promising solutions for enabling high data rate trans-
recently started to actively investigate the integration of missions. This is of paramount importance since cur-
RIS in FSO scenarios [339]–[341]. rent metasurface-based transmitters are limited to
single-carrier low-order modulation schemes, such as
D. METASURFACES FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS binary/quadrature phase-shift-keying [150], [151].
In spite of the promising prospects of metasurfaces in 6G, • WPT in Metasurfaces: It is recalled that the last years
several design aspects should be further investigated in witnessed remarkable advancements in battery design.
order to realize the full potential of this promising Nonetheless, the short battery life of wireless devices
technology. still constitutes a major design challenge and requires a
• Dynamic Structure Design: The ability to manipu- paradigm shift towards the development of the next gen-
late the configurations of meta-atoms constitutes a key eration green communication architectures. WPT was
design challenge for the efficient operation of recon- proposed recently as a promising solution to provide
figurable metasurfaces, whose deployment is needed perpetual energy replenishment for such networks. It is
to support a wide range of functionalities in highly realized by allowing wireless devices, equipped with
dynamic wireless environments. Although there exist dedicated energy harvesting circuits, to harvest energy
some research studies that have successfully demon- from either ambient RF signals or dedicated RF sources.
strated that multiple functionalities can be achieved Given that metasurfaces have the ability to steer, absorb
by multiple metasurfaces, only a few have presented and collimate EM waves, particular research efforts
the capability of a metasurface to perform differ- should be dedicated to exploit the unique functionalities
ent functionalities simultaneously [342]. In this case, of metasurfaces to wirelessly charge the wireless devices
each unit cell of the metasurface has to be controlled from long distances.

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E. DRONE-BASED COMMUNICATIONS AND shown to be a good fit for drone environments; however,
AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS more experimental and real-time tests are required in
• Network Architecture and Analysis: Network planning, order to verify the accuracy of such models and prop-
performance evaluation and resource allocation are erly select their parameters. More importantly, further
some of the challenges that drone-BSs encounters in research efforts must be dedicated to verify the validity
aerial networks. While terrestrial mobile networks are of these models in different frequency bands, such as
designed to meet the requirements of ground users, they 433 MHz, 1575.42 MHz, and 2.4 GHz bands [347].
are not optimized to support aerial networks. Specifi-
cally, terrestrial BS antennas are not designed to sup- F. BACKSCATTER COMMUNICATIONS AND ENERGY
port the ultra-low latency requirements of high elevation HARVESTING
angle users in aerial networks. Therefore, there is a • Security and Jamming: BackCom systems typically suf-
need to develop a novel and efficient system architecture fer from potential security and jamming attacks, owing
that can efficiently integrate terrestrial BSs with drone- to their simple modulation and coding schemes. The
based UEs. key issue is that the limited resources in backscatter
• Energy and Storage Efficiency: Energy constraint is a systems are not able to support the implementation of
limiting factor in mobile-enabled drones, particularly conventional security solutions that include encryption
since solar energy and the limited size of built-in batter- and digital signatures [243]. This calls for the develop-
ies are the only sources of power. This is a crucial issue, ment of simple, yet highly efficient security solutions to
especially in power-hungry monitoring missions, where realize secure BackCom systems.
continuous monitoring and transmission are inevitable. • Interference to Licensed Systems: Data transmission in
Various energy-aware mechanisms have been reported ambient BackCom is based on reflecting ambient signals
in the literature to address the energy efficiency problem received from licensed sources. Therefore, interference
in drones. For example, an approach is to utilize multiple imposed on licensed users is inevitable, which calls for
cooperative drones to allow a single drone to temporarily the need to develop communication protocols that guar-
leave the network for energy replenishment [173]. Stor- antee no or minimal interference. Recent research efforts
age constraint is another major concern, e.g., in monitor- have focused on interference modeling and development
ing missions, where drones must store a large amount of of compensation schemes [227].
data. This motivates the investigation of novel forward- • Full-Duplex Ambient Backscatter: Full-duplex Back-
ing and compression schemes to efficiently handle this Com systems are proposed to enable simultaneous
huge amount of data. communication between multiple ambient backscatter
• Collision Avoidance: Buildings and large obstacles rep- nodes. In such cases, the same antenna is used by
resent a major hazard to drones, so they must be a backscatter receiver to transmit and receive signals.
addressed thoroughly in order to avoid collisions to As a result, a significant amount of self-interference
objects in the surrounding environment. A way to exists between different components of the Back-
address this problem is to restrict the drone flying zones Com transceiver. This calls for the development
to limited areas. However, this will increase the inter- of self-interference mitigation schemes and consti-
ference between multiple drones and lead to higher col- tutes an open research issue towards addressing this
lision probability [343]. Therefore, there is a need for challenge [244], [348].
efficient collision avoidance schemes to enable drones
dynamically adjust their trajectories to minimize colli- G. TACTILE INTERNET
sion probability. Although TI is considered as a new paradigm envisioned to
• Channel Modeling: Efficient implementation of coop- generate a plethora of new applications, several open research
erative aerial networks requires accurate characteriza- challenges exist and need to be fully addressed for the suc-
tion of communication links to ensure reliable and cessful realization of this enabling technology.
safe operation of air-to-air and air-to-ground links. • Haptic Devices: Haptic devices, such as sensors and
In flying ad-hoc network architectures, drone commu- actuators, enable users to feel, touch, and manipulate
nications require the development of robust theoret- objects in real or virtual environments. Although haptic
ical framework to model air-to-air and air-to-ground devices have already been commercialized, they still
links. While there have been reported works on link fall short in terms of degrees of freedom as well as
characteristics of aerial networks in different frequency the cost effectiveness. Additionally, in order to realize
bands [344]–[346], there are still not enough results to the envisioned applications, haptic devices have to offer
characterize the channel models, particularly for coop- kinesthetic and tactile control simultaneously [349].
erative (relaying) scenarios [347]. • Data Compression: Bandwidth-limited networks rep-
Although the communication link characteristics of resent a major challenge for haptic communications,
drone-based systems are unique, some terrestrial chan- which requires a paradigm shift towards the develop-
nel models, such as two-ray and Rician models, were ment of innovative solutions that would enhance system

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reliability and user experience. In this regard, several networks, BackCom, and TI, along with their potential appli-
haptic data compression techniques have been thor- cations and inherent challenges. The technical challenges
oughly investigated in the literature, to realize the full associated with these technologies call for a deeper investi-
potential of TI. However, further investigations towards gation, which will potentially accelerate the development of
haptic codec design for TI are required. This might innovative solutions as well as standardization efforts for 6G.
include the proposal of a new set of kinesthetic and
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 L. Bariah et al.: Prospective Look: Key Enabling Technologies, Applications and Open Research Topics

machine learning for future wireless systems, reconfigurable intelligent HALIM YANIKOMEROGLU (Fellow, IEEE) was
surfaces, information theory, and signal processing. She serves as an Active born in Giresun, Turkey, in 1968. He received the
Reviewer for more than 20 multidisciplinary journals and conferences. She B.Sc. degree in electrical and electronics engi-
serves as a Review Editor for Frontiers in Communications and Networks neering from Middle East Technical University,
and an Editor for Physical Communication (Elsevier). Ankara, Turkey, in 1990, and the M.A.Sc. and
Ph.D. degrees in electrical and computer engi-
SAMI MUHAIDAT (Senior Member, IEEE) neering from the University of Toronto, Canada,
received the Ph.D. degree in electrical and in 1992 and 1998, respectively. Since 1998, he has
computer engineering from the University of been with the Department of Systems and Com-
Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, USA, in 2006. From puter Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa,
2007 to 2008, he was an NSERC Postdoctoral Fel- ON, Canada, where he is currently a Full Professor. He has supervised
low with the Department of Electrical and Com- 28 M.A.Sc. and 25 Ph.D. students (theses). His Ph.D. students received
puter Engineering, University of Toronto, Canada. various medals. He was one of the most frequent tutorial presenters with
From 2008 to 2012, he was an Assistant Professor the leading international IEEE conferences. He has extensive collaboration
with the School of Engineering Science, Simon with the Canadian and International Industry. From 2012 to 2016, he led
Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada. He is one of the largest academic-industrial collaborative research projects on
currently a Professor with Khalifa University. His research interests include pre-standards 5G wireless networks. His collaborations with industry and
wireless communications, 5G and beyond, optical communications, the IoT holds 37 granted patents. His research interest includes wireless technolo-
with emphasis on battery-less devices, and machine learning. He served as gies. He is a Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC) and
a Senior Editor for the IEEE COMMUNICATIONS LETTERS, an Editor for the the Canadian Academy for Engineering (CAE). He was a recipient of the
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON COMMUNICATIONS, and an Associate Editor for the IEEE IEEE Communications Society Wireless Communications Technical Com-
TRANSACTIONS ON VEHICULAR TECHNOLOGY. He serves as an Area Editor for the mittee Recognition Award in 2018, the IEEE Ottawa Section Outstanding
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON COMMUNICATIONS. Service Award in 2018, the IEEE Ottawa Section Outstanding Educator
Award in 2014, the Carleton University Faculty Graduate Mentoring Award
PASCHALIS C. SOFOTASIOS (Senior Member, in 2010, the Carleton University Graduate Students Association Excellence
IEEE) received the M.Eng. degree from Newcas- Award in Graduate Teaching in 2010, and the Carleton University Research
tle University, U.K., in 2004, the M.Sc. degree Achievement Award in 2009 and 2018, respectively. He served as the
from the University of Surrey, U.K., in 2006, and General Chair for VTC2017-Fall Toronto and VTC2010-Fall Ottawa and the
the Ph.D. degree from the University of Leeds, Technical Program Chair for WCNC, Istanbul, in 2014, WCNC, Las Vegas,
U.K., in 2011. His M.Sc. studies were funded by a in 2008, and WCNC, Atlanta 2004, for the several major international IEEE
scholarship from UK-EPSRC and the Ph.D. stud- conferences. He served as the Chair for the IEEE Technical Committee on
ies were sponsored by UK-EPSRC and Pace plc. Personal Communications. He serves as the Steering Committee Chair for
He held academic positions with the University of the IEEE’s Flagship Wireless Communications and Networking Conference
Leeds, the University of California, Los Angeles, (WCNC). He served on the Editorial Boards for the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON
CA, USA, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, the Tampere COMMUNICATIONS, the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS, and
University of Technology, Finland, and Khalifa University, where he is the IEEE COMMUNICATIONS SURVEYS AND TUTORIALS. He also served as a Guest
currently an Assistant Professor with the Department of Electrical and Editor for the various IEEE journal special issues. He is a Distinguished
Computer Engineering. His research interests include digital and optical Speaker of the IEEE Communications Society and the IEEE Vehicular
wireless communications and topics relating to mathematics and statistics. Technology Society. He is a Registered Professional Engineer.
He is a member of the technical program committee for the numerous OCTAVIA A. DOBRE (Fellow, IEEE) received the
IEEE conferences. He received the Exemplary Reviewer Award from the Dipl.Ing. and Ph.D. degrees from the Politehnica
IEEE COMMUNICATIONS LETTERS, in 2012 and the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON University of Bucharest (Polytechnic Institute of
COMMUNICATIONS, in 2015 and 2016, respectively. He was a co-recipient of Bucharest), Bucharest, Romania, in 1991 and
the Best Paper Award from ICUFN, in 2013. He has served as an Associate 2000, respectively. From 2002 to 2005, she was
Editor for the IEEE COMMUNICATIONS LETTERS. He currently serves as a Guest with the New Jersey Institute of Technology,
Editor for the IEEE OPEN JOURNAL OF THE COMMUNICATIONS SOCIETY and an Newark, NJ, USA, and the Politehnica Univer-
Associate Editor for Frontiers in Communications and Networks. sity of Bucharest. She was a Visiting Professor
with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
GUNES KARABULUT KURT (Senior Member, Cambridge, MA, USA, and the Université de Bre-
IEEE) received the B.S. degree (Hons.) in elec- tagne Occidentale, Brest, France. In 2005, she joined Memorial University,
tronics and electrical engineering from Bogazici St. John’s, NL, Canada, where she is currently a Professor and the Research
University, Istanbul, Turkey, in 2000, and the Chair. She has authored or coauthored over 250 refereed articles in these
M.A.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineer- areas. Her research interests include machine learning for communications,
ing from the University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, enabling technologies for beyond 5G, blind signal identification and param-
Canada, in 2002 and 2006, respectively. She was eter estimation techniques, and optical and underwater communications. She
a Research Assistant with the CASP Group, from received the Best Paper Awards at various conferences, including the IEEE
2000 to 2005. From 2005 to 2006, she was with ICC and the IEEE WCNC. She served as the General Chair, the Technical
TenXc Wireless, where she researched on location Program Co-Chair, the Tutorial Co-Chair, and the Technical Co-Chair for
estimation and radio frequency identification systems. From 2006 to 2008, symposia at numerous conferences, including the IEEE ICC and the IEEE
she was with Edgewater Computer Systems Inc., where she researched on Globecom. She was a Royal Society Scholar in 2000 and a Fulbright Scholar
high-bandwidth networking in aircraft and priority-based signaling method- in 2001. She served as a Senior Editor, an Editor, and a Guest Editor for
ologies. From 2008 to 2010, she was with Turkcell Research and Develop- various prestigious journals and magazines. She also served as an EiC for
ment Applied Research and Technology, Istanbul. Since 2010, she has been the IEEE COMMUNICATIONS LETTERS. She serves as the Editor-in-Chief (EiC)
with Istanbul Technical University. She has authored numerous publications for the IEEE OPEN JOURNAL OF THE COMMUNICATIONS SOCIETY, and an Editor
and international patents. She was involved in various research projects, for the IEEE COMMUNICATIONS SURVEYS AND TUTORIALS, the IEEE Vehicular
including STREP, EUREKA, and ITEA-2 projects on wireless networks. She Communications Magazine, and the IEEE SYSTEMS. She is a Distinguished
is a Marie Curie Fellow and the Project REALMARS with the European Lecturer of the IEEE Communications Society and a Fellow of the Engineer-
Commission Research Executive Agency. She was a Management Commit- ing Institute of Canada.
tee Member of the COST Action 1104.

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