6G Network Evolution

The 6G Standards & Architecture Codex

6G & 3GPP Glossary

A plain-language reference to the terms and abbreviations used across this site. Where a term maps to a 3GPP specification or concept, it is noted. Terms are grouped for easier scanning.

Releases and bodies

  • 3GPP — The partnership of regional standards bodies that develops mobile specifications. It produces Technical Reports and Technical Specifications, not legally binding standards on their own.
  • Release (Rel-NN) — A numbered bundle of features frozen together. Release 20 is the 6G study phase; Release 21 is planned to carry the first 6G specifications.
  • Study Item / Work Item — A study item explores feasibility and produces a Technical Report (TR); a work item produces normative Technical Specifications (TS).
  • TR / TS — Technical Report (study output) / Technical Specification (normative output).
  • Stage 1 / 2 / 3 — Service requirements (Stage 1), system architecture (Stage 2), and detailed protocols (Stage 3).
  • ITU-R IMT-2030 — The international framework that defines the high-level vision and requirements for 6G, which 3GPP then specifies.

Spectrum and radio

  • Sub-THz — Very high frequencies around 100–300 GHz, offering huge bandwidth over short ranges.
  • Upper mid-band (FR3) — Roughly 7–24 GHz, balancing coverage and capacity for wide-area 6G.
  • mmWave (FR2) — The millimetre-wave range used in 5G, up to around 52.6 GHz.
  • Waveform — The signal shape used to carry data; 5G uses cyclic-prefix OFDM.
  • Channel coding — Error-protection coding; 5G uses LDPC for data and Polar codes for control.
  • Massive MIMO — Using large antenna arrays to serve many beams and users at once.
  • RIS — Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface: a tunable surface that steers radio waves without an active transmitter.
  • Beamforming — Focusing radio energy in a direction rather than broadcasting everywhere.

Access network (RAN)

  • RAN — Radio Access Network: the base stations and radio link to devices.
  • gNB — The 5G/6G base station.
  • CU / DU — Central Unit and Distributed Unit: the functional split of the gNB. The CU hosts higher layers; the DU hosts lower layers.
  • CU-CP / CU-UP — The control-plane and user-plane parts of the Central Unit.
  • F1 / E1 — Interfaces between the DU and CU (F1) and between the CU control and user planes (E1).
  • NG — The interface between the base station and the core network.
  • Uu — The radio interface between the device and the base station.

Core network

  • 5GC / Core — The 5G Core network; the 6G core is its planned successor.
  • SBA — Service-Based Architecture: the design where network functions expose services over common interfaces.
  • NF — Network Function: a modular piece of core functionality.
  • AMF — Access and Mobility Management Function: handles registration, authentication anchoring, and mobility.
  • SMF — Session Management Function: manages data sessions, addressing, and QoS.
  • UPF — User Plane Function: forwards user traffic and enforces QoS.
  • PCF — Policy Control Function: sets session, access, and device policies.
  • NEF — Network Exposure Function: the secure gateway to outside applications.
  • UDM / UDR — Unified Data Management / Repository: subscriber data and the store behind it.
  • NWDAF — Network Data Analytics Function: the core's AI/ML analytics engine.
  • NRF — Network Repository Function: how functions discover each other.

6G concepts and features

  • AI-native — Designing AI/ML into the network from the start, not adding it afterward.
  • ISAC — Integrated Sensing and Communication: using the network to sense the environment as well as carry traffic.
  • SenF — Sensing Function: the new core function introduced for ISAC (control part SenF-C, processing part SenF-P).
  • Ambient IoT — Battery-free devices powered by harvested energy.
  • Network Digital Twin (NDT) — A live software replica of the network used to simulate changes safely.
  • NTN — Non-Terrestrial Network: satellite and high-altitude access integrated with the ground network.
  • Intent-driven management — Operating the network by stating goals (intent) rather than configuring each parameter.
  • Closed control loop — Automated collect → decide → act cycles that keep the network meeting its targets.

Performance terms

  • KPI — Key Performance Indicator: a measurable target such as latency or accuracy.
  • Latency — The delay between sending and receiving; 6G targets sub-millisecond for some services.
  • Tbps — Terabits per second; a 6G peak-rate ambition.
  • Positioning accuracy — How precisely the network can locate a device or object.
  • Energy efficiency — Performance delivered per unit of energy; a first-class 6G design goal.
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