DPI For 6G: Ubiquitous Connectivity Needs Ubiquitous Visibility

By Tobias Roeder

By 2030, talk about cellular networks will mostly be about 6G. Whether it is quantum computing, THz communication or pervasive AI, 6G will be redefining wireless communications with peak data rates exceeding 1 Tbps (Terabits per second) and extreme low-latencies <1–10 μs¹. Use cases that were unfathomable just a year ago, when LTE transitioned to 5G, will become common applications on 6G, fueling new human experiences that can be created, transported and delivered instantaneously in every corner of the world.

Given the kind of traffic and the speeds, it is expected to deliver, managing 6G requires tools far superior to what we have today. One such technology is deep packet inspection (DPI), which is rapidly transforming to meet the advanced visibility needs of IP traffic flows across cellular networks as they transition from LTE to 5G and in the not too distant future, to 6G. Cutting-edge DPI engines from ipoque, for example, which encompass the vector packet processing (VPP)-based software module R&S®vPACE and scalar packet processing-based R&S®PACE 2, are able to identify any number of flows across unlimited application and protocol types. Supported by comprehensive and up-to-date libraries, DPI software delivers a highly reliable and scalable classification of network traffic to meet a number of critical aspects of 6G network performance.