5G and beyond: Architectural evolution toward 6G-enabled wireless networks

The transition from 5G to 6G represents a fundamental shift in wireless network architecture, driven by the growing demand for ultra-low latency, massive connectivity, and intelligent, self-optimizing systems. While 5G has enabled significant advances in mobile broadband, massive machine-type communication, and ultra-reliable low-latency communication, it faces inherent limitations in supporting emerging applications such as holographic communication, fully autonomous systems, and pervasive artificial intelligence integration. This paper examines the architectural evolution from 5G toward 6G-enabled wireless networks, analyzing key enabling technologies including terahertz (THz) communication, reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS), integrated satellite-terrestrial networks, and AI-native network design. The study explores how 6G architecture is expected to depart from the layered, human-centric design of previous generations toward a more distributed, cognitive, and self-aware network fabric capable of supporting massive machine-to-machine interaction and real-time digital twin applications. Challenges related to spectrum scarcity, energy efficiency, security, and standardization are discussed, along with proposed architectural frameworks that integrate edge intelligence and network slicing at scale. The paper concludes by identifying open research directions and the critical technological gaps that must be addressed to realize a fully functional 6G ecosystem, offering insights valuable to researchers, network architects, and policymakers involved in next-generation wireless infrastructure development.

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Authors

Mrs. Priyadarshini Kore

Published

Oct 1, 2026

Journal or venue

International Journal of Circuit Computing and Networking

DOI

10.33545/27075923.2026.v7.i4a.158

Paper type

journal article

Source

Openalex