6G Architecture Design: from Overall, Logical and Networking Perspective

The network architecture is crucial to shaping a new generation of cellular network. As the foundation of the system, the architecture implies what and how the network services are provided, as well as the overall system efficiency, scalability, etc. This article proposes high-level designs of the 6G architecture. Three key innovation motivations are analyzed and the gaps of 5G network are identified according to the operator's experience in real large-scale network deployment. Those observations help to generate the key "Design Principles" about the 6G architecture. A novel overall architecture termed as "3 bodies, 4 layers, 5 planes (3-4-5)" is proposed in this article. Based on that, we further proposed the corresponding logical function design, i.e., the Holistic Service-based Architecture (HSBA) and the networking design, i.e., Distributed Autonomous Network (DAN). Those provide strong hints to future research directions which are looked ahead.