On April 25, 2025, the 78th Zhi Xin Forum was held in Room 703 at Zhi Xin Building, which was jointly organized by the College of Electronic and Information Engineering and Shanghai Institute of Intelligent Science and Technology of Tongji University. Prof. Ana García Armada from University Carlos III of Madrid to deliver a speech on“Waveforms for 6G”.
First, Professor Ana García Armada introduced the critical role of the physical layer in the evolution of mobile communications. She pointed out that the new radio interface for 6G must support new applications and services while meeting challenging KPIs. She emphasized that 6G is expected to operate ubiquitously across various environments, including some not fully covered by 5G, with energy efficiency being a key societal expectation.
In the talk,Prof. Ana García Armadaexplored the evolution of the physical layer and its role in next-generation wireless access, focusing on waveforms and signaling structures for channel estimation. She reviewed Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), considering past lessons and its potential adaptation for 6G. She also introduced alternative approaches, such as processing in the delay-Doppler domain.Given the lack of a one-size-fits-all solution, she stressed the importance of flexibility enabled by multi-carrier architectures. This flexibility allows adaptation to different waveform characteristics and facilitates joint positioning and data estimation.
After the report, Prof. Ana García Armada had a cordial exchange and discussion with the participating teachers and students, and she also encouraged them to actively broaden their horizons, explore, discover and solve new scientific problems based on her own experience. This report further expanded the vision of our teachers and students and enhanced their understanding and knowledge of 6G waveform technologies.
