6G Transceiver and Radio Design
Book chapter, 2026
This chapter presents a comprehensive overview of the sixth-generation (6G) transceivers and radio design, emphasizing a value-based and holistic approach that balances performance with sustainability, adaptability, and scalability. At the core of the radio system, the transceiver must support diverse use cases, ranging from high-capacity wireless access to energy-constrained Internet of Things (IoT), while integrating multiple enabling technologies and architectural innovations. Key areas explored include spectrum expansion into the frequency range 3 (FR3) and sub-terahertz (sub-THz) bands, the development of advanced front-end (FE) technologies such as photonic transceivers, resonant tunnelling diodes (RTDs), and reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS), as well as refined channel and hardware (HW) modelling techniques essential for reliable system evaluation. The chapter also discusses emerging multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) architectures, including massive MIMO, extremely large-scale MIMO (XL-MIMO), and distributed MIMO (D-MIMO), alongside innovations like low-resolution converter designs and over-the-air (OTA) electromagnetic (EM) signal processing. Device-centric design is addressed through secure, artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled system-on-chip (SoC) platforms, energy harvesting (EH) technologies, and lightweight communication protocols tailored for scalable and sustainable deployment. The chapter concludes by highlighting the importance of cross-disciplinary integration, spanning HW, software, signal processing, AI, and energy management, in achieving the ambitious goals of future 6G radio systems.
sub-THz
MIMO systems
transceiver architectures
over-the-air signal processing
6G radio design
FR3
reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS)
energy-efficient IoT devices
Author
Ahmad Nimr
Luis González
Tommy Svensson
Chalmers, Electrical Engineering, Communication, Antennas and Optical Networks
Italo Atzeni
Jeroen Famaey
Nurul Huda Mahmood
Enrico Maria Vitucci
Gilberto Berardinelli
Claude Desset
Nuutti Tervo
George-Roberto Hotopan
Philippe Ratajczak
Davide Dardari
Sotiris Droulias
Angeliki Alexiou
Bikshapathi Gouda
Venkatesh Tentu
Chalmers, Electrical Engineering, Communication, Antennas and Optical Networks
Charitha Madapatha Madapathage Don
Chalmers, Electrical Engineering, Communication, Antennas and Optical Networks
Akshay Vayal Parambath
Chalmers, Electrical Engineering, Communication, Antennas and Optical Networks
Hao Guo
Chalmers, Electrical Engineering, Communication, Antennas and Optical Networks
Sebastian Haas
Emil Matus
Onel L.A. López
Bikramjit Singh
Nafiseh Mazloum
Samer Nasser
Ritesh Kumar Singh
Priyesh Pappinisseri Puluckul
Riku Jäntti
Dinh-Thuy Phan-Huy
Efstathios Katranaras
Usman Virk
Pekka Kyosti
Katsuyuki Haneda
Yigit Ertugrul
Meng Li
Bilal Khan
Christos Tsokos
Osmel Martínez Rosabal
Amirhossein Azarbahram
Ling Jie
Peize Zhang
Jingyi Liao
Kalle Koskinen
Xie Boxuan
Simon Nellen
Tianwen Qian
Ahmad Mohammad
Chris Roeloffzen
Muhsin Ali
Juha-Matti Runtti
Fengchun Zhang
6G to Build a Sustainable Future
101-166
9781394363605 (ISBN)
Subject Categories (SSIF 2025)
Communication Systems
Telecommunications
Signal Processing
DOI
10.1002/9781394363605.ch4