6G Communications Winning Materials, Hardware, Systems: Markets, Technology Opportunities 2026-2046

6G Hardware Evolution: Discover the Materials, RIS, and Zero-Energy Devices Shaping 2046

This 339-page, commercially-oriented report gives a grand overview of 6G materials and hardware opportunities emerging at launch in 2030 and later stages. See closely-allied topics of systems and signal processing. Learn how emerging materials such as ionomers, metamaterials, energy harvesters, transparent materials and structural electronics can assist. The primary 6G materials and hardware opportunities lie in these overlapping topics:

• Base stations as they partly evolve into such things as Tower in the Sky (aerospace) and building fabric;
• Equipment enhancing the propagation path, notably Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces RIS, but also reflect-arrays, a more primitive product;
• Customer premises equipment;
• Client devices.

20-year forecasts and roadmaps 2026-2046

The report assists all in the value chain from investors to added-value materials companies, product and system integrators, mobile network operators, academics, regulators and others. Discover potential partners, acquisitions, winning approaches, best practice, lessons of failure. The new PhD-level analysis is presented as 12 SWOT appraisals, 17 key conclusions, many new comparison charts, infograms, assessments by company, 6-line roadmaps to 2046, 48 forecast lines to 2046 and many sections marked “Analyst's Comment”.

Appraisal of research advances through 2025 is essential

Vitally, there is deep coverage of the flood of new research and company activity through 2025 because 6G capabilities and objectives are changing. Old information and analysis can be very misleading.

Lucid analysis not rambling text

The Executive Summary and Conclusions (65 pages) is rapidly readable by those with limited time, presenting mostly graphics, graphs with tables of all forecasts, SWOT appraisals and bullet-point key conclusions.

The Introduction explains why two very-different phases of 6G are now inevitable. Expect incremental 6G launch then a disruptive, very difficult second phase. See how the physical layer will be influenced by advances and requirements in higher layers. Here is the frequency spectrum for 6G phases in context of current general use of spectrum with a SWOT appraisal. Initially, many of the traditional telcos will economise by upgrading existing infrastructure and adding minimal new hardware. However, the mismatch of planned and researched 6G frequencies shown here and other radical advances will invite usurpers, better serving the more heroic ambitions of companies such as Meta. Understand the situation with primary 6G infrastructure and client devices by type set against radical advances in 6G materials in general and the surge in importance of optical technologies for 6G phase two- optical wireless communication, optical tuning, deep fiber optic intermediary. Grasp the strong 6G trend from components-in-a-box to smart materials and metasurfaces, self-healing, long life and self-cleaning materials for 6G with SWOT.

Grasp electrically-functionalised transparent glass, sophisticated thermal materials and semiconductor advances demanded for 6G. See how the conjunction of 6G and other disruptive hardware may enable genuine Internet of Things IOT rather than renaming of what we had already. Like every other chapter, there is a close look at the important inventions and changes of direction through 2025.

Chapter 3. “Analysis revealing best 6G component and material opportunities” (46 pages) presents data from the many drill down reports measuring which research and company materials development is winning for which 6G applications. Enjoy maturity curves by year, detailed comparison tables, research analysis pie charts for all those candidate materials and components. For example, for the essential progress beyond 5G bands, the much higher frequencies will increasingly use tuning materials rather than components in the metasurfaces. Here, two chalcogenides are losing out to vanadium dioxide, liquid crystal and plasmonic graphene. See other materials added for optical communication.

Chapter 4. “Base stations and Non-Terrestrial Network NTN 6G: UM-MIMO, Tower in the Sky HAPS, other UAV” (26 pages) clarifies the vital importance of these for 6G to have much better coverage than 5G. However, it requires collaboration with other companies that own these types of infrastructure such as the NEO satellites and the newly- important solar drones loitering in the stratosphere, potentially for years. 6G can both benefit from and assist unmanned aerial vehicles.

Chapter 5. Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces RIS and metamaterial reflect-arrays enhancing propagation path and base stations (53 pages) is extensive because it is one of the few new forms of hardware essential for 6G to launch with more than fixing a few 5G problems. RIS can increase range, security, reach around obstructions, and add many business cases and paybacks for 6G. It is little-used in 5G but essential for 6G as it starts largely at GHz and making mmWave performance more widely available then progresses to much tougher frequencies for stellar performance. See many new infograms, SWOT appraisals, dramatic advances through 2025.

Self-powering must come center-stage for 6G because so much will be inaccessible and too numerous to visit to charge or repair - from tens of billions of 6G IoT nodes to the base station as “Tower in the Sky”. Chapter 6 dives into this. Called, “Zero energy devices ZED and battery elimination in 6G infrastructure and client devices” it employs 46 close-packed pages of infograms, SWOTs, tables of options. Yes, even unpowered and very low power client devices are likely for later 6G and you have excellent opportunities for your added-value materials. Learn which ones.

The report closes with 48 pages of Chapter 7. “36 companies involved in 6G materials and hardware: products, plans, patents, analyst appraisals: 2025-6. Here the focus is on what these companies are targetting and achieving for new 6G hardware, RIS being one priority.