6G Communications: Optical, Optronics, Aerospace Markets 2025-2045
6G Communications will always use frequencies up to 300GHz but, to succeed commercially, it must strongly adopt optical equipment. Reasons include the need to be far more available – in aerospace, on land, including indoors, and underwater – without defaulting to mere GHz performance. You cannot run cables to most of that, radio frequencies cannot reach much of that and the promised 1Tbps cannot be approached. Consequently infrared and visible light communication must be added. Indeed, RF infrastructure will increasingly become optically transparent - invisible. The 6G smart window and transparent building façade boosting and redirecting the signals do not get rejected for ugliness. Indeed, the best 6G reconfigurable intelligent surfaces have all-round reach enabled by optical transparency.
6G infrastructure will increasingly be more remote (satellites, drones, islands), numerous, expensive and power-hungry meaning hotter. Fit-and-forget self-powering and self-cooling of both infrastructure and client devices become very important. That photovoltaics and solid-state cooling also involves manipulation of infrared and visible light. Next generation fiber optics and maybe far infrared THz cables now being researched will be the 6G intermediaries – more optics. Aerospace technology optically provides both reach and customers. Time for a report on both. This is it. The 369 page, commercially oriented report, “6G Communications: Optical, Optronics and Aerospace Materials and Devices Markets 2025-2045” has it all. Vitally, that includes the flood of research breakthroughs and changes of strategy through 2024.
6G fully passive transparent metamaterial reflect-array market $ billion 2029-2045. Source: “6G Communications: Optical, Optronics and Aerospace Materials and Devices Markets 2025-2045”.
Chapters 8
SWOT appraisals 18
Forecast lines to 2045 26
Key conclusions 21
New Infograms 27
Companies 112
Pages 367
The Executive Summary and Conclusions takes 33 pages to present the total picture including the roadmaps and 26 forecast lines. Infograms and comparison tables make it an easy read. The 38-page Introduction then explains how 6G will start with incremental improvement but a difficult, disruptive Phase Two will be essential to fully deliver on the promises and paybacks. Learn how this strongly introduces optics. See many of the manufacturers getting involved, some latest advances and an initial taster of your materials and device opportunities emerging.
The rest of the report consists of one chapter on aerospace 6G, four chapters on optical communication being prepared for 6G, and finally a chapter on that essential photovoltaics and optronic solid state cooling for both 6G infrastructure and client devices.
Chapter 3, “6G satellite and HAPS communication and 6G for low-level drones” is 46 pages. It includes new low-level solar drones announced in 2024 and use of 6G to manage drones. It strongly investigates high-altitude pseudo satellite HAPS, drones and dirigibles, aloft for years on advanced photovoltaic power. At least in part, they will use optical communication to vastly extend 6G reach. They hold position, reposition to serve disaster areas and to get around weather when signalling to Earth. They even land for repair and repurposing and they beat the cost, latency and Doppler challenges of Low Earth Orbit LEO satellites that are also key for ubiquitous 6G and are covered here. Learn about HAPS acting as both base stations and relays.
Chapters 4 and 5 respectively cover the overall picture of optical wireless communications then the subset of visible light communications. Chapter 4. “6G Optical Wireless Communication OWC” (40 pages) concentrates mainly on issues, progress in 2024, materials and devices. Learn how, across space, many optical frequencies can be used, certainly far infrared to visible, but, through air, such as satellite and HAPS to Earth communications, near infrared is currently favoured for high bit rate. Can LiFi succeed for streetlights and indoors, forming a part of 6G?
Chapter 5, “Visible Light Communication VLC: aerospace, terrestrial, underwater” is 39 pages. For example, it reports new advances in underwater high data rate communication where it is visible light that penetrates best with several hundred meters now in prospect.
Chapter 6, “Optical reconfigurable intelligent surfaces: 6G ORIS hardware and system design enhancing the propagation path at infrared and visible frequencies” (47 pages) Learn here of much research on Far IR THz RIS and far more on Near IR/visible but the analysis shows too little focus on hardware aspects of ORIS overall. See how much of the visible light work involves moving micro-mirror arrays, particularly that in 2024. However, the superior life, reliability and functionality of solid-state options described is essential. Enjoy much analysis of the tuning materials.
Chapter 7, “Dielectrics, optical materials, semiconductors for 6G 0.3THz to visible light 6G transmission” needs 75 pages. This is because it is a deep dive into low loss dielectrics, semiconductors and alternatives in optical transmission but also the optical hardware intermediary options meaning next generation fiber optic cable materials and the new work on Far IR THz waveguides even as cables.
The report closes with 33 pages of Chapter 8, “New photonic cooling and photovoltaic on-board power for 6G infrastructure and client devices”. The optronic cooling choices here include passive daylight radiative cooling PDRC, Janus and Anti-Stokes. Observe how the appropriate photovoltaics is moving to triple and quadruple junctions, sometimes bifacial and certainly ultra-light weight. The emerging materials and likely progress are closely assessed.
Overall, the essential report, “6G Communications: Optical, Optronics and Aerospace Materials and Devices Markets 2025-2045” provides PhD level analysis and a great deal of further reading and insights from 2024. It is particularly focussed on your materials, device and systems opportunities emerging as all these optical needs arrive, optically providing transmission, detection, wider reach, power, and cooling.