David López

Universitat Politècnica de València

Title: What will commercial 6G be?

Abstract:

Future 6G commercialization will prioritize practical technologies over idealized roadmap solutions. FR3 mid-band spectrum, ultra-massive MIMO and AI network optimization are core means to achieve high-speed urban connectivity.

This talk analyzes the 6G development trend by reviewing limitations of millimeter-wave communication, and verifies centimeter-wave bands better balance bandwidth, coverage and energy efficiency. It also illustrates the merits and hardware challenges of extreme massive MIMO and Tera MIMO.

With real cellular network data and the GPU-accelerated simulator Giulia, this paper evaluates diverse 4G/5G/6G hybrid deployment strategies. Results prove traffic-oriented 6G layouts can raise user throughput by nearly tenfold with slight energy growth.

In summary, practical 6G construction requires reasonable trade-offs between network performance and power consumption, relying on data-driven and energy-saving network design.

Short Bio:

       Prof. Dr. David López-Pérez is a Distinguished Researcher at the Universitat Politècnica de València. Previously, he served as an Expert and Technical Leader at Huawei Technologies (Paris) and a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff at Nokia Bell Labs (Dublin). His research focuses on cellular and Wi-Fi networks, with key interests in network performance analysis, planning and optimization, heterogeneous networks, green networking, non-terrestrial networks, machine learning, and new technology development.

Dr. López-Pérez has made significant contributions to small cells, ultra-dense networks, data-driven modelling and optimization, cellular-Wi-Fi interworking, multi-antenna systems, and low-latency features for future indoor wireless networks. He is the author of two books (on small cells and ultra-dense networks), has published over 150 research papers, and holds more than 59 patents.

His work has earned prestigious awards, including the IEEE ComSoc Best Young Professional in Industry Award (2016), Bell Labs DMTS recognition (2019), IEEE WCNC Best Student Paper Award (2019), and IEEE ICC and Globecom Best Paper Awards (2022, 2025). With over 11,500 citations and an h-index of 50, his contributions to wireless communications are widely recognized.