The 6G Channel: Where AI and Sensing Lives or Dies

In this episode of The Path to 6G, hosts MJ Viscomi and Steve Douglas are joined by Jani Tolonen, Channel Emulation Product Manager at Keysight Technologies, to explore the less visible, but foundational role of channel modeling and emulation in the development of 6G.

Together, they consider the growing complexity of modeling real-world radio environments as 6G moves toward extreme MIMO antenna arrays, integrated sensing and communication (ISAC), and combined cellular and Wi-Fi sensing. They also explore coexistence in the 6 GHz band, terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks, and the role of site-specific ray tracing and digital twins in creating more realistic test environments.

There’s also a look at AI-native networks and why diverse, reproducible channel data will be important for training and validating AI-based receivers, as well as how increasingly complete channel models can help engineers test complex 6G systems in the lab before they encounter real-world conditions.