Navigating the Rising Complexity of 5G and 6G Radio Design

The progression from 5G into the 6G era isn’t just about speed—it’s about the increasing need for more capable radio unit designs. Today, operators manage a growing number of frequency bands across sub-6 GHz and beyond. They’re deploying radios for macro sites, small cells, and distributed antenna systems (DAS), often in shared environments where multiple operators use the same hardware. This trend toward shared infrastructure improves efficiency but introduces additional complexity in radio design by combining multiple bands into a single radio unit.

Traditionally, building a new radio could take 18 to 24 months. With the proliferation of additional bands and configurations, these timelines are stretching even further. For vendors, this means higher development costs and longer time to market. For operators, it means slower rollouts and delayed revenue. Complexity is increasingly a bottleneck—and the industry needs a viable solution.

Meeting these needs requires more than just small or incremental improvements. It calls for collaboration between operators, vendors, and semiconductor leaders. Open RAN demonstrates that the industry is shifting toward increased flexibility and market diversity. By adhering to standard interfaces across the network, O-RAN enables operators to source radios from a broader ecosystem, expanding the diversity of radio units available for their networks.

For many companies with 5G, the partnership has advanced to a multi-operator RAN (MORAN) model—sharing infrastructure while maintaining separate spectrum for each operator. This approach delivers impressive results: two companies report 30% to 35% lower capital expenditures and 25% to 30% lower operating costs compared to building standalone networks. Most importantly, it enables 5G coverage for more than 75% of the population—accelerating access to next-generation connectivity.^{1 2}

Innovation at the component level is equally important. Features like AI-driven digital pre-distortion (DPD) and passive intermodulation (PIM) cancellation are helping radios deliver better performance across multiple bands. But these features can add complexity and increase energy consumption—unless they are integrated intelligently.

As the industry advances toward 6G, complexity will continue to increase. Multi-band, multi-operator radios will become the norm, and AI-driven features will be essential for optimizing performance and network capacity. At the same time, sustainability goals will demand lower energy footprints, and security requirements will only tighten.

Vendors and operators must find ways to do more with less—creating radios that are easier to design, quicker to produce, and simpler to adopt. It involves leveraging architectures that offer flexibility without more complexity. It also emphasizes prioritizing energy efficiency and security from the outset to help create a more sustainable planet.