The sixth generation (6G) mobile communication networks are expected to intelligently integrate into various aspects of modern digital society, including smart cities, homes, healthcare, transportation, and factories. While offering a multitude of services, it is likely that societies become increasingly reliant on 6G infrastructure. Any disruption to these digital services, whether due to human or technical failures, natural disasters, or terrorism, would significantly impact citizens' daily lives. Hence, 6G networks need not only to provide high-performance services but also to be resilient in maintaining essential services in the face of potentially unknown challenges. This paper introduces a comprehensive concept for designing resilient 6G communication networks, summarizing our initial studies within the German Open6GHub project. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, we propose to embed physical and cyber resilience across all communication system layers, addressing electronics, physical channel, network components and functions, networks, services, and cross-layer and cross-infrastructure considerations. After reviewing the background on resilience concepts, definitions, and approaches, we introduce the proposed resilience-by-design (RBD) concept for 6G communication networks. We further elaborate on the proposed RBD concept along with selected 6G use-cases and present various open problems for future research on 6G resilience.

翻译：第六代（6G）移动通信网络预计将智能融入现代数字社会的各个方面，包括智慧城市、智能家居、医疗健康、交通运输和智能工厂。在提供多样化服务的同时，社会很可能日益依赖于6G基础设施。这些数字服务一旦因人为或技术故障、自然灾害或恐怖主义活动而中断，将严重影响公民的日常生活。因此，6G网络不仅需要提供高性能服务，还必须具备应对潜在未知挑战、维持关键服务的韧性。本文提出了设计韧性6G通信网络的综合概念，总结了我们在德国Open6GHub项目中的初步研究。通过采用跨学科方法，我们建议将物理韧性与网络韧性嵌入通信系统的所有层面，涵盖电子器件、物理信道、网络组件与功能、网络架构、服务，以及跨层与跨基础设施的考量。在回顾韧性概念、定义及方法的背景基础上，本文介绍了针对6G通信网络提出的韧性设计（RBD）概念。我们进一步结合选定的6G应用场景阐述了所提出的RBD概念，并提出了未来6G韧性研究的若干开放性问题。