A European project develops a comprehensive 6G solution to optimise network reliability and efficiency
7/7/23
The Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) is coordinating the European research project PREDICT-6G for the development of deterministic networks. This type of telecommunications network is characterised by being predictable, reliable and time-sensitive (i.e., it improves productivity), which will improve the quality of services such as video games, augmented reality or remote robot control.
Fifth generation (5G) network technology is being adapted and reviewed for new uses, but this requires improving the power, security, reliability, energy and bandwidth capabilities of 5G technology.
The PREDICT-6G project aims to create deterministic networks that ensure the transmission of messages in a given time. The goal is to create a comprehensive solution that improves the services that 6G technology aims to offer.
To do this, the project team has been working since January 2023 on the creation of a multi-technology and multi-domain data plane, an inter-domain control plane using artificial intelligence and a digital twin framework (a virtual replica of a product to efficiently adapt new solutions to the real product). These developments will complement each other to optimise the capabilities of wired and wireless networks. The ultimate goal is the development of a deterministic 6G network solution.
"All sectors can benefit from this technology, since all networks would benefit from being more reliable and predictable. Industrial control systems need networks with deterministic latency and low delay variation. For example, home WiFi has many errors and is not particularly reliable, so improving this technology could provide other types of services such as augmented reality," says project coordinator Antonio de la Oliva, a lecturer in UC3M's Department of Telematics Engineering.
The different functions carried out within the project will be validated and tested at the European events Nokia Budapest Open Lab and Madrid Open Lab 5TONIC.
The PREDICT-6G project is being developed within the framework of the European Union's Horizon Europe programme (GA 101095890). The consortium, coordinated by UC3M, is made up of companies, institutions and universities from seven European countries: Atos Iberia and Spain, COGNINN Greece, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Ericsson Spain, Gestamp, Intel Deutchland, Interdigital Europe, MTU Autralo Alpha Lab, Nextworks, Nokia, Politecnico di Torino, Software Imagination & Vision, Telefónica, Università degli Studi di Padova and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia.
