Communication Infrastructure Technologies and Devices – Standardisation and Follow-up/PoCs

The target outcomes address:

• Advanced solutions and technologies for optical, terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks including the integration of wireless and optical networks.
• Energy-efficient solutions for optical networks from an architectural, switching, hardware and software implementation perspective.
• Unification of terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks (3D networking) in the overall architecture and the physical layer for a flexible access to different networks by end users, embedding, where relevant, AI in network and RAN procedures.
• Development of low-power communication systems, especially for short-range networks, to increase flexibility compared to cable systems and interconnections of multiparty edge/IoT systems, including support for zero energy devices and related energy-management solutions.
• Non-terrestrial – open and disaggregated where relevant – network architecture to optimize ubiquitous service provisioning, flexibility, scalability and cost efficiency. The function split between the ground segment and the space segment should support the technical 6G KPIs and sustainability in terms of energy consumption.
• Optimal combination of optical and wireless technologies and their integration in the overall network architecture for the best exploitation of the available frequency spectrum, minimisation of network deployment cost and reduction of the overall energy consumption.
• Algorithms, software and hardware implementations where appropriate, which can be used for PoC and later trials systems.
• Dissemination of solutions for international consensus building, which can be exploited in standardisation activities.
• Contributions to international standardisation.

Please refer to the "Specific Challenges and Objectives" section for Stream B in the Work Programme, available under ‘Topic Conditions and Documents - Additional Documents’.

The focus of this Strand is on several complementary issues mentioned below and applicants may select one or more of these issues.

• Ultra-high energy efficiency especially in optical networks including an optical end-to-end network architecture, that avoids unnecessary opto-electronic conversion and processing, and novel switching architectures operating over multiple wavelength bands and spatial dimensions and have a smart network fabric relying on software programmability and slicing, addressing multiple protocol layers and network domains. Energy-efficient transceivers that outsource power hungry functions to photonics. Intra-DC (data center) applications, where new switching concepts mixing optical and electronic switching technologies could lead to higher performance and lower power consumption. This topic may also consider disaggregated switching platforms. It could also consider optical network automation, potentially using AI/ML, to address flexible operation and resilience.
• 3D networking for 6G networks, including topics related to unified TN/NTN architecture and air-interface (e.g., waveform design, multi-antenna solutions, next generation multiple-access and resource management); full network integration of all layers in the 3D reconfigurable (SDN) network; direct connectivity to smartphones, outdoor and indoor and in vehicle;; merging networking and computing; integrated and flexible air interface for multi services including ultra-accuracy of positioning, navigation and timing (PNT); embedding AI in network and RAN procedures (e.g., for beam management, radio resource allocation); development of new IP for space networks; new dynamic spectrum management and sharing across the network components; and support to massive IoT using both TN and NTN. Security aspects are also in scope.
• Development of low-energy communication solutions revolutionary new mechanisms for short range networks, and technologies that expand the current limitations of cabled media, and technologies that provide low-power answers to interconnection of multiparty edge/IoT resources. This topic considers new physical layers and associated protocols.
• New IoT components and devices, potentially including zero energy devices with on-demand wake-up feature integrated into edge IoT applications, energy harvesting and wireless power transfer and/or multi-modal devices. Different levels of IoT including ranging from body area networks to wide area networks can be addressed under this topic. The topic also includes multi-access capable end devices to deliver higher QoS, to handle the communication bottlenecks (both in the front- and the back-haul) in highly densely populated areas, and to fulfil Key Performance Indicators (KPI) of the applications requesting a huge amount of bandwidth, as handset devices being capable of making use of the most suitable available access technologies and bands is becoming more and more important.
• Unified NTN service provision, focusing on multi-layered NTN infrastructure service operations supporting secure service ubiquity, flexibility, scalability, and cost-efficiency, towards realisation of satellite-as-a-service. The work covers software-based non-terrestrial networks allowing full orchestration of the infrastructure resources (e.g., power, bandwidth, time, space dimensions, node, coverage, and topology) for a more flexible and dynamic system with overall better performance, efficiency, and security and sustainability. Disaggregation, and virtualisation considering the ground and non-terrestrial segment are in scope. It should enable integrated space and ground edge computing and in-space traffic decision procedures allowing a ‘router in the space’. Intelligent and autonomous resource management is sought, towards zero delay infrastructure reconfiguration with optimum orchestration of the infrastructure/service resources underpinned by fully-flexible space-ground RAN functional splits.
• Integration of Optical and Wireless Technologies that may consider one for the following 2 different perspectives:
  • i) technologies enabling the coexistence of fronthaul and backhaul networks and supporting end-to-end, wireless, and all-optical networks including radio-over-fiber systems. This covers possible redesign of the backhaul/fronthaul application space such as packet switching with new packet friendly fronthaul interfaces in scenarios where many users generate a low amount of traffic data each, or multi-user mode (MU-MIMO) with an interoperable solution (Layer 2 and 3), reliability, durability, and energy efficiency.
  • ii) applicability of advanced light related technologies such as LEDs (light-emitting diodes), lasers, outdoor point-to-point devices (FSO — Free Space Optics), point-to-multipoint commercial applications (Li-Fi — Light Fidelity) or between devices (OCC – Optical Camera Communication) and Fiber Wireless Fiber (Fi-Wi), for the design of novel communication schemes, system architectures and protocols, in order to fully integrate these technologies in the communication infrastructure This requires advanced transmitter and detector technology and the development of optimised multiuser access and interference management.

The scope includes, where relevant, harmonisation/coordination with Member States or Associated countries 6G initiatives. Any produced PoCs should be implemented in a way that their integration in SNS WP2025-26 Stream C and/or Stream D project will be possible (e.g., open-source solutions, appropriate documentation, support after the completion of the project).

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