UNICO I+D 6G

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Within the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan for research and innovation projects in the deployment of advanced 5G and 6G technologies, framed within the UNICO I+D 6G programme, i2CAT has been awarded 19 research projects and a complementary activity for a total amount of about € 16,5 million to be executed in 36 months, starting in January 2022.

The projects are grouped into 6 coordinated projects plus an action to support the recruitment of talent. All projects are led by i2CAT, which will execute 30% of the budget and subcontract the remaining 70% to large companies, SMEs and research organizations through public procurement procedures.

One of the objectives of these grants is to increase the leadership of public research groups in 5G, being a benchmark in the technological development of advanced 5G and 6G. For this reason, part of the aid will be dedicated to promoting the promotion and attraction of talent in the field of Telecommunications Engineering studies, with a particular emphasis on gender equality and the international arena.

The Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan serves as a framework for different programs and actions that will facilitate the universalization of access to ultra-fast broadband throughout the territory and accelerate the deployment of 5G. This initiative is part of the UNICO I+D 6G Program.

Funded by the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Service and the European Union-NextGenerationEU within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan of the Government of Spain.

UNICO I+D 6G Projects

6GENABLERS

The main objective of 6GENABLERS is the design and prototype of 6G enablers based on artificial intelligence, distributed ledger technologies and cybersecurity.

PI: Dr. Shuaib Siddiqui

6GSatNet

The expected result of 6GSatNet is the contribution over 6G for the deployment of satellite networks in the paradigm of non-terrestrial networks (NTN). To this end, the project leverages the construction of a 5G core compatible with non-terrestrial networks, as well as the development of new routing and access medium protocols.

PI: Dr. Sergi Figuerola

6GTWINROAD

An innovative research project led by i2CAT, designed to advance connected and autonomous mobility in urban, inter-urban, and highway environments. Through next-generation 6G technology and real-time digital twins, we’re transforming how vehicles, roadside infrastructure, and networks interact to create a safer and more efficient mobility ecosystem across varied road types.

PI: Dr. Jesús Alonso-Zarate

Open6G

The Open6G coordinated project, Open RANs for Revolutionary 6G Systems, conducts applied research on open RANs currently underway with the goal of designing and developing a 6G-based open test platform for the new network and sensing applications related to smart surfaces.

PI: Dr. Xavier Costa Pérez

6GSMART

6GSMART takes advantage of the use of 6G technology to improve cyber-physical systems for smart production. These systems are based on 5G/6G private networks, time sensitive networks, artificial intelligence techniques and Cloud Continuum environments.

PI: Dr. Daniel Camps Mur

6G-OpenVerso

6G-OpenVerso pursues the design, implementation, evaluation and demonstration of 5G/6G testbeds that will allow scientific experimentation of the next generation of the metaverse and future extended reality services in open 6G ecosystems.

PI: Dr. August Betzler

Plan for the Promotion of Telecommunications Studies

PI: Roger Onnen

New research facilities

6GEN

Generic experimental infrastructure for various areas in 6G such as RAN, O-RAN, NTN, Cloud Continuum, V2X, IoT, programmable networks, XR, Cybersecurity

6GStarLab

In-orbit lab to support R&D at NTN. Validation of NTN technologies. NTN virtualization. Open access to NTN by the R&D community.

6GCAMLab

R&D at Connected and Automated mobility, leveraging V2X, advanced positioning and computer vision tech. In-lab and outdoor experimentation.

6GEN-ORAN

R&D on open access radio networks. Experimental evaluation of vRAN solutions. Adaptation of RIS to ORAN. rApps and interoperability testing.

6GQuCryptoLab

R&D in Quantum Key Distribution networks. CV-QKD, DV-QKD and simulated QKD links. Propagation through fibre and free space.

The i2CAT Research Centre has obtained grants worth almost 10 million euros in the two calls of the subprogramme of infrastructures and scientific-technical equipment aimed at universities and research centres promoted by the Ministry for Digital Transformation. This sub-programme is part of the UNICO I+D 6G programme, promoted by the Government of Spain within the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan with Next Generation EU funding and seeks to promote Spanish leadership in advanced 5G and 6G research.

Thanks to this funding, i2CAT will implement an experimental infrastructure to transform the laboratories deployed by the research centre in recent years into a homogeneous and interconnected infrastructure. i2CAT will also set up new technological facilities fitted with technical equipment to carry out research in advanced 5G and 6G technologies.

6G White Paper

Shaping the 6G vision

In this White Paper, we introduce i2CAT’s view on the future 6G system and we highlight the key technical areas where i2CAT will focus its 6G R&D efforts in the upcoming years.
We also describe a set of key R&D assets that will help us maximize the impact of our 6G research.

DOWNLOAD 6G WHITE PAPER