Wireless Communication Technologies and Signal Processing

Note: The focus of this Strand is on techniques to improve the performance of radio links and systems for 6G communications. Physical layer of THz communications has been extensively covered by projects selected in the first SNS call and is subsequently not expected to be a strong focus for this topic. Moreover, the scope covers the design of 6G RAN systems. The focus of this Strand is on several complementary issues mentioned below and applicants may select one or more of those:

• New physical layer technologies up to millimeter wave. This includes both new channel modulation and coding schemes, new adaptive waveform designs, and advanced link-layer random and multiple access strategies, this includes non-orthogonal approaches (e.g. NOMA, RSMA). Support to innovative channel coding approaches towards “error free” channel transmission up to millimeter wave for technologies, including signal shaping loss removal. It should solve current bottlenecks in implementation issues such as computational complexity, algorithm parallelisation, energy efficiency, etc. whilst supporting (potentially cumulatively, depending on the scenario) extremely high throughput (hundreds of Gigabits per second); low latency; high reliability; and extreme low latency. It should also support scalability of future Machine Type Communication with minimum protocol overhead and energy consumption. Solutions should be compatible with increasingly massive MIMO-implementations and contribute to the future modulation and coding schemes, possibly mixing data-driven and model-driven approaches, as required for 6G, retaining reliable, energy-efficient characteristics.
• Extreme exploitation of MIMO technologies up to millimeter wave range. This includes ultra-massive MIMO and distributed and cell-free massive MIMO (including intelligent reflecting surfaces). The work should encompass distributed implementations of (potentially cell-free) massive MIMO encompassing a very large number of antennas, with centralized and distributed algorithms for coordinated transmission/reception, involving large numbers of users and considering implementable MIMO predistortion for wideband massive arrays.
• Human-friendly Radio systems: Support innovative antenna and physical layer technology for higher acceptability of radio infrastructures by citizens. It covers new antennas and new antenna systems, including antennas arrays (e.g. massive MIMO systems), that need to visually blend seamlessly in the urban landscape through use of new designs, in the context of an increased density of base stations and more complex antennas to support higher frequency ranges. It also covers antenna systems for EMF control and awareness to minimise human exposure.
• Spectrum Re-farming and Reutilisation: Support future high bandwidth demand and versatile spectrum usage requirements by multiplicity of applications through optimised spectrum management, sharing and dynamic application aware allocation. It covers spectrum reutilisation between RAT’s, including NTN access, and addresses new THz spectrum. Novel approaches with use of AI/ML technology for real-time spectrum efficiency is in scope. It also covers specific sharing scenarios for unlicensed spectrum use, and fundamental work on these challenges for new Terahertz bands will also be needed.
• Seamless integration of multiple frequency bands across a unified energy, EMF, and spectrum efficient framework including unlicensed bands and potential optical access. Open and disaggregated solutions may be considered also in scope.
• Machine learning empowered physical layer evolutions: The ambition is to develop an overall enhanced RAN adaptive and intelligent, with complexity increasing at the Radio Unit (RU) end, moving towards semantic-oriented communications. The scope aims to cover the overall physical layer, and the associated radio building blocks and communication protocols, with reduced complexity in the neural network modelling of multidimensional nonlinear effects.
• Optimal usage of wireless edge caching: The ambition is in developing advanced methods and protocols, including concepts able to improve radio link KPIs, such as energy efficiency, spectral efficiency, capacity, throughput, reliability, quality of experience (QoE), or investigate promising over-the-air computing paradigms.
• Novel techniques for integrated sensing and communication: the goal is for radical communication work to be complemented by work in the field of location and sensing capabilities for devices. The work requires radical new distributed and cooperative sensing, sensing aided communications, and multi-band sensing technology, as well as integrated waveform design.