6G SHort range extreme communication IN Entitites

Project Information

6G-SHINE

Grant agreement ID: 101095738

DOI

10.3030/101095738

Project closed

EC signature date 18 November 2022

Start date 1 March 2023

End date 31 August 2025

Funded under

• Digital, Industry and Space

Total cost

€ 5 097 275,00

EU contribution

€ 4 667 179,00

Coordinated by

AALBORG UNIVERSITET
Denmark

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - 6G-SHINE (6G SHort range extreme communication IN Entitites)

Reporting period: 2024-03-01 to 2025-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

6G is expected to take the form of a "network of networks", integrating subnetworks of diverse capabilities in terms of operational range, services to be supported, used spectrum. These may include traditional macro/micro/pico-cell networks, along with non-terrestrial networks, campus networks, network of drones. In-X subnetworks are expected to be located at the very end of the 6G "network of networks", to provide high localized and high performance connectivity inside entities such as robots, production modules, vehicles, classrooms. Such short-range subnetworks are expected to bring wireless to a pervasiveness level never experienced earlier, by supporting services and communication requirements beyond what is supported by existing radio technologies.
The 6G-SHINE projects aims at pioneering the main technology components for in-X subnetworks, leveraging the specific characteristics of short-range deployments in industrial, in-vehicle and consumer use cases to support demanding performance requirements in terms of latency, reliability, and data rates.
In particular, the main objectives of the project are the following:
- Define relevant use cases, application scenarios, models and requirements for 6G in-X subnetworks, and their integration into the broader 6G "network of networks"
- Characterize the radio propagation characteristics in the short-range scenarios and frequency bands of interest, considering <10 GHz, mmWave and sub-THz spectrum regions.
- Design novel physical layer, medium access control, radio and computational resource management for these subnetworks, achieving the expected requirements at a lower cost and energy consumption than state-of-the-art technologies.
6G-SHINE is a low technology readiness level (TRL) project, targeting at most a level 4 (technology validated in lab) for selected technology components.
The concepts developed during the project will enrich the scientific literature on short-range wireless communications; also, they will constitute a solid portfolio for the coming 6G standardization work for what concerns design, analysis and evaluation of short-range communication enhancements, addressing an existing gap in the 6G "network of network" vision.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

All technical activities have started during the first year of the project. The main achievements so far are the following:
- We have defined 13 use cases for in-X subnetworks, encompassing consumer, industrial and in-vehicle domains. For each use case, we have analyzed expected flow of operation, relevant key value and key performance indicator, deployment scenarios, data traffic characteristics. In particular, part of the data traffic characterization is based on actual measurements run in actual industrial equipment, or using an emulation platform for in-vehicle communication.
- A novel architectural framework tailored to in-X subnetworks, their functional requirements, and communication modes has been developed.
- We have performed multiple radio propagation measurement campaigns, covering sub-10 GHz, mmWave and sub-THz spectrum bands, for the sake of characterizing the short range wireless channel properties in industrial, in-vehicle and consumer subnetworks.
- We have designed a preliminary set of physical layer and medium access control enhancements leveraging specific characteristics of short-range subnetworks for improving latency and reliability - most of them evaluated via simulation studies.
- We have designed a preliminary set of solutions for radio resource management and interference mitigation in dense subnetwork deployments, also based on machine learning methods.
- We have elaborated on solutions for routing data and control within subnetworks installed in a same entity, and for computational offloading between subnetworks and 6G parent network.
- We have started the development of the PoCs for selected technology components of the project.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

At M12, we have achieved the following main results:
- Definition of use cases, architecture and functional roles for in-X subnetworks. Such concepts will be brought into 3GPP standardization. A proposal for a SA1 has already been submitted.
- Characterization of data traffic for industrial and in-vehicle cases. This is particularly relevant for the research community -and possibly, to 3GPP at some point- as it provides guidelines for generating/simulating traffic for industrial and in-vehicle subnetworks.
- Initial set of concepts and results for physical layer and medium access control enablers for in-X subnetworks. These concerns novel antenna array architectures bases on metamaterials, non-diagonal reconfigurable intelligent surfaces, scheduler based on proximity grouping and channel prediction, a novel cooperative communication protocol, a novel solution for improving access latency in the unlicensed spectrum. Such concepts enrich the scientific literature on short-range communication, and can inspire research community for designing novel radio solutions leveraging the specific characteristics of short-range deployments for enhanced performance at low complexity and energy consumption. Simulation results are only preliminary, and further research is needed for assessing their actual performance in the scenarios of interest. Given the strong industrial presence in the consortium, most of these concepts will be brought forward to 6G standardization.

Pictorial overview of the main technologies studied in the project