SCAVENGE has three original aspects that differentiate it from the current state-of-the-art research and existing doctoral programs.
- SCAVENGE addresses all aspects of sustainable design for the operation of 5G systems. Our proposed architecture optimization includes the radio access and the core network, user terminals, sensors and communicating machines. Furthermore, a feasibility study for the integration of the proposed sustainable 5G network functionalities into smart micro-grids will be carried out. In addition, the integration of energy harvesting technologies into the 5G networks will be fostered in our ESRs’ individual projects.
- The key challenge in designing and managing a communication system with energy harvesting capabilities is the unpredictable and intermittent nature of the energy that the renewables provide, which goes beyond the scope of typical “green communications” research and projects. Remarkably, the 5G networks that are addressed in SCAVENGE differ in terms of communication technology, usage models, power consumption and requirements.
- SCAVENGE contributed to the Horizon 2020 EU Energy Challenge. SCAVENGE will contribute to Competitive Low-carbon Energy area, by introducing metrics and methodologies to measure the energy efficiency and environmental footprint of ICT and energy management techniques to reduce its footprint. Moreover, SCAVENGE will also investigate on the integration of the EH cellular network into the smart electricity grid.
Our ESRs have been trained in a cross-disciplinary field of knowledge including communication networks, information theory, computer science, and energy generation, storage and efficiency. The ESRs have been working in a multi-cultural environment, thus building the base to enable their future transnational research and to exploit synergies between the international partners of the consortium.
Through the individual projects, the ESRs’ secondments, the organization of multiple training events and the regular conference calls for the scientific work packages, the Action has also provided the opportunity to the partners to discuss and implement joint research agendas and consolidate the collaboration in the research on sustainable design for ICT.
Our schools have been open to external audience and now freely available in our YouTube channel. Hence, our program provides useful means for education even beyond the specific scope of training our ESRs and covers key challenges for the future prosperity of our society such as sustainable development.
Moreover, the cross-disciplinary SCAVENGE training program gave the possibility to the teachers to prepare new material for a future inclusion in Master and PhD programs, which currently have scarce or negligible information on sustainable design for ICT.
HWFI intends to invest on the wake-up receiver proposal investigated by ESR14 and submitted 3 patent applications.
SCAVENGE had also a key impact for our two SMEs. They have created hybrid professional profiles into their departments and gained knowledge on energy efficient applied to communication systems, which inspired their employees to take over these challenges in new use cases and products.
