A consortium led by Wrocław University of Science and Technology received almost PLN 63 million for the development of the national research infrastructure for 5G+/6G technology. The university is represented by the Laboratory of Service and Network Technologiesoperating at our Faculty's Department of Computer Science and Systems Engineering. The money will be spent on three laboratories which will serve scientists, students, and companies.

The results of the competition were announced by the National Information Processing Institute. Out of 13 applications, 8 received funding under the European Funds for Modern Economy (EFME) program. The grant exceeds 800 million PLN.

The application of consortium led by Wrocław University of Science and Technology received the highest number of points. The "PL-6G: National 6G network and services laboratory with environment" project was granted nearly PLN 63 million.

Next-generation research ecosystem

Except Wrocław Tech, the consortium includes Warsaw University of Technology, Gdansk University of Technology, AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków and the Poznań Supercomputing and Networking Center affiliated with the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry at the Polish Academy of Sciences.

The main contractors are Dr. Patryk Schauer and Dr. Łukasz Falas from our Faculty.

“We will focus on developing research infrastructure and actions aimed at improving the competences of the research staff. We will develop a synergistic research ecosystem located in nodes in Wrocław, Poznań, Gdańsk, and Krakow,” says Dr. Patryk Schauer. “The infrastructure will enable interdisciplinary research on the 5G+/6G standard, combining hardware aspects with advanced software and innovative service scenarios,” he adds.

The system's technological basis

The funds will be spent on building three new laboratories. The first of them will be Central 6G Laboratory, as the technological foundation of the entire system. It integrates shared resources for all nodes conducting research on 6G networks and services.

“The laboratory will provide core components of the 5G+/6G network, including both stationary and mobile versions, and enabling field tests and support for mission-critical services. The laboratory will have both hardware and software infrastructure and will serve as the basis for test scenarios carried out by all consortium participants,” explains Dr. Patryk Schauer.

Cloud, satellites, and artificial intelligence

The 6G Laboratory will focus on researching modern solutions related to radio access network and core network. It will connect infrastructure from different locations. Each of the nodes will be provided with equipment most suitable to its specialization.

“It will enable conducting research on orchestration techniques of network functions in the AI Cloud-native environment, the use of satellite communication, and the development of ISAC solutions for object detection in the physical environment,” explains our researcher.

“An important element is the layer of analytical software that enables the aggregation of heterogeneous measurement data, their visualization, and the planning of complex experiments. The available solutions and the laboratory architecture will also allow tests of special and critical communication systems under permanent network disconnection conditions,” adds Dr. Schauer.

From autonomous drones to digital twins

The third element of the infrastructure will be the 6G Services Laboratory. It will be used to research advanced services and applications leveraging the capabilities of next-generation networks. The tests will cover, among others, critical infrastructure security, autonomous systems, robotics, and situational awareness.

“The laboratory will be equipped with advanced equipment for collecting multimodal data, including ground and aerial drones, which will be equipped with, among other things, lidar/radar sensors and high-resolution cameras operating in various bands. The laboratory will be also equipped with computing infrastructure, enabling the development of AI-as-a-Service platforms and Digital Twin modeling,” announces Dr. Schauer.

6G network in practice

The project will involve the development of environments enabling real-time transmission of sound and image. They will be integrated with mechanisms for virtual network segmenting, i.e. network slicing. As a result, users will be able to test their own applications in a service model.

The infrastructure will also include equipment for augmented and virtual reality. It will enable checking immersive systems requiring ultra-low network delays.

The laboratories will be available to researchers and students, as well as to companies conducting industrial research and development work.

The project will start in the fourth quarter of this year, and will continue for three years.