The University of Bristol and partners have been granted almost £12m from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, to develop technologies that can be applied to future 6G mobile networks.
The project, named Realising Enabling Architectures and Solutions for Open Networks (REASON), is intended to lead to an ecosystem representing the entire telecommunications R&D supply chain, and includes major mobile network equipment vendors Ericsson, Samsung and Nokia.
What’s more, the partners hope that REASON will develop a roadmap for open 6G networks, which in turn could be used as a bedrock for the development of associated infrastructure.
Another focus of the project will be how to achieve network densification and the development of advanced solutions for network-edge and network-wide automation.
Dimitra Simeonidou, porject lead and professor of Bristol’s Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, said: “University of Bristol is delighted to lead this partnership and drive the development of future open 6G network solutions in the UK.
“Our project, REASON, is engaging a consortium of partners representing the entire telecoms R&D ecosystem, including leading UK Universities, large equipment vendors, service and content providers and innovative SMEs.
“REASON will address key technological challenges of delivering End-to-End Open Network solutions, considering all segments of the network.
“The project will pursue breakthroughs on elevating bottlenecks of current systems, such as interoperability, agility, sustainability, resilience, security, and will position UK-born technologies as candidates for delivering future solutions.”
The grant comes under the UK government’s strategy to limit the nation’s reliance on a small number of suppliers to build and maintain telecoms networks, with the funding intended to support the roll out of lightning-fast mobile connectivity by enabling more firms to enter the market.
Michelle Donelan, digital secretary, who paid a visit to the university’s Smart Internet Lab ahead of the announcement, said: “The technology powering our phone and internet networks is evolving rapidly and with 6G on the horizon we must stay ahead of the curve.
“This government investment will see top UK universities join forces with industry to develop the nuts and bolts underpinning new networks, create skilled jobs testing the security of the latest telecoms tech, and ensure our plan for a more diverse and innovative 5G market is sustained in the future.
“The funding will also turbocharge our work to strengthen telecoms supply chains so we are no longer reliant on a handful of companies to develop and maintain our 5G networks.”
The move will bolster the UK’s status as a global leader in telecoms research and follows Ericsson and Samsung’s recent decision to set up cutting-edge 6G research centres in the UK.
The full list of partners includes University of Bristol, University of Strathclyde, King’s College London, Queens University Belfast, University of Southampton, Compound Semiconductor Centre-CSC, Digital Catapult, British Telecom-BT, British Broadcasting Corporation-BBC, Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung, Parallel Wireless Limited, Thales UK, Weaver Labs Limited and Real Wireless Limited.
