6G-REFERENCE Project Newsflash #2 – January 2025: New Year, New Use Cases on 6G Communications, Sensing and Synchronization

Exactly one year ago, the 6G-REFERENCE partners, coordinated by Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya (CTTC), were hosting the project online pre-kick off meeting to present the project objectives for the three upcoming years. Further discussions about the project challenges, action plans and demonstrators definitions also took place.

One of those three years has already passed, and our consortium met in person for the second time in Zürich (Switzerland) to review the project status after the first year and to prepare the activities for the second.

On the 5th and 6th of November 2024, ETH Zürich, led by Hua Wang, Full Professor and Principal Investigator, organized the second face-to-face meeting focused on discussing the progress of the Communication, Sensing and Synchronization Working Groups, already started in the First General Assembly and Face-to-face Kick-off Meeting in Castelldefels (Spain) last April in our coordinator’s facilities, Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya (CTTC).

Find out more details about our meeting in Zürich in this article.

Our third in-person meeting to gather the 6G-REFERENCE partners will be celebrated in April 2025 in Enschede (The Netherlands), home of our organizing partner University of Twente, led by Eric Kulmperink, our Technical Manager.

Why 6G-REFERENCE is a SNS JU Project Boosting 6G Research in Europe

Why is 6G-REFERENCE part of the Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS JU)?

During the meeting, our consortium also discussed our collaboration with the Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS JU), to finally agree on joining the Hardware Technologies Working Group, since we are one of the SNS JU projects boosting 6G research in Europe, and were presented for the first time by our coordinator Ignacio Llamas at the SNS JU and 6G-IA Webinar to Showcase the Call 2 Projects in March 2024.

In October 2023, the SNS JU announced its new 27 research, innovation, and trial projects that commenced operations as of the 1st of January 2024 with a total budget of €130 millions, being 6G-REFERENCE one of these 27 projects. We belong to the Call 2 Projects Stream B5 ‘Microelectronics-based Solutions for 6G Networks’.

The projects represent a “significant stride towards advancing smart networks and services, offering breakthrough innovations, experimental platforms and large-scale trials, driving world-class research and shaping the world’s digital connected future”, unveiled the SNS JU.

Discover why 6G-REFERENCE is an SNS JU project here.

The 6G-REFERENCE Deployments and Use Cases

6G-REFERENCE is deploying 6G sustainable solutions for cell free coherent communications and sensing. Our solution consists of ultra-dense cell-free deployments for joint coherent communications and sensing at cm-waves, which balance the benefits of sub-6GHz (reduced pathloss) and mm-wave (wide bandwidth) ranges.

For that, the European 6G-REFERENCE researchers are developing integrated circuit and antenna component solutions, including dynamic frequency filtering and modulated radiation, to enable efficient spectrum coexistence schemes. They are also deploying practical hardware enablers in terms of low complexity, cost and power consumption that could end up constituting a reference design for future 6G-distributed radios.

During the first year of 6G-REFERENCE, our innovators reviewed 6G use cases and deployment scenarios proposed by key industrial associations and standardization bodies, such as the initial steps by 3GPP towards 6G. They also examined the fit to the 6G-REFERENCE baseline scenario and Radio Units (RU) architectures. Partly based on results from the SNS JU project HEXA-II, they identified the following best fitting use cases for 6G-REFERENCE:

  • Demo Case #1 – Immersive communications.
  • Demo Case #2 – Integrated sensing and localization.
  • Demo Case #3 – Time sensitive network applications.

 

Learn more about what the 6G-REFERENCE project is in this article.

Upcoming events: Mobile World Congress 2025 in Barcelona

The 2025 events season of 6G-REFERENCE starts at the Mobile World Congress. From the 3rd to the 6th of March 2025, our coordinator Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya (CTTC) will participate in the Mobile World Congress 2025, celebrated in Fira Barcelona.

Stay tuned to our social media because we will share more information soon, but in the meantime you can check the type of content we bring to events by checking the 6G-REFERENCE posters presented at the EuCNC & 6G Summit last year:

News from the SNS JU Ecosystem: The WiTaR Working Group 2024 Report

Did you know that women comprise less than 30% of the global Information and Communication Technology (ICT) workforce?

This percentage goes even lower in technical and leadership roles. Women in Telecommunications and Research (WiTaR), a working group focusing on promoting gender equality, inclusion, and empowerment in 6G Research and Innovation, has recently published their 2024 activity report.

The document reflects the dedication of their team, partners, and supporters in shaping a more inclusive and equitable future for the ICT sector, while it highlights successes, lessons learned, and actionable strategies for change.

Read it and download it here.

Editors include:

 

The underrepresentation of women not only impacts social equity but also diminishes the economic and innovation potential of the sector. Research highlights that gender-diverse teams enhance business performance and foster creativity. By closing the gender gap, the ICT sector can unlock significant economic benefits and position itself as a leader in equitable innovation.

The future of the European ICT community is diverse, inclusive, and also female!

 

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