This proposal describes the third core project of the Graphene Flagship. It forms the fourth phase of the FET flagship and is characterized by a continued transition towards higher technology readiness levels, without jeopardizing our strong commitment to fundamental research. Compared to the second core project, this phase includes a substantial increase in the market-motivated technological spearhead projects, which account for about 30% of the overall budget. The broader fundamental and applied research themes are pursued by 15 work packages and supported by four work packages on innovation, industrialization, dissemination and management. The consortium that is involved in this project includes over 150 academic and industrial partners in over 20 European countries.

Fibre-optic communication systems form the backbone of the world’s communication infrastructure as they provide for lion fraction (more than 99%) of the global data traffic. The ongoing exponential growth in network traffic, however, is pushing current technology, whose data rates had increased over several decades, towards its limits. It is widely accepted that the nonlinear transmission effects in optical fibre are now a major limiting factor in modern fibre-optic communication systems. Nonlinear properties of the optical fibre medium limit the conventional techniques to increase capacity by simply increasing signal power. Most of the transmission technologies utilized today have been originally developed for linear (wired or wireless) communication channels. Over the past several decades, significant improvements in data rates were obtained by improvements and modifications within the overall linear transmission paradigm. However, there is much evidence that this trend is going to end within the next decade due to fibre nonlinearity. There is a clear need for radically different approaches to the coding, transmission, and processing of information that take the nonlinear properties of the optical fibre into account. This also requires education and training of a new generation of optical communication engineers and specialists with knowledge on nonlinear methods and techniques. The EID FONTE R&D goals will be focused on development of disruptive nonlinear techniques and approaches to fibre-optic communications beyond the limits of current technology. The project will make important innovative steps in development of the technique of the nonlinear Fourier transform (NFT) and its implementation in the practical communication systems. The R&D tasks will be carried out along with training of PhD students in the leading research centres in Europe with industry focused projects with 50% of time spent in the world leading telecom centre - Nokia Bell Labs Germany.

The 6GStart project will facilitate the preparation activities of the European Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS JU) Initiative. This work will maintain the European momentum and leadership in 5G achieved through the 5G PPP and carry it forward to the new 6G SNS JU. It will bring the relevant players together to prepare the SNS JU by building on the work done to date in the 5G PPP. This approach will contribute significantly to Europe having a leading role in the definition, provision, and exploitation of 6G by 2030. The 6GStart project will ensure the inter-project collaboration structures and mechanisms will be established and in place by the time the first phase projects of the SNS JU start. As such, the 6GStart project will ensure the fast launch of the new SNS partnership and the availability of an efficient operational infrastructure for the inter-SNS-project coordination. The infrastructure for the 50+ ongoing 5G PPP projects will also be supported. The 6GStart Project will also orchestrate collaborations, and capture and promote the achievements of the new 6G SNS initiative and the ongoing 5G PPP by facilitating their activities in inter-project working groups and maintaining links to the NetworldEurope community and the 5G-IA membership. The 6GStart project will support the running of two editions of the EuCNC&6G Summit events in 2023 and 2024, as well as assisting the organisation of the Global 5G/6G events based on the inter-regional MoUs managed by the 5G IA, contributing to the strategy of promoting the European achievements in the wider ICT sector.

The project FACT (Future All Aviation CNS Technology) relates to SESAR-ER4-24-2019: Innovation in CNS to enable Digitalised Operations. It addresses all application areas listed in the Call Topic 24, except the area 4 (Manned and un-manned aircraft protection from non-cooperative targets). It will bring a much needed update to CNS technology, and build the bridge between future U-space services (expecting fully digital and highly automated) and conventional ATM systems considering both technological and users’ perspectives. The main overall objective(s) of the project FACT is to increase safety, security, efficiency, and robustness of future air traffic environment through development of integrated CNS functional architecture supporting the use of common performance based approach for CNS functions addressing needs of large spectrum of airspace users across varied operational environments. It will address and bring benefits for both existing and new airspace users such as drones or urban air mobility. From technical perspective, the project will mainly focus on the innovative use of existing technology bricks, potentially adapted from adjacent industrial areas such as automotive or telecommunication. Interesting examples of such new CNS enablers are the envisioned use of 3G/4G/5G for communication and localization, OneWEB for low cost satellite communication, or Aeromacs as a new technology standardised by aviation for airport operations. This approach will allow the project to achieve technical performance goals at a lower development cost, and offer something that can find the aviation market in the shortest possible time. The project consortium brings together a balanced combination of industrial, operational, and academic knowhow, enabling it to address this challenging task.