Clear5G’s objective is to design, develop, validate, and demonstrate an integrated convergent wireless network for Machine Type and Mission Critical Communication (MTC/MCC) services for Factories of the Future (FoF). Clear5G will deliver technical solutions addressing the challenges of massive deployment of connected devices, security, ultra-low latency and ultra-high reliability in FoF applications, like remote maintenance and closed loop control systems. The requirements of these complex scenarios will be met through the convergence of different wireless technologies, enabled by protocol and architecture enhancements proposed by Clear5G. Clear5G will focus on providing PHY, MAC, and architectural enhancements to meet the strict requirements of FoF applications in terms of KPIs: latency, reliability, connection density, spectrum, and energy efficiency, thus contributing to the ITU-R objectives (e.g. 1000 fold connection density) for the next generation mobile network. The Clear5G team comprises a combination of European and Taiwanese successful, innovative, and well known major corporations, SMEs, as well as research and academic institutions. The partners have proven know-how in architecture, resource management, protocol enhancements, standardization, prototyping, and demonstration. Proof of concepts will be tested on the 5GIC testbed in Europe, while the final system demonstration, showing the tight integration and cooperation of manufacturing and the Clear5G enhanced network, will be implemented on the III testbed in Taiwan. Clear5G brings together a strong and diverse set of European and Taiwanese partners, including partners from the FoF sector; the complementarity of team, skills and expertise will bring added value to 5G research on both sides and will deepen international cooperation, serving as a showcase of 5G empowering vertical industries. The partners will contribute to relevant standardisation in both the communication and the manufacturing domains.

Graphene (a single atomic layer of graphite) first experimentally isolated and identified only four years ago, is rapidly revealing its great potential as an important material for future electronic devices. In order to progress towards realistic device applications of graphene, it is important to address the issues which will affect the operation of graphene in real circuits, where high currents will lead to overheating and non-equilibrium charge carrier distributions. The proposed joint project will launch an internationally leading programme involving three research groups which are already well established in graphene research and have expertise in complimentary areas. By combining fabrication technology of graphene-based devices, transport and optical studies, and theoretical modelling, we will investigate the kinetic properties of charge carriers and phonons (lattice vibrations) in graphene over a broad range of operating voltages, temperatures and optical intensities, with the aim to establish and improve the operating characteristics of graphene-based electronic and optoelectronic devices.

Wireless power transfer (WPT) via radio-frequency (RF) radiation has long been regarded as a possibility for energising low-power devices in the internet of things. It is, however, not until recently that WPT has become recognised as feasible, due to reductions in power requirements of electronics. Far-field WPT using RF could be used for long range power delivery to increase user convenience. In the same way as wireless disrupted communication, WPT using RF is expected to disrupt the delivery of energy. The real challenge with far field WPT is to find ways to increase the DC power level at the energy harvester output without increasing the transmit power, and to ensure that sufficient range between transmitter and receiver can be achieved. The project relies on the observation that far-field WPT RF-to-DC conversion efficiency is a function of the rectenna design but also of its input waveform. A proper design of far-field WPT therefore requires a complete transmitter-receiver optimization rather than just the receiver (rectenna) design. Unfortunately state of the art waveforms have been shown partially disappointing for far-field WPT. The fundamental question behind the project is "can we design a disruptive but practical WPT transceiver architecture to make wireless power transfer a reality at distances of tens (if not more) of meters within regulated transmit power levels?" This visionary project, conducted at Imperial College London, will uniquely leverage signal processing tools to tackle a problem commonly investigated by the RF community. Motivated by recent results by the PI and Co-I and leveraging a unique set of complementary skills on multi-antenna signal processing (Clerckx) and WPT/rectenna design (Mitcheson), the project will design and show the feasibility of a disruptive M2WPT architecture based on optimized, adaptive and reliable large-scale multi-antenna multi-sine waveforms for single-user and multi-user scenarios, and identify its potential for far-field WPT. Thinking big, we advocate in this project that M2WPT will be to WPT what massive MIMO is to communication. M2WPT will enable highly efficient far-field WPT delivering sufficient power at long range for a wide range of applications. To put together this novel M2WPT solution in a credible fashion, this project focuses on 1) designing and modelling the energy harvester, 2) designing large-scale multi-sine multi-antenna waveforms for single and multi-user scenarios, 3) demonstrate the feasibility through experiment and measurement. The project will be performed in partnership with two leaders in equipment manufacturing and WPT standardization (Toshiba and Keysight), two well-established academic/research centres active in WPT (KULeuven and Eindhoven/IMEC) and the UK Office of the Chief Science Adviser. The project demands a strong and inter-disciplinary track record in microwave theory and techniques, circuit design, optimization theory, multi-antenna signal processing, wireless communication and it is to be conducted in a unique research group with a right mix of theoretical and practical skills. With the above and given the novelty and originality of the topic, the research outcomes will be of considerable value to transform the future of wireless networks supplied by remote wireless charging and give the industry a fresh and timely insight into the development of highly efficient remote wireless charging, advancing UK's research profile of wireless power in the world. Its success would radically change the design of radiative WPT, have a tremendous impact on standardization, and applications in a large number of sectors including building automation, healthcare, telecommunications, ICT, structural monitoring, consumer electronics.

Modern communication networks are rapidly evolving into sophisticated systems combining communication and computing capabilities. Computation at the network edge is key to supporting many emerging applications, from extended reality to smart health, smart cities, smart factories and autonomous driving. Multi-access edge computing (MEC) technology is being developed to deliver the required computation functionalities closer to user devices, directly at mobile access points. GREENEDGE is motivated by the fact that the large scale adoption of MEC technology, while benefiting human productivity and efficiency, will result in a surge of data and computation in mobile networks, which, in turn, will exacerbate their energy consumption. GREENEDGE is set out to tame the growing carbon footprint of MEC technology, devising highly energy efficient communication and computing functionalities for the network edge, combining them with ambient energy sources and with new energy storage and supply paradigms. As a result, GRE