The main objective of the GIMS project is to build and commercialize an advanced low-cost system based on EGNSS, Copernicus SAR and other in-situ sensors, like inertial measurement units, for the purpose of monitoring ground deformations with a focus on landslides and subsidence. The system will recover deformations with millimetric level accuracies and daily acquisition rate. Moreover the integration of in-situ accelerometers will give real-time alerts in case of sudden movements. Finally the low-cost infrastructure deployed for the landslide monitoring can be used as collector of environmental data for smart grids purposes. The observations of these three different monitoring techniques, namely EGNSS, SAR and accelerometers, are complementary in time and space and can be integrated to obtain a better understanding of the monitored processes and a more complete knowledge of the deformation phenomenon. The project involves researchers and industrial developers from different fields: radiofrequency analysis and related hardware design, telecommunications, SAR and GNSS data analysis, accelerometers signal processing, geostatistics, geology. Significant effort will be put in the cooperation between different areas and in the interface between different products and technologies. The overall purpose of the GIMS project is to have detailed and timely knowledge of the geophysical behaviour of parts of the Earth surface, and its hindrances on structures, in order to mitigate casualties and injuries to the population, and better plan maintenance intervention.

Modern communication networks are rapidly evolving into sophisticated systems combining communication and computing capabilities. Computation at the network edge is the key to supporting many emerging applications, from extended reality to smart health, smart cities, smart factories and autonomous driving. SONATA is motivated by the fact that the large scale adoption of edge intelligence 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 already significant energy consumption. SONATA is an interdisciplinary effort to tame this growing energy demand by combining memristive hardware and energy harvesting technologies with novel machine learning algorithms and physical layer communication techniques. In particular, we want to combine the energy efficient in-memory computing and learning potential of memristive devices with an “over-the-air computation (OAC)” approach to edge learning, which turns the air from a purely communication medium to a computation unit. Our project not only aims at reducing the energy requirements of edge learning systems drastically, but also focuses on making them robust against stochastic failures, due to unreliable hardware or energy sources. We will exploit tools from circuit design, coding theory, wireless communications, machine learning and network science to achieve these goals. Results from SONATA will open up new directions for research and development of technologies that will allow mobile systems to offer the much anticipated communication and computing services in a sustainable manner.

There are two ongoing industrial trends, one in the mobile communications industry and one in the automotive industry, which are becoming interwoven and will jointly provide new capabilities and functionality for upcoming intelligent transport systems and future driving. The automotive industry is on a path where vehicles are continuously becoming more aware of their environment, due to a permanent increase in various types of integrated sensors; at the same time the amount of automation in vehicles increases, which – with some intermediate steps – will eventually culminate in fully-automated driving without human intervention. Along this path, the amount of interactions increases, both in-between vehicles, as well as between vehicles and an increasingly intelligent road infrastructure. As a consequence, the significance and reliance on capable communication systems for vehicle-to-anything (V2X) communication is becoming a key asset that combined with sensor-based technologies will enhance the performance of automated driving and increase further traffic safety. On the other hand, the mobile communications industry has over the last 25 years connected more than 5 billion people and mobile phones have become part of our daily living. The next step in wireless connectivity is to connect all kinds of devices that can benefit from being connected, with a total of 28 billion connected devices predicted until 2021. It will support the transformation of industries on their journey of digitization. In this step, mobile communications has the ambition to explicitly target the communication needs of vertical industry with corresponding requirements being set for the standardization of 5G until 2020. 5GCAR brings together a strong consortium from the automotive industry and the mobile communications industry, to develop innovation at the intersection of those industrial sectors in order to support a fast, and successful path towards safer and more efficient future driving.

The 6G-EWOC project aims to contribute to the development of future 6G-AI based networks by ending with TRL-4-level developments on critical technologies and devices for expanding the reach of 6G, especially in high mobility scenarios. It is addressing Key Societal Value indicators (KVI) defined by the Work Programme and developing KV enablers such as services for coordination, precise positioning and localization, multi-agent supporting network architecture and joint communication and sensing. The three ambitions of 6G-EWOC focus on: AMB1, Optical Wireless Communications (OWC) for V2V and high-rate (Gb/s) V2I applications, chip-scale optical beamformers, and developing connected laser/radio detection, ranging, and communication (Lidar/Radar). AMB2, PIC and ASIC for tuneable transmitter and receiver concepts for fiber-based fronthaul supporting 50 Gbps and 100 Gbps per wavelength over DWDM fiber links and SDN-enabled photonic switching. AMB3 focuses on AI-assisted control and orchestration of resources for the multi-band, heterogeneous 6G-EWOC network concept and AI-based applications development for autonomous vehicles. Up to 17 KPIs are expected to be validated at three final demonstrations. In conclusion, 6G-EWOC search to develop an AI-enhanced fibre-wireless optical 6G network in support of connected mobility by creating a new access network for high mobility scenarios and expanding the reach of 6G through the integration of optical and wireless technologies, free space optics, and joint communication and sensing. It is supported by a fast, reconfigurable, highly dynamic, and customizable optical fiber fronthaul infrastructure, minimizing optoelectronic transitions by tuneable and programmable devices and low energy photonic switching of (packet/optical) spectrum and spatial resources, controlled by AI-based SDN. Providing end-to-end connectivity between AI-based edge computation units supporting connected mobility in a fast reconfigurable network architecture.

Energy sustainability is key to future mobile networks due to their foreseen capacity upsurge. The objective of the ETN SCAVENGE (Sustainable CellulAr networks harVEstiNG ambient Energy) is to create a training network for early-stage researchers (ESRs) who will contribute to the design and implementation of eco-friendly and sustainable next-generation (5G) networks and become leaders in the related scientific, technological, and industrial initiatives. Sustainable networks are based on the premise that environmental energy can be scavenged through dedicated harvesting hardware so as to power 5G base stations (BSs) and the end devices (mobile terminals, sensors and machines). To realise this vision, the project will take a complete approach, encompassing the characterisation of intermittent and/or erratic energy sources, the development of theoretical models, and the design, optimisation and proof-of-concept implementation of core network, BS and mobile elements as well as their integration with the smart electrical grid. The consortium is composed of world-class research centres and companies that are in the forefront of mobile communication and renewable energy research and technology development. The attitude of the industrial partners towards the strong investment in R&D and their strategic vision are fully aligned with the mission of this project, making them perfectly fit for this consortium. This grants a well-balanced project with genuine and strong technical interactions. The ESRs will have a unique opportunity towards professional growth in light of dedicated cross-partner training activities and through the interaction with the Partner Organisations, which also include relevant stakeholders in the envisioned market. All of this will ensure that the trained researchers will be successfully employed at the end of the research program.