The focus of this Strand is on several complementary issues mentioned below and applicants may select one or more of those:

New physical layer technologies up to millimeter wave. This includes both new channel modulation and coding schemes, new adaptive waveform designs, and advanced link-layer random and multiple access strategies, this includes non-orthogonal approaches (e.g., NOMA, RSMA). Support to innovative channel coding approaches towards “error free” channel transmission up to millimeter wave for technologies, including signal shaping loss removal. (further details in the Funding & Tenders portal)

Extreme exploitation of MIMO technologies up to millimeter wave range. This includes ultra-massive MIMO and distributed and cell-free massive MIMO (including intelligent reflecting surfaces) – (further details in the Funding & Tenders portal)

Human-friendly Radio systems: Support innovative antenna and physical layer technology for higher acceptability of radio infrastructures by citizens. (further details in the Funding & Tenders portal)

Spectrum Re-farming and Reutilisation: Support future high bandwidth demand and versatile spectrum usage requirements by multiplicity of applications through optimised spectrum management, sharing and dynamic application aware allocation. (further details in the Funding & Tenders portal)

Seamless integration of multiple frequency bands across a unified energy, EMF, and spectrum efficient framework including unlicensed bands and potential optical access. Open and disaggregated solutions may be considered also in scope.

Machine learning empowered physical layer evolutions: The ambition is to develop an overall enhanced RAN adaptive and intelligent, with complexity increasing at the Radio Unit (RU) end, moving towards semantic-oriented communications. The scope aims to cover the overall physical layer, and the associated radio building blocks and communication protocols, with reduced complexity in the neural network modelling of multidimensional nonlinear effects.

Optimal usage of wireless edge caching: The ambition is in developing advanced methods and protocols, including concepts able to improve radio link KPIs, such as energy efficiency, spectral efficiency, capacity, throughput, reliability, quality of experience (QoE), or investigate promising over-the-air computing paradigms.

Novel techniques for integrated sensing and communication: the goal is for radical communication work to be complemented by work in the field of location and sensing capabilities for devices. The work requires radical new distributed and cooperative sensing, sensing aided communications, and multi-band sensing technology, as well as integrated waveform design.