NETCOM Research Group

IMDEA Networks Institute participates in the 5G “ignition-phase” events organized by the European Commission (EC) at the upcoming Mobile World Congress 2015 (MWC’15) in Barcelona (2-5 March). The objective is to present the status of EU work on 5G, the ubiquitous ultra-broadband network that will carry the Future Internet, and is expected to withstand data connections 1,000 times heavier than today's. 

Europe has chosen Spain to showcase results of its collaborative research and innovation efforts towards 5G, a revolution in the making within the ICT field. At MWC’15, several events set in motion by the EU 5G Infrastructure Public-Private-Partnership (5G-PPP) will bring together researchers, industry, policy-makers, and academia, who have teamed up to create a competitive advantage for European ICT in the global marketplace. The 5G-PPP has received 700 million Euros in funding from the European Commission to provide European leadership in the design of next-generation advanced communication systems.

All along the congress demonstrations of results delivered by EU research on the new technologies that will characterize 5G have been organized.  On March 3^rd, the European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society (Günther H. Oettinger), will witness the technical demonstrations displayed on the European Commission booth in Hall 8. Six demos are planned: IJOIN, METIS, MIWEBA, LIGHTNESS, CREW/EVARILOS and 5GNOW. IMDEA Networks Institute is the coordinator of the iJOIN* EU project responsible for the first of these demos. This project involves twelve leading academic and industrial partners, and is headed by Dr. Albert Banchs, Deputy Director of the Madrid research Institute. iJOIN focuses on “small cell" technology, which is of key importance for taking advantage of limited and strategic resources, such as the radio wave spectrum.

The iJOIN demo, led by NEC and IMDEA Networks, will provide an example of a virtualized software radio access network for 5G services. This technology can boost the emergence of an ecosystem of high-tech SMEs, providing software for networks and empowered Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs). iJOIN looks for ways to handle the hundred-fold increase in the volume of traffic carried through mobile networks expected by 2020, while aiming to make those networks more energy-efficient and lowering their deployment costs.

As well as the EC sponsored demos, large corporations such as Alcatel, Ericsson, Nokia, Orange or Huawei will demonstrate technical advances towards 5G. A 5G dedicated workshop, a keynote by the Commissioner, and a press panel organized by the mobile operators’ GSM Association will complement the strong emphasis given to 5G at this year’s edition of MWC.

To enable the 5G vision, Europe is making crucial investments in 5G technologies and related measures to focus and strengthen its knowledge in the new ICT fields, and there is a deadline in the global race for technological leadership. By 2016 on-track European research and innovation efforts must lead to intensive standardization activities and large field test trials. Testing shall, in fact, take place globally before 2020, when commercial products will be most probably available in the market. Over the next decade, 5G is expected to offer highly efficient, ultra reliable, dependable, secure, privacy-preserving, and relay critical services to everyone and everything. On the one hand, it will deliver fully immersive experience, enriched by context information and realized as an “All-as-a-Service”. On the other hand, it aims at offering connectivity to any object or service.

The Spanish research institute IMDEA Networks is one of the main leaders at European level in the field of 5G networks. IMDEA Networks is one of the few academic partners represented in the 5G-PPP Association, Partnership Board, and the ETP Steering Board, which are the entities that lead the development of the European program in 5G technology.

*Interworking and JOINt Design of an Open Access and Backhaul Network Architecture for Small Cells based on Cloud Networks