Smart grid represents a significant new technology of improving the efficiency, reliability, and economics of the production, transmission, and distribution of electricity. It is crucial to exchange and use information for performing smart grid applications. However, in reality the exchange of information over multiple networks is unreliable, leading to unpredictable network Quality-of-Service and thus unreliable smart grid applications. What’s worse, there are massive data, including metering data and measurement data, structured or unstructured, making it challenging to exploit useful information. Hence, there is an urgent need to solve the research problem: how to coordinate multiple networks to reliably transmit data, and then manage ICT system resources to efficiently extract useful information for supporting smart grid applications? TESTBED is a major interdisciplinary project that combines wisdoms in three academic disciplines - Electronics Engineering, Power Engineering and Computing Sciences, to address the aforesaid problem. The main focus is on improving the communication layer interoperability and the efficiency of data analytic. Regarding the communication layer interoperability, this project intends to develop and evaluate function-driven communication frameworks. Moreover, this project will develop and verify new data integration and analytic techniques for enhancing power grid operations. These developed frameworks and methods will be extensively tested and evaluated in 4 well-equipped Laboratories at HWU, EPRI, ICCS, and CAS. They will not only support the SGAM Framework, but also complement and enhance International Standards. Overall, the main objective of this project is to coordinate the action of 5 Universities and 3 enterprises, working in the field of ICT and smart grid from both EU and China, to build and test sophisticated ICT, thereby facilitating the successful implementation of smart grid applications.

The aim of SANSA project is to boost the performance of mobile wireless backhaul networks in terms of capacity and resilience while assuring an efficient use of the spectrum. Recently, a global mobile traffic increase of 11-fold between 2013 and 2018 was predicted, so novel solutions are required to avoid backhaul becoming the bottle neck of future mobile networks. The solution envisaged in SANSA is a spectrum efficient self-reconfigurable hybrid terrestrial-satellite backhaul network based on three key principles: (i) a seamless integration of the satellite segment into terrestrial backhaul networks; (ii) a terrestrial wireless network capable of reconfiguring its topology according to traffic demands; (iii) a shared spectrum between satellite and terrestrial segments. This combination will result in a flexible solution capable of efficiently routing the mobile traffic in terms of capacity and energy efficiency, while providing resilience against link failures or congestion and easy deployment in rural areas. Therefore, we will develop novel smart antennas, dynamic radio resource management and data-based shared access techniques for enabling the spectrum sharing among both segments, as well as efficient management and routing solutions for the hybrid network. These studies will yield to the implementation and demonstration of the two key components proof of concepts: (i) low-cost smart antennas (to be deployed in terrestrial nodes) with beam and null-steering capabilities for interference mitigation between satellite and terrestrial transceivers and network topology reconfiguration; (ii) hybrid network manager capable of controlling the resources of the hybrid network. Besides indirectly allowing the traffic increase to the mobile users, the SANSA project will set the path for a win-win collaboration between satellite and terrestrial operators that will strengthen both European sectors and also their related industries such as equipment manufacturers.

Future wireless networks (FWNs) will need to efficiently and flexibly provide diversified services such as enhanced mobile broadband access, ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC), and massive machine-type communications . RECOMBINE joins the scientific excellence and expertise of key academic and industrial players into a joint collaborative effort to build the framework for the design oif FWNs beyond 5G that are able to support multiple operational standards for exploitation of intrinsic network heterogeneity; capable of processing information generated from a huge volume of heterogeneous sources and with sufficient intrinsic resilience to counter potential security threats. RECOMBINE will pursue innovations for advancing in the areas of mm-wave technology, licensed spectrum access, antenna design, channel propagation and modeling, and network prediction and quality of experience supported by artifical intelligence. In addition, RECOMBINE will integrate scientific and business model innovations for building a framework to fulfill the economic potential of FWNs.

VITAL is an ambitious proposal addressing the combination of Terrestrial and Satellite networks by pursuing two key innovation areas, by bringing Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) into the satellite domain and by enabling Software-Defined-Networking (SDN)-based, federated resources management in hybrid SatCom-terrestrial networks. Enabling NFV into SatCom domain will provide operators with appropriate tools and interfaces in order to establish end-to-end fully operable virtualised satellite networks to be offered to third-party operators/service providers. Enabling SDN-based, federated resource management paves way for a unified control plane that would allow operators to efficiently manage and optimise the operation of the hybrid network. While innovations pursued by VITAL are transversal, the project will primarily focus on three key application scenarios: Satellite Virtual Network Operator (SVNO) services, Satellite backhauling and hybrid telecom service delivery. The solutions developed in VITAL will bring, through flexible integration of satellite and terrestrial segments, improved coverage, optimised communication resources use and better network resilience, along with improved innovation capacity and business agility for deploying communications services over combined networks. VITAL will address the development of a hybrid architectural framework, the required mechanisms to enable virtualization of SatCom network components, including performance optimisation and implementation of a number of virtualised functions, and the design of an SDN-enabled, federated resources management framework, embedding strategies and algorithmic solutions to provide end-to-end communication services. Proof of Concept validation of VITAL solutions and enabling technologies through a combination of real prototypes and emulators are also envisaged. The project aims to impact standardization initiatives and will contribute to open platform initiatives for SDN/NFV deployments.

The main objective of the project MOTOR5G is to motivate and skill competitive young researchers through involvement and engagement in a variety of research activities enabling them to work on real-life technical issues, across multiple European countries and organizations, and providing a strong networking opportunity through participation as speakers in conference and workshop events and through engagement with industry and other stakeholders (e.g. standardization). We also want to provide them with communications skills, the ability to work in groups and an understanding of the integrity and ethics in research. The project focus is on embedding artificial intelligence into 5G communication systems for the smarter use of network-generated data, the automated enabling of network operators and service providers to adapt to changes in traffic patterns, security risks and user behavior and thus paving the way towards safe and reliable next-generation wireless ecosystems. The project considers aspects such as use of drone-based technology for enhanced multi-antenna and data forwarding techniques, use of artificial intelligence for novel adaptive digital beamforming techniques applied on realistic antenna arrays; communications in the millimetre-wave bands, blockchain-based approach to spectrum management and sharing, use of machine learning for enhanced quality of experience, and would in parallel focus on novel business models to sustain profitable operation of beyond 5G ecosystems. The research team would comprise young researches supervised by committed experts from the industry and academia to advance the state of the art in the above areas. Three demonstration scenarios have been planned: localization, drone-based communications, and combined 5G-based video production and video distribution network in a stadium.