Project objectives
The overall project objective is to create a dynamic and sustainable end-to-end beyond-5G (B5G) ICT millimetre wave (mmWave) network infrastructure, that aims to reduce reliance on non-renewable energy sources, while maintaining B5G/6G performance in terms of data rate, latency, reliability, and distance. The project aims to achieve this overall goal by addressing 4 concrete objectives:
1. A modular and compact E-band mmWave micro base station
(µBS) supporting: (i) a high-capacity energy-efficient channel transceiver, (ii) robust and (omni)directional antennas, (iii) multiple forms of renewable energy harvesting (i.e., light, wind, hydro), (iv) energy-efficient modulation formats, (v) on-board edge processing functionalities (caching, virtualisation, and software-defined), and (vi) in-mode supercapacitor storage supplying PA’s peak power reducing demands on power supply unit requirements.
2. Energy-optimized mmWave communication protocol
that combines efficient directional beamforming and medium access control (MAC), to minimize energy consumption for mobile users, while guaranteeing deterministic latency, reliability, and data rate requirements.
3. An energy-aware mmWave networking design
with real-time in-band context dissemination in support of decentralized scheduling, routing, relaying and handover decision-making, considering the limited and dynamic energy resources of energy harvesting µBSs.
4. Resource allocation and service placement mechanisms
(including content caching); to better take advantage of the underlying physical resources and reduce the overall network consumption, taking into consideration the energy level and the energy consumption prediction of the different network elements (µBSs, computing resources)