6G network, TIMES research advances for wireless:
Speed and efficiency like wired networks in industry
- Research institutions and companies from five European countries are working together to develop networks at
Terahertz frequencies, with simultaneous and reliable performance at the levels of cable, surpassing 5G - The improved speed, latency, accuracy, and reliability of the network connection is able to create radio
ecosystems capable of connecting heterogeneous devices in an industrial context - Co-funded by the EU (budget €6 million), the TIMES project has a duration of three years and is promoted by
SNS-JU, a partnership that aims to facilitate European leadership in 5G-6G
Photo from the second Face-to-Face Consortium Meeting held in Braunschweig
Developing an innovative concept for wireless communication that overcomes the limits of current 5G networks, achieving performance similar to that of wired networks in an industrial environment: this is the new frontier of telecommunications that the researchers of the European TIMES project are exploring to achieve high-performance solutions and to push the technology to a higher level, up to the use of sixth generation (6G) networks.
Co-funded by the European Union under the Horizon Europe call, TIMES ("THz Industrial Mesh networks in Smart sensing & propagation environments") is part of the SNS-JU (European Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking) public-private partnership, which aims to facilitate the development of European leadership in 5G and 6G networks and services.
Current 5G approaches are struggling to keep up with applications envisioned for the wireless networks of the future. These will have to support new applications within advanced scenarios, such as: cooperative robots, predictive maintenance, fast-moving vehicles, real-time closed-loop control, intra-machine communication, etc.
The long-term vision of the TIMES project is a smart radio ecosystem working at Terahertz (THz), capable of connecting numerous heterogeneous devices in industrial contexts, with reliability comparable to cable. Benchmarks include data rate, ultra-low latency, pinpoint-accurate localization, and reliability with one transmission error in a billion.
TIMES is working on three pillars of innovation: ultra-wide-band, the deployment of smart mesh networks (a network formed by a group of devices that function as a single network), and the enabling of integrated sensing and communications.
The three-year project is expected to launch its first applications in January 2025, with an estimated budget of six million euros. TIMES sees the collaboration of the following 10 partners including research institutions and companies from five European countries coordinated by CNIT (National Interuniversity Consortium for Telecommunications - IT): Aetna Group Spa (IT), Anteral Sl (ESP), BI-REX Big Data Innovation & Research Excellence (IT), CNRS - Centre National de la Recherce Scientifique (FR), Fraunhofer Gesellschaft (DE), Huawei Technologies Duesseldorf Gmbh (DE), Technische Universität Braunschweig (DE), Telenor Asa (NO), University of Stuttgart (DE).
TIMES was funded under Phase 1 - Stream B of the SNS JU work programme, which focuses on new technologies for commercial networks over a medium and/or long-term period. SNS funds projects that shape a robust roadmap and innovation (R&I) and implementation agenda by engaging a critical mass of European stakeholders and facilitating international cooperation on various 6G initiatives.
