By Daniel Warren / Head, Advanced Network Research, SRUK

Since 1984 the European Commission has had many initiatives encouraging European partners to come to gather and bid for research funding. These initiatives are called Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development. Currently we are in FP8 (called Horizon 2020) from 2014-2020 with a total of €77 billion allocated to projects on subjects as diverse as Oceonography, Neurology, Photonics and Ecology.  If there is Research taking place on a topic, there is likely to be EC funding available for it.

As part of Horizon2020, in 2014 the European Commission formed the ‘5th Generation Public Private Partnership’ (5G-PPP) to catalyse 5G R&D in Europe. 5G-PPP was allocated €700M funding to be dispersed over 3 Phases. Phase 1 in 2015 (€ 125M); Phase 2 in 2017 (€ 150M) and Phase 3 from 2018 to 2020 (€425M).  The availability of these funds led SRUK to form a ‘5G Research’ team, to participate directly in consortia that would bid for funding to undertake Research on Radio Access Networks (RAN), end-to-end system, and Test and Proof of Concept with other industries to demonstrate new 5G applications.  This has in turn led to the 5G Research team being a source major innovation, evidenced by a track record of IPR, 3GPP standards contributions and many technical papers.

The process for gaining funding requires the 5G Research team to seek out and join consortia that are building a proposal for a specific Call for Proposal.  Each Call has a particular theme and competition is always strong, so selecting consortia with a good mix of partners and a topic that is both aligned to the wider Samsung strategy as well as engender interest in the Commission and be assessed positively, is a skill in its own right. Once the consortia submit their proposals, they are assessed, and those rated highest are allocated funds.

To date, SRUK 5G Research has been successful in receiving funding for nine projects across the 3 Phases of funding from 5G-PPP. 

Phase1
Phase 1 funding was allocated in a single call, with particular emphasis placed on RAN technologies.  SRUK participated in three projects. METIS-II (https://5g-ppp.eu/metis-ii/) - Key objectives of METIS-II were to develop the overall 5G radio access network design and to provide the technical enablers needed for an efficient integration and use of the various 5G technologies and components currently developed. Research work was focused on modulation techniques, and on positioning in the 28GHz band.

mmMAGIC https://5g-ppp.eu/mmmagic/) – SRUK led this project, which was at the forefront of the research and development of novel radio access technologies (RAT) at the millimetre-wave (mm-wave) frequency bands (6-100 GHz). The work carried out in mmMAGIC covered identification of use cases, requirements, and spectrum suitability, to a holistic mmMAGIC system concept, integrating extensive key technical solutions developed in the project across the physical and network layers.

Fantastic5G (https://5g-ppp.eu/fantastic-5g/) – Key objectives were to develop, investigate and propose the air interface for 5G RAN for the frequency region below 6 GHz. Research work was focused on modulation techniques and the implementation of 5G for IoT applications.

Phase 2
Phase 2 was again a single funding call with more emphasis on end-to-end systems.  As work on 5G had progressed, it had become clear that 5G networks would be built using software-based ‘virtual’ network functions (VNFs) and with multiple virtual network instances, or ‘slices’ running simultaneously on common network hardware.  This in turn led to research in new networking disciplines such as rapid scaling of network functions and early stage investigation of AI applied to Networks for greater efficiency of resource utilisation and autonomous network provisioning.

SRUK participated in three projects. 5G-MoNArch (https://5g-ppp.eu/5g-Monarch/, https://www.5g-monarch.eu) – Project goal was to extend 5G-PPP Phase 1 concepts to a fully-fledged architecture, develop prototype implementations and apply these prototypes to use cases. SRUK focussed heavily on research into network slicing, which became basis for work on the use of Data Analytics and AI applications to networking in 3GPP Standards.  SRUK also participated in a 5G Use Case demonstration at Hamburg Port, to automate traffic signalling for boats within the harbour.

One5G (www.one5g.eu) – Key objectives were the design of 5G system evolution and building consensus in 3GPP on extensions beyond 3GPP Release-15, in order to meet the demands of megacities and underserved areas, in a performance and cost efficient manner. SRUK conducted research on Non Terrestrial Networks (NTN), emergency communications use cases, and development of techno-economic models for analyzing use of drones for emergency services coverage.

5G-XCast (5g-xcast.eu ) – SRUK was the technical manager of the project. Key objectives were to devise, assess and demonstrate a conceptually novel and forward-looking 5G network architecture for large scale immersive media delivery to support 4k/8k Ultra-High-Definition Television (UHDTV), object-based content, Virtual/Augmented/Mixed Reality (VR/AR/MR), and Next Generation Audio. SRUK’s research focussed on Broadcast/Multicast Point-to-Multipoint and seamless unicast/multicast/broadcast switching and associated RAN protocols was carried out.

Phase 3
Phase 3 is made up of multiple calls, with a spread of specific areas to focus upon.  The first call in Phase 3 provided funding for the design and build of interconnected test networks, which would then be used by projects from subsequent calls, to demonstrate use cases from other industry sectors.  One of the goals of 5G is to open new market segments to the telecoms industry such as Industrial IoT, vehicle connectivity, smart cities, smart buildings, improved connectivity for emergency services, enhanced tourist experiences and enhanced provision of healthcare and social care.

SRUK was successful in one ICT-17 project and has since also received funding for two additional projects focussed on use cases.  Phase 3 projects are all on-going.

5G-VINNI (https://www.5g-vinni.eu/) –the project has built a multi-site 5G platform offering consistent KPIs for third-party testing.  The sites will offer slice-based interconnect, as well as evolutions of 5G implementation as standards and products evolve. SRUK together with Samsung Networks Europe, have built the UK test network, hosted at BT Labs in Suffolk.  The network comprises of sub-6GHz and 28GHz radio, virtualised RAN, Core and EMS.  To date the network has been used to demonstrate high-bandwidth, low latency video production, remote control of robots with VR-based image recognition, social care solutions for the elderly and low latency cloud gaming. Many other use cases are planned for the coming 18 months.

5G-TOURS (https://5g-ppp.eu/5g-tours/) – aims to get the European 5G Vision of “5G empowering vertical industries” closer to commercial deployment with 13 highly innovative use cases involving cross-industry partnerships.  5G Research team is partnering with the WebXR team on a use case for VR enhanced tourist experiences.

5G-LOCUS (https://www.locus-project.eu/) – intending to develop enhanced localization and positioning techniques utilizing primarily 3GPP compliant 5G and also non-3GPP technologies. Focus is on commercial and emergency related use cases and will also analyse novel localization based analytics for network management, and new services.

In addition to these three projects, SRUK is active in six consortia for the final funding call of Phase 3, with submission deadline in April.  These consortia cover AI applied to Networks for dynamic scaling, new RAN techniques for frequency bands between 70 and 140 GHz, Automotive Convoy applications, AR/VR in transport, and Satellite communications for 5G.

The Future
Horizon 2020 is close to its end.  The Call for Proposals in April 2020 will be the last that 5G-PPP will facilitate.  However, plans are well advanced for Framework Project 9 – ‘Horizon Europe’ – with an expectation that communications research will be a major pillar within that construct.  SRUK are currently chair of the 5G-PPP Steering Board, and so have been actively involved in work to formulate the basis of a new ‘Public-Private Partnership’ which would oversee future funding from Horizon Europe. 

UK involvement in Horizon Europe has been called into question as a consequence of Brexit.  However, precedent exists for non-EU27 countries to take active roles in EC funded projects.  5G-VINNI is led by Telenor, from Norway, and a number of Swiss companies have been active throughout 5G-PPP projects.  Boris Johnson has expressed a desire to include the UK in the wider European Research community, which has been taken as a strong positive indication that UK government will aim to be included in Horizon Europe activities.

SRUK’s 5G Research team has used the opportunity provided by Horizon 2020 to fund excellent research that has in turn expanded SRUK’s role within the Samsung Communications Research community, as well as driving new areas of work in 5G Standards and fostering internal and external partnerships for future innovation.  We hope this continues for many years to come.