With the rapid development of 5G technology and the increasing demand for autonomous mobile robots, there is a trend to leverage the ultra-low latency, high data rates, and reliable wireless connectivity offered by 5G to improve the perception and navigation of robots in unknown environments. This paper presents a novel approach for creating and exploiting radio-aware semantic maps to empower 5G-enabled mobile robots operating within an unknown environment. The proposed solution allows for smart offloading of robotic applications and task processing onto the edge systems while facilitating real-time data exchange, and enables robots to gather environment data from both onboard sensors and the mobile network for more efficient robot operation and resource orchestration decisions. A radio-aware semantic mapping framework is introduced, which combines radio signal quality information with semantic mapping techniques to create a comprehensive understanding of the environment, which may evolve over time. The semantic map, enriched with radio quality measurement data, enables mobile robots to make timely informed decisions by considering real-time radio quality variations. Our experimental evaluation demonstrates the effectiveness of adopting radio semantic maps to enhance real-time robot operations on navigation and task offloading in unstructured environments.
The flexibility inherent to the 6G space through its use of virtualized/Service Based Architecture (SBA) networks means that generated performance results can be more difficult to contextualize than previous generations. In this space, experimentation, either with the purpose of evaluating the appropriate integration of a new network device, system or software or targeting the assurance of application-demanding performance service levels, needs to be done in such a way to ensure that the assessment is performed uninfluenced by the actual dimensioning constraints of the underlying beyond 5G (B5G)/6G experimentation platform. This paper explores the development of an Adaptive Calibration methodology, which can be used to provide context to results in the 6G space so that to ensure platform agnosticism. Exemplary results of its application in the 6G-SANDBOX project, exploiting four (4) different and geographically dispersed experimentation platforms, are presented hereby. The methodology involves the establishment of a baseline environment which can be measured before the introduction of a device/system/software under test (SUT). The results of the baseline measurement can be compared to the results including the SUT to produce deltas in multiple KPIs. These deltas can then be used to provide context to results generated within a single platform or be used to compare multiple platforms. The use of this methodology within 6G-SANDBOX uncovered significant performance disparities between the partaking platforms related to virtualization methods, and it is currently being used to drive the platforms closer to parity, investigate the virtualization issues and quantify the performance of various components within each individual platform. In this regard, the application of the proposed methodology is proven substantial to increase confidence in the SUT assessment results performed over B5G/6G experimentation platforms.
The THz spectrum is being explored due to its inherent large bandwidth to fulfill the throughput requirements for future wireless systems. However, there are intrinsic challenges for the exploitation of this spectrum for wireless communications, particularly concerning current technological capabilities. Moreover, it remains a big question if THz systems can be made efficient. In this contribution, we present a system analysis to show the potential of overcoming these challenges using quasi-optical antennas integrated with wideband SiGe-BiCMOS electronics and a suitable baseband design that can lead to the Tbit/sec and energy-efficient wireless transmission.
This paper proposes a 6G architecture that adopts a multi-technology transport network integrating THz links and optical network technologies to interconnect the 6G radio access network and core domains. The proposed solution operates in a self-organized manner, taking advantage of the software defined networking (SDN) control of the optical network, while suitable SDN control is purposely developed for the THz solution. An end-to-end (E2E) Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) layer is adopted, offering intelligence capabilities in service provisioning and resource allocation across the 6G infrastructure through the adoption of a federated learning (FL) scheme. The proposed architecture and the developed control scheme are validated through an experimental demonstration. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first experimental demonstration of an autonomously controlled 6G network implementation integrating optical network technologies and THz links in a common transport network. The developed intelligent management framework empowered by FL to jointly optimize THz and multi-vendor optical network equipment supporting 6G services is also experimentally showcased.
The Beyond 5G (B5G) Athens platform, a state-of-the-art large scale facility for Standalone (SA) network experimentation, spanning in aera the NCSR Demokritos and COSMOTE/OTE Academy campuses in Athens. The two sites are interconnected at control and data plane level by utilizing a dedicated 10G dark fiber link. Two radio access networks are offered, each linked to separate 5G core implementations, allowing the study of inter-PLMN handovers and roaming scenarios, but also Multi-Operator Core Network (MOCN) configurations.
