The programme has been designed to provide expertise, technology, and funding to promising avenues of research, and Viavi said that it hoped that the programme would lead to breakthroughs for the next generation of wireless technology.
VIAVI is currently supporting three universities, Northeastern University and the University of Texas at Austin in the US and the University of Surrey in the UK.
At the University of Surrey in the UK, VIAVI is a founding member of the 5G/6G Innovation Centre led by Regius Professor Rahim Tafazolli FREng.
The Innovation Centre addresses advanced communication systems and the key challenges in the development of a 5G, 5G+ and 6G infrastructure for providing connectivity for future technologies. Key research areas include: antennas and signal processing; artificial intelligence for wireless communications; intelligent and high-performance networking and service delivery; intelligent RAN technology and management; mobile network security; new physical layer; satellite communications; THz components and communications all under future Integrated communication and sensing.
“VIAVI is a founder member of the Innovation Centre at Surrey, and we deeply appreciate the support and expertise they are bringing to the table,” said Professor Tafazolli. “It enables us to fully explore concepts, to deliver technologies and methodologies that will help define and improve connected communities in the future. This is a good example of academia and business working together to improve technology and people’s lives.”
At Northeastern University, VIAVI is supporting the Institute for Wireless Internet of Things and the Open6G cooperative research centre led by Professor Tommaso Melodia. The group is exploring large-scale RF propagation channel modelling based on AI and ML technologies to develop a city-scale digital twin of a 6G network.
The team is also developing a RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC)-enabled Massive MIMO beamforming optimisation testbed using the Colosseum 256-port RF channel emulator and the VIAVI E500 UE Emulator.
“At the Institute for the Wireless Internet of Things, we envision a future in which people and their environment are connected by a continuum of AI-powered devices and networks,” said Professor Melodia. “6G research initiatives require collaboration between academia and industry, and the technology, expertise and funding provided by VIAVI are critical to our contributions to making wireless communications exponentially faster, smarter, more energy efficient, and more secure.”
At the University of Texas at Austin, VIAVI supports 6G@UT, led by Professor Jeff Andrews, within the Wireless Networking and Communications Group (WNCG). The key topic of the joint research is applying end-to-end machine learning, specifically deep reinforcement learning (DRL), using adversarial conditions to re-train more robust cellular traffic forecasters.
“Academic institutions play a vital role in exploring the potential of 6G,” said Dr. Ian Wong, CTO Office, VIAVI. “We believe it is important to get involved now and to allow disruptive and productive areas of research to see their ideas come to fruition ahead of formal standards definitions. We have had fascinating and beneficial exchanges with our academic partners and we hope to expand the scale of the program in the future.”
