This research programme is focused at IMT-Advanced and beyond, i.e. on mobile technologies that will be at hand sometimes in the span of 2015 and 2020. The programme focuses on these wireless networks and technologies and relating networking technologies e.g. how the internet protocols must be accommodated with these wireless systems of tomorrow.

We foresee that higher or even much higher frequencies need to be considered; much better utilization of the spectrum; very low power consumption both in end-user devices and access points requires new innovative solutions; simple modules together forming advanced systems by well defined protocols and interfaces in a modular architecture; autonomic and self-organized networks, systems that require low costs and high volumes due to a global standard but also that end user simplicity with focus on end-user services hiding the underlying technology.

The research scope of the programme includes:

Modulation and coding techniques, spectrum and propagation

Potentially available spectrum needs to be examined especially higher, or even much higher, frequencies than used in IMT-Advanced. A much more variable behavior regarding propagation path loss compared to the currently used wireless spectrum has to be considered. Rapid radio/antenna-resource-management and re-allocation strategies combined with a certain amount of centralised base-band signal may become highly important with respect to real-time requirements of different services i.e., while still maintaining a good user experience. Different radio network deployment strategies also need be studied and compared, e.g., by means of varying the amount of centralization of the base-band processing capabilities.

On the physical layer side, aspects such as antenna selection measurements/protocols and base-band processing algorithm design and performance evaluations are of interest on both transmitting and receiving sides at base stations and terminals.

Active or passive antenna designs are of relevance as well as propagation. Centralised vs. more de-centralised base-band processing: trade-offs with respect to performance vs. complexity needs to be understood. Co-operative transmission/reception for multi-antenna systems as well as relaying/multi-hop solutions are of interest.

Access technologies: multiple access, multiple users, multiple distributed antenna systems

The access networks of tomorrows IMT-Advanced and beyond systems, might in parallel utilise a number of different wireless technologies. The backbone of these networks will for sure be totally IP-based and independent of the different access technologies. Terminals must be automatic in the sense that they choose the best access technology available within its surroundings. The question of fast handover between the multiple access systems is of importance.

Mobility management, control and routing

True mobility is of crucial importance for the user experience of a wireless system. New flat radio network architectures and new short-range radio technology will require much more infrastructure for interconnecting access points and base stations to the backbone network infrastructure. Excellent micro mobility management will be crucial for the performance in such an architecture. A new scalable routing architecture is also needed that can cope with traffic fluctuations, e.g. caused by network mobility i.e. fast running trains, and that can scale for a large number of access points and base stations connected to the network. Macro mobility functions need to be further enhanced to cope with users moving between different segments of the network and to/from other networks, e.g. fixed or existing IMT-2000/IMT-Advanced networks, in order to give the end-user a seamless experience in the converged environment.

Ad Hoc-sensor- and mesh networking, cooperative networking

AdHoc, Wireless Mesh and Sensor Networks are all key enabling technologies for the next generation networking. They are all wireless, autonomous, infrastructure-less, self-configuring and self-healing networks composed of stations that communicate with each other directly in a peer-to-peer fashion. The stations should be able to cooperate in forwarding packets on behalf of each other over multi-hop paths to allow communication beyond their transmission range. The mission should be to develop advanced and efficient communication mechanisms for these types of wireless networks. These networks have promising commercial potential as they are supposed to provide cheap wireless network coverage and access. This could pave the way to the assessment of this technology which is expected to conquer new markets in the future by taking advantage of the growth of heterogeneous networks.

Automatic and self-organized networking

The world is going towards autonomic network management, with autonomous components allowing self-managing properties necessary for future pervasive scenarios. There must be a number of control algorithms that based on measurements from the network as well as from measurements (most probably from a large number of sensors) in the end-user vicinity, take decisions for the management of the network. An advanced distributed knowledge plan might choose which control algorithms that are to be used in a certain situation. End-user focus is on the services not on the management of the underlying technology that must be highly autonomous.

Internet Protocols for wireless with guaranteed QoS requirements, resource optimization and management

TCP/IP is the foundation for Internet, which is of course a huge success. It was, however, designed for a totally different network environment with no mobility, no wireless access and very slow bit rates. Security or quality of service was not even considered. A lot of improvements have been added but in the timeframe of IMT Advanced and beyond a significant enhancement is needed. This is due to both the performance requirements on the system and network itself as well as the new advanced end-user services. Many of these services will be of crucial importance for the society and for business.