UKRI has announced £40m of new funding to support projects aiming to build the 6G communications systems of the future.
This new funding will support the ongoing work of three Future Telecom Research Hubs, CHEDDAR, TITAN, and HASC, which will form the new Federation Communications Hub.
The funding will also help build a national infrastructure for testing and development of future 6G communications named JOINER.
CHEDDAR, led by Imperial College London, and JOINER, led by the University of Bristol, will be supported by research from the University of Glasgow.
About cheddar
Initially receiving £2m of support from the EPSRC, CHEDDAR has now received a further £10.5m to continue its work.
CHEDDAR aims to design proofs of concept for 6G technologies that enable interconnection between people and devices.
These technologies must be powered by a safe, secure, and reliable communications infrastructure.
This hub deepens your understanding of the protocols, optimizations, and network decisions that enable near-instant connectivity for a truly digital society.
JOINER: UK’s first accelerator program for 6G communications
JOINER is the UK’s first national accelerator program for 6G and beyond.
The hub is a research and development platform that interconnects academic institutions, research institutes and industrial partners and fosters innovation in a collaborative environment.
The JOINER Fabric interconnects all JOINER terminals across the UK by bridging the gap between experimenters, services and equipment. A multi-tenant hybrid cloud platform enables end-to-end service provisioning.
The JOINER project will accelerate the UK’s approach to telecommunications and technology by establishing an experimental platform designed to foster innovation, collaboration and research.
The team will integrate and upgrade national testbeds through a federated approach, enabling comprehensive research and development on future network technologies. This includes the UK’s first full-scale 6G communications platform.
Expanding UK research programs
Around £4 million has also been allocated to TITAN, HASC and CHEDDAR to build collaborations with hub members and new partners across the UK.
The funding will help expand the hub’s purposeful research program and introduce the first 6G communications trials and experiments.
