Current projects
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SPARKS – SuPporting restARt spoKe 3 reSearch
(funded by the NextGenerationEU through the RESTART project, July 2024 – December 2025)
The SPARKS project addresses the topics of interest defined with the RESTART project by SPOKE 3. Specifically, SPARKS addresses two of the main candidate technologies that are emerging for the next generation of wireless networks: (i) the use of cellular architectures with a radically new approach to network deployment known as cell-free massive MIMO, which postulates the use of a large number of simple infrastructure nodes to provide uniform coverage to mobile users; and (ii) the trend to scale up the carrier frequencies used for wireless communications, from units of GHz to mmWave frequencies, and up to THz frequencies ranges, which points in the direction of electrically-large antenna arrays. In addition, SPARKS specifically addresses the development of energy-efficient communications, both through the optimization of the energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources to power wireless communications, as well as the development of techniques to ensure the co-existence of ultrareliable, low-latency communications (URLLC) and massive machine-type communications (mMTC), with massive broadband data transfer.
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TIMES – THz Industrial Mesh Networks in Smart Sensing and Propagation Environments (http://times6g.eu/)
(funded by European Commission, Jan. 2023 – Dec. 2025)
Future wireless networks are envisioned to support novel applications that require similar performance as wired networks in terms of data rate (Tbps), ultra-low-latency (well below 1 ms), sensing (e.g., mm-level localization accuracy), and reliability (e.g., 1 in a billion transmission error). The current 5G approaches have a hard time keeping up with such envisioned applications. TIMES addresses this problem by combining novel radio channel propagation measurements and modeling approaches, spectrally efficient and reliable communications at Terahertz (THz) spectrum bands with intelligent mesh networking protocols and smart sensing and shaping of the propagation environment through reconfigurable meta-surfaces. While the fundamental technologies developed will be applicable to different beyond-5G scenarios, TIMES will focus on an industrial setting, since many of the envisioned applications in this complex scenario (e.g., cooperative robots, predictive maintenance, real-time closed-loop control) require concurrent high performance, reliability, and sensing capabilities. To tackle the challenge, TIMES extends the state-of-the-art on three fronts: 1) Propagation channel measurements and characterization in THz bands, including measurement and modeling of meta-surfaces and electromagnetic leakage in complex scenarios; 2) Developing technological enablers for reliable THz communications (e.g., smart beam management, ultra-massive MIMO, THz-tailored PHY and MAC design, meta-surfaces, and new mesh-based architecture); and 3) Implementation of a THz mesh network prototype, including design and fabrication of both active (transceivers) and passive (meta-surface) nodes, to validate selected technological enablers developed in TIMES.
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TIMES – THz Industrial Mesh Networks in Smart Sensing and Propagation Environments (http://times6g.eu/)
(funded by European Commission, Jan. 2023 – Dec. 2025)
Future wireless networks are envisioned to support novel applications that require similar performance as wired networks in terms of data rate (Tbps), ultra-low-latency (well below 1 ms), sensing (e.g., mm-level localization accuracy), and reliability (e.g., 1 in a billion transmission error). The current 5G approaches have a hard time keeping up with such envisioned applications. TIMES addresses this problem by combining novel radio channel propagation measurements and modeling approaches, spectrally efficient and reliable communications at Terahertz (THz) spectrum bands with intelligent mesh networking protocols and smart sensing and shaping of the propagation environment through reconfigurable meta-surfaces. While the fundamental technologies developed will be applicable to different beyond-5G scenarios, TIMES will focus on an industrial setting, since many of the envisioned applications in this complex scenario (e.g., cooperative robots, predictive maintenance, real-time closed-loop control) require concurrent high performance, reliability, and sensing capabilities. To tackle the challenge, TIMES extends the state-of-the-art on three fronts: 1) Propagation channel measurements and characterization in THz bands, including measurement and modeling of meta-surfaces and electromagnetic leakage in complex scenarios; 2) Developing technological enablers for reliable THz communications (e.g., smart beam management, ultra-massive MIMO, THz-tailored PHY and MAC design, meta-surfaces, and new mesh-based architecture); and 3) Implementation of a THz mesh network prototype, including design and fabrication of both active (transceivers) and passive (meta-surface) nodes, to validate selected technological enablers developed in TIMES.
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SCORE – Smart Control Of the climate Resilience in European coastal cities (https://score-eu-project.eu)
(funded by European Commission, July 2021 – June 2025)
The intensification of extreme weather events, coastal erosion and sea-level rise are major challenges to be urgently addressed by European coastal cities. To tackle these challenges, SCORE outlines a comprehensive strategy developed via a network of 10 coastal city living labs addressing water and climate-related hazards to enhance coastal city climate resilience through an ecosystem-based approach (EBA), smart technologies and hybrid nature based solutions (NBSs), while facilitating financial sustainability. SCORE will develop and deliver a new generation of tools and methodologies, as well as validated EBAs, to enhance citizen engagement, improve climate and erosion monitoring and projections, facilitate knowledge sharing and enable exploration of different mitigation actions and risks.
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POIANA – Piattaforma per Osservazioni In ambito Agricolo, Naturalistico e Ambientale
(funded by Ministero delle imprese e del made in Italy (MIMIT), Oct. 2023 – Sept. 2026)
The POIANA project aims at developing a system based on IoT (Internet of Things) technology for precision agriculture, using a set of sensors to obtain a detailed view of the environment. The project also introduces an innovation in the use of an aerial platform consisting of a tethered balloon, aiming to reduce costs and make current remote sensing technologies more sustainable. In particular, the POIANA project aims to develop and implement a technological demonstrator for a remote monitoring and control system for natural and/or agro-environmental environments over a large area, designed for semi-permanent, multi-purpose, and reconfigurable use, based on distributed sensors.
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INTERCONNECT – INTEgRated COmmuNicatioNs, sEnsing and CompuTing
(funded by University of Pisa, Nov. 2022 – Oct. 2024)
The ongoing deployment of 5G cellular systems is continuously exposing its inherent limitations, compared to its original promise as an enabler for Internet-of-Everything (IoE) applications. These 5G drawbacks are spurring worldwide activities focused on defining the next-generation wireless system, such as beyond 5G (B5G) and 6G, that can truly integrate far-reaching applications such as autonomous vehicles, extended reality, smart cities and industries, digital twins, and remote health-caring. The INTERCONNECT project will address the problem of the integration and coexistence of sensing and communication systems wherein the computational resources will be jointly shared by means of tools from artificial intelligence, and machine learning. In detail, the INTERCONNECT project will focus on: electromagnetic modeling of the environment and multi-function antennas; optimized resource allocation and sensing/communication waveform design; design of new computing paradigms making use of multi-modal remote sensing and imaging.
Past projects
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InsideRain – INStruments for Intelligent Detection and Estimation
of Rain for Agricultural INnovation (https://www.insiderain.it)