Project Objectives

Objective 1: Establish a training platform for energy neutral BSs: Research training in the field of energy neutrality for future wireless networks is our core aspiration.

Objective 2: Introduce game-changing performance metrics to motivate the adoption of energy-autonomous infrastructure-less networks: The lifetime of an energy-autonomous access point will be a critical performance indicator in the future networks envisaged in this proposal and is not accounted for explicitly by the current 5G performance metrics.

Objective 3: Radicalize the management of energy generation, storage and consumption to enable the design of future self-powered networks: Realistic, detailed and scenario-specific energy modelling for ICT has yet to be delivered. Current models of power management in ICT do not take power generation and storage into account, while the power consumption models that exist are either too generic and inaccurate, or simply centred around traditional macro BS operation, and very little is known about the UAV-based BSs.

Objective 4: Boost by 100x the energy efficiency of wireless transmission by use of energy-neutral BS with optimised access and backhauling techniques: Building on the optimisation and power-balancing methodologies of this work, PAINLESS will further deliver the enabling technologies for implementing energy-neutral network operation.

Objective 5: Revolutionise access provision through flexible, off-the-grid, UAV-based access points: To realize a truly portable network for the access provisioning demands outlined above, a new generation of UAV-oriented signal processing, resource optimization and control technologies are required.

Objective 6: Introduce a holistic optimisation of energy harvesting (EH), wireless information and power transfer: Towards a power-autonomous and reconfigurable network with nodes of varying power generation and storage capabilities entering and leaving the network, state-of-the-art traffic management on its own falls short and new techniques for sharing both traffic load and power resources are required.

Objective 7: Define and demonstrate, for the first time, self-powered access points: Based on the techniques and performance metrics developed above, we will demonstrate proof-of-concept wireless transmission with power autonomous BSs

Project Structure

WP1: Project Management (UCL)

• Network coordination, communication and reporting oversight

WP2: Dissemination and Exploitation (NOK)

• Dissemination, exploitation, standardization activities coordination Use-cases, scenarios

WP3: Research Program (ALBA)

• Technical activities and coordination, making ESR projects coherent

WP4: Training and Mobility (MAN)

• Training tools and events coordination, mobility management and ESR career development

WP5: Ethics requirements (UCL)

Ethics requirements, GDPR, open access