Cooperative backhaul aided next-generation digital subscriber loops
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Southampton
Department Name: Sch of Electronics and Computer Sci
Abstract
Cisco has recently released its traffic forecast study, which suggests that the world will enter into the Zetta-byte era in 2018. The UK alone generates and consumes approximately 10% of the entire global tele-traffic, making the UK one of the most data-dependent countries on the globe. To meet the demand of exponentially growing tele-traffic and to sustain the current level of economical growth, a high-quality digital infrastructure based on innovative and cost efficient solutions is required. The current geo-economics and building-preservation of historic cities do not favour the pervasive penetration of fibre. Hence, a lower-cost solution based on the improved exploitation of the existing copper network is essential to facilitate transformation of the digital infrastructure to support the next evolutionary step to Giga-bit/s data rates.
Since their emergence in the 80's, Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL) have remained the dominant technology for broadband access with 364.1 million subscribers worldwide. Eventually fibre solutions will become ubiquitous, but given the vast copper network across the UK/EU, the pervasive penetration of fibre may be delayed for decades and copper may remain the best solution for heritage environments to prevent irreparable damage to historical street fabric. Owing to significant technology investments, DSL technology has evolved dramatically, increasing the throughput from Kilo-bit/s upto Giga-bit/s, with the aid of the newly developed G.fast solution.
However, experts from our industrial partner BT believe that the throughput achieved with the aid of the state-of-the-art copper technology may only represent less than 30% of its ultimate capacity, when we exploit the hitherto unexploited high-frequency band. Hence, the research of next-generation ultra-high-throughput DSL systems beyond G.fast becomes of crucial importance and timely, where radically new signal processing techniques have to be conceived. The challenge is to conquer the entire Very High Frequency (VHF) band and to holistically design the amalgamated wire-line and wireless system considered. Our proposed research starts from the fundamental understanding of the DSL channel over the entire 500 MHz VHF band to the design of radical signal processing techniques for tackling the critical challenges. Holistic system optimization is proposed for exploiting the full potential of copper. Thanks to BT's huge support, our proposed research has a high immediate engineering impact and a long-term scientific adventure.
Since their emergence in the 80's, Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL) have remained the dominant technology for broadband access with 364.1 million subscribers worldwide. Eventually fibre solutions will become ubiquitous, but given the vast copper network across the UK/EU, the pervasive penetration of fibre may be delayed for decades and copper may remain the best solution for heritage environments to prevent irreparable damage to historical street fabric. Owing to significant technology investments, DSL technology has evolved dramatically, increasing the throughput from Kilo-bit/s upto Giga-bit/s, with the aid of the newly developed G.fast solution.
However, experts from our industrial partner BT believe that the throughput achieved with the aid of the state-of-the-art copper technology may only represent less than 30% of its ultimate capacity, when we exploit the hitherto unexploited high-frequency band. Hence, the research of next-generation ultra-high-throughput DSL systems beyond G.fast becomes of crucial importance and timely, where radically new signal processing techniques have to be conceived. The challenge is to conquer the entire Very High Frequency (VHF) band and to holistically design the amalgamated wire-line and wireless system considered. Our proposed research starts from the fundamental understanding of the DSL channel over the entire 500 MHz VHF band to the design of radical signal processing techniques for tackling the critical challenges. Holistic system optimization is proposed for exploiting the full potential of copper. Thanks to BT's huge support, our proposed research has a high immediate engineering impact and a long-term scientific adventure.
Planned Impact
o Economic/Societal Impact - The digital infrastructure plays a major role in spreading scientific, educational business and social information globally. However, the UK's growth in digital infrastructure lags behind that of its competitors, where the City Growth Commission report underlines that the existing national infrastructure is not matching the needs of sustained growth and if no investments are made to circumvent this problem, a loss of £90 billion will be encountered by 2026. The report further suggests that for every £1 invested, the UK's GDP is boosted by £1.3. Owing to the expensive roll-out of a full fibre infrastructure, a novel copper technology achieving tens of Giga bits/s throughput will be required to generate significant revenue for meeting the tele-traffic demands in a cost-effective and sustainable way. Hence, the success of this proposal is vital and lies within the primary focus of the UK's economy.
o Personal Impact - The research would make a substantial impact on the wider research community. This would help the UK to play a leading role in these transformative research areas. It would also help both the University of Southampton and Newcastle University to maintain its world-class research reputation, as well as further developing the expertise and project leadership skills of the investigators. The experience obtained under this EPSRC project would enable us to undertake more ambitious projects in the future, for the sake of making an even wider impact and contributions.
o Academic Impact - The research would make a substantial impact on the wider research community, as detailed in the Academic Beneficiaries section.
The underlying scientific approach will shed light on radical advances in `digital signal processing' in support of `an intelligent information infrastructure', under the EPSRC priority `Information and Communication Technologies'. Moreover, our proposed research on ultra-high-throughput DSL systems will conceive the required high-capacity back-haul of small-cells in the 5G wireless networks, which is addressed under the growing EPSRC `RF and microwave communications' research area. Finally, the wire-line and wireless convergence facilitated by our proposed research provides the fundamental support for creating the next generation Internet, which is envisioned to provide £50 ~ £100 billion per year benefits for the UK according to the `UK Future Internet Strategy Group'. Hence, our proposed research will establish such a digital infrastructure for supporting `information technology as a utility', as envisioned by the `Digital Economy' theme.
o Personal Impact - The research would make a substantial impact on the wider research community. This would help the UK to play a leading role in these transformative research areas. It would also help both the University of Southampton and Newcastle University to maintain its world-class research reputation, as well as further developing the expertise and project leadership skills of the investigators. The experience obtained under this EPSRC project would enable us to undertake more ambitious projects in the future, for the sake of making an even wider impact and contributions.
o Academic Impact - The research would make a substantial impact on the wider research community, as detailed in the Academic Beneficiaries section.
The underlying scientific approach will shed light on radical advances in `digital signal processing' in support of `an intelligent information infrastructure', under the EPSRC priority `Information and Communication Technologies'. Moreover, our proposed research on ultra-high-throughput DSL systems will conceive the required high-capacity back-haul of small-cells in the 5G wireless networks, which is addressed under the growing EPSRC `RF and microwave communications' research area. Finally, the wire-line and wireless convergence facilitated by our proposed research provides the fundamental support for creating the next generation Internet, which is envisioned to provide £50 ~ £100 billion per year benefits for the UK according to the `UK Future Internet Strategy Group'. Hence, our proposed research will establish such a digital infrastructure for supporting `information technology as a utility', as envisioned by the `Digital Economy' theme.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Lajos Hanzo (Principal Investigator) | |
| Rong Zhang (Co-Investigator) |
Publications
Ding X
(2024)
Interference Management by Harnessing Multi-Domain Resources in Spectrum-Sharing Aided Satellite-Ground Integrated Networks
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Liang K
(2019)
Performance Analysis of Cellular Radio Access Networks Relying on Control- and User-Plane Separation
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Singh J
(2025)
Multi-Beam Object-Localization for Millimeter-Wave ISAC-Aided Connected Autonomous Vehicles
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Xu K
(2021)
MIMO-Aided Nonlinear Hybrid Transceiver Design for Multiuser Mmwave Systems Relying on Tomlinson-Harashima Precoding
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Gupta S
(2019)
Performance Analysis of Device-to-Device Communication Underlaying Dense Networks (DenseNets)
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Hoang T
(2022)
RIS-Aided AANETs: Security Maximization Relying on Unsupervised Projection-Based Neural Networks
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Liu D
(2021)
Deep Reinforcement Learning Aided Packet-Routing for Aeronautical Ad-Hoc Networks Formed by Passenger Planes
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Yu H
(2024)
Rate-Fairness-Aware Low Resolution RIS-Aided Multi-User OFDM Beamforming
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Wang Y
(2022)
RIS-Aided Hybrid Massive MIMO Systems Relying on Adaptive-Resolution ADCs: Robust Beamforming Design and Resource Allocation
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Li Y
(2019)
Analogue Wireless Beamforming Exploiting the Fiber-Nonlinearity of Radio Over Fiber-Based C-RANs
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Srivastava S
(2021)
Bayesian Learning Aided Sparse Channel Estimation for Orthogonal Time Frequency Space Modulated Systems
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
An J
(2022)
Low-Complexity Improved-Rate Generalised Spatial Modulation: Bit-to-Symbol Mapping, Detection and Performance Analysis
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Zhang Y
(2020)
Scalable Panoramic Wireless Video Streaming Relying on Optimal-Rate FEC-Coded Adaptive QAM
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Liu X
(2020)
Enhancing the Fuel-Economy of V2I-Assisted Autonomous Driving: A Reinforcement Learning Approach
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Rajashekar R
(2018)
Transmit Antenna Subset Selection for Single and Multiuser Spatial Modulation Systems Operating in Frequency Selective Channels
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Ragheb M
(2024)
RIS-Aided Secure Millimeter-Wave Communication Under RF-Chain Impairments
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Hemadeh I
(2017)
Multiuser Steered Multiset Space-Time Shift Keying for Millimeter-Wave Communications
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Rajashekar R
(2019)
Subcarrier Subset Selection-Aided Transmit Precoding Achieves Full-Diversity in Index Modulation
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Yuan W
(2018)
A Low-Complexity Energy-Minimization-Based SCMA Detector and Its Convergence Analysis
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Zhao G
(2024)
Energy-Spectral-Efficient Heterogeneous Cellular Networks: Joint Optimization of Cross-Tier Inter-BS Cooperation and BS Deployment
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Zhang J
(2019)
Boosting Fronthaul Capacity: Global Optimization of Power Sharing for Centralized Radio Access Network
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Wang L
(2020)
Intelligent User-Centric Networks: Learning-Based Downlink CoMP Region Breathing
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Xiao L
(2018)
Bayesian Compressive Sensing Assisted Space-Time Block Coded Quadrature Spatial Modulation
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Tan L
(2019)
Twin-Timescale Artificial Intelligence Aided Mobility-Aware Edge Caching and Computing in Vehicular Networks
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Zhang J
(2018)
Channel-Envelope Differencing Eliminates Secret Key Correlation: LoRa-Based Key Generation in Low Power Wide Area Networks
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Lu S
(2019)
Two-Dimensional Index Modulation for the Large-Scale Multi-User MIMO Uplink
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Chen J
(2024)
Deep Learning Aided LLR Correction Improves the Performance of Iterative MIMO Receivers
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Satyanarayana K
(2019)
Deep Learning Aided Fingerprint-Based Beam Alignment for mmWave Vehicular Communication
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Xiang L
(2021)
Low Complexity Detection for Spatial Modulation Aided Sparse Code Division Multiple Access
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Sui Z
(2021)
Approximate Message Passing Algorithms for Low Complexity OFDM-IM Detection
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Zhang Y
(2020)
Optimal-Power Superposition Modulation for Scalable Video Broadcasting
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Li Y
(2018)
Joint Space-Time Block-Coding and Beamforming for the Multiuser Radio Over Plastic Fiber Downlink
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Li S
(2020)
Time-Domain vs. Frequency-Domain Equalization for FTN Signaling
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Yu H
(2020)
Improper Gaussian Signaling for Computationally Tractable Energy and Information Beamforming
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Rajashekar R.
(2018)
Transmit Antenna Subset Selection for Single and Multiuser Spatial Modulation Systems Operating in Frequency Selective Channels
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Rajashekar R
(2019)
Transmit Antenna Subset Selection in Generalized Spatial Modulation Systems
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Li X
(2021)
Optimal Massive-MIMO-Aided Clustered Base-Station Coordination
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Zhang Y
(2020)
Optimal-Power Superposition Modulation for Scalable Video Broadcasting
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Rajashekar R
(2017)
Full-Diversity Dispersion Matrices From Algebraic Field Extensions for Differential Spatial Modulation
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Ding X
(2020)
Secrecy Outage and Diversity Analysis of Multiple Cooperating Source-Destination Pairs
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Wang K
(2020)
Content-Centric Heterogeneous Fog Networks Relying on Energy Efficiency Optimization
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Zhang H
(2020)
Federated Learning Assisted Multi-UAV Networks
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Lin Y
(2018)
Modularity-Based User-Centric Clustering and Resource Allocation for Ultra Dense Networks
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Le N
(2021)
Energy-Harvesting Aided Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Reliable Ground User Localization and Communications Under Lognormal-Nakagami-$m$ Fading Channels
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Gong S
(2019)
Robust Energy Efficiency Optimization for Amplify-and-Forward MIMO Relaying Systems
in IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications
Zhang R
(2016)
Performance Analysis of Non-Linear Generalized Pre-Coding Aided Spatial Modulation
in IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications
Chen Y
(2021)
Hybrid Precoding for WideBand Millimeter Wave MIMO Systems in the Face of Beam Squint
in IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications
Feng C
(2021)
Dynamic Hybrid Precoding Relying on Twin- Resolution Phase Shifters in Millimeter- Wave Communication Systems
in IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications
Xing C
(2020)
Training Optimization for Hybrid MIMO Communication Systems
in IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications
Pan C
(2019)
Weighted Sum-Rate Maximization for the Ultra-Dense User-Centric TDD C-RAN Downlink Relying on Imperfect CSI
in IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications
| Description | The new spatial modulation systems designed allow us to simplify the most costly part of mobile communications systems, namely the radio-frequency chain, which reduces the battery-drain of the new systems. We have succeeded in improving the algorithms behind the fast BT Internet connections based on telephone lines. |
| Exploitation Route | The findings were lavishly documented in numerous papers and I would like to compile all results in a book, if time allows. |
| Sectors | Aerospace Defence and Marine Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Education Electronics |
| URL | http://www-mobile.ecs.soton.ac.uk/newcomms/?q=node/178 |
| Description | We designed radically new so-called spatial modulation systems, which strike a flexible trade-off between the number of radio-frequency chains used by large-scale antenna systems and the attainable performance. Single-RF based MIMO systems were created for the first time. This work attracted the attention of InterDigital and they provided 100K funding for our team to develop these ideas further for commercial exploitation. There is also a joint patent with British Telecomm. Furthermore, Dr Rong Zhang was awarded a prestigious RAEng Fellowship, which allows him to spend 3 days a week with BT along with a PhD student in order to pave the way for an increased industrial, economic and societal impact. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2022 |
| Sector | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Electronics |
| Impact Types | Societal Economic |
| Description | EPSRC Institutional Support Dr Rong Zhang |
| Amount | £10,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 06/2016 |
| End | 03/2017 |
| Description | Royal Academy of Engineering Industrial Fellowship Dr Rong Zhang |
| Amount | £17,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Royal Academy of Engineering |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2016 |
| End | 04/2017 |
| Description | BT and NCL |
| Organisation | BT Group |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Contributed in the research of next generation copper technology across a range of physical layer design challanges |
| Collaborator Contribution | Contributed in direct industrial steering and feedback as well as measurement data from BT Contributed in academic discussion and exploitation |
| Impact | n/a |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | BT and NCL |
| Organisation | Newcastle University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| PI Contribution | Contributed in the research of next generation copper technology across a range of physical layer design challanges |
| Collaborator Contribution | Contributed in direct industrial steering and feedback as well as measurement data from BT Contributed in academic discussion and exploitation |
| Impact | n/a |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | EU GOLD |
| Organisation | EU Celtic-Plus GOLD |
| Country | Germany |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Contributed in the research and development of several key WPs within the consortium. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Contributed in industrial steering and academic collaboration, outreach and engagement |
| Impact | n/a |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | CommNet2 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | CommNet² is an EPSRC funded network that aims to bring together the UK academic community engaged in ICT research in order to identify, discuss and address the major ICT challenges of the future. This website acts as the central hub of CommNet² and aims to provide information on the activities of its members to the ICT community at large as well as the media, industry and prospective students. Some key features of the website include events booking and calendar; user groups; and directories of members and their Institutions. Registration, which is quick and straightforward, will enable you to participate fully in the network, post articles, publicise and organise events and share material with collaborators. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017 |
| URL | https://www.commnet.ac.uk/ |
| Description | Copper communication workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Academic researchers from two universities and industrial engineers from BT have attended this copper communications workshop as well as engineers of BT participating in via teleconferencing. Presentations and experiment results were discussed for a whole day. Future plan about project outputs and future plan about next workshop were agreed with attended parties. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | EUSIPCO 2016 Conference Special Session |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | 5 highly prestigious research groups were invited to submit paper to the special session. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Industrial Advisory Board meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Industrial Advisory Board meeting is an event involves both industrial professional practitioners, academic professors and postgraduate students. It is an opportunity for bridging academic research with the industrialization. Academic researchers and industrialists enjoyed a whole after amongst posters and discussions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Tommy Flowers Institute |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | 'Tommy Flowers Institute' is aimed to help develop the UK's future research leaders in industry and academia. Hosted at Adastral Park, Suffolk, the Tommy Flowers Institute will provide national doctoral and post-doctoral ICT industrial researcher development, run by business and academia together, to develop industrial researcher skills in the ICT sector. This research project has received many interests from both professional practitioners and ICT students. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017 |