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
Sui Z
(2023)
Space-Time Shift Keying Aided OTFS Modulation for Orthogonal Multiple Access
in IEEE Transactions on Communications
Saxena S
(2023)
Sparse Channel Estimation for Visible Light Optical OFDM Systems Relying on Bayesian Learning
in IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society
Srivastava S
(2020)
Sparse Doubly-Selective Channel Estimation Techniques for OSTBC MIMO-OFDM Systems: A Hierarchical Bayesian Kalman Filter Based Approach
in IEEE Transactions on Communications
Srivastava S
(2021)
Sparse, Group-Sparse, and Online Bayesian Learning Aided Channel Estimation for Doubly-Selective mmWave Hybrid MIMO OFDM Systems
in IEEE Transactions on Communications
Stigant L
(2018)
Spatially Adaptive Linear Precoding for Systems Beyond G.Fast
Wang Y
(2020)
Stochastic Hybrid Combining Design for Quantized Massive MIMO Systems
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
Shao S
(2019)
Survey of Turbo, LDPC, and Polar Decoder ASIC Implementations
in IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials
Xiong Y
(2022)
The Accuracy vs. Sampling Overhead Trade-off in Quantum Error Mitigation Using Monte Carlo-Based Channel Inversion
in IEEE Transactions on Communications
Kaykac Egilmez Z
(2020)
The Development, Operation and Performance of the 5G Polar Codes
in IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials
Cao Y
(2022)
The Evolution of Quantum Key Distribution Networks: On the Road to the Qinternet
in IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials
Pan D
(2024)
The Evolution of Quantum Secure Direct Communication: On the Road to the Qinternet
in IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials
Pan C
(2018)
The Non-Coherent Ultra-Dense C-RAN Is Capable of Outperforming Its Coherent Counterpart at a Limited Fronthaul Capacity
in IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications
Ding X
(2019)
The Security-Reliability Tradeoff of Multiuser Scheduling-Aided Energy Harvesting Cognitive Radio Networks
in IEEE Transactions on Communications
Duan R
(2019)
The Transmit-Energy vs Computation-Delay Trade-Off in Gateway-Selection for Heterogenous Cloud Aided Multi-UAV Systems
in IEEE Transactions on Communications
Li S
(2020)
Time-Domain vs. Frequency-Domain Equalization for FTN Signaling
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Yuan W
(2019)
TOA-Based Passive Localization Constructed Over Factor Graphs: A Unified Framework
in IEEE Transactions on Communications
Liu W
(2018)
Topological Interference Management for Wireless Networks
in IEEE Access
Kudeshia A
(2019)
Total Variation Based Joint Detection and State Estimation for Wireless Communication in Smart Grids
in IEEE Access
Sun Z
(2020)
Toward Practical Quantum Secure Direct Communication: A Quantum-Memory-Free Protocol and Code Design
in IEEE Transactions on Communications
Xing C
(2020)
Training Optimization for Hybrid MIMO Communication Systems
in IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications
Liu X
(2019)
Trajectory Design and Power Control for Multi-UAV Assisted Wireless Networks: A Machine Learning Approach
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Xiao L
(2018)
Transmit Antenna Combination Optimization for Generalized Spatial Modulation Systems
in IEEE Access
Xia G
(2020)
Transmit Antenna Selection and Beamformer Design for Secure Spatial Modulation With Rough CSI of Eve
in IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications
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
Rajashekar R
(2018)
Transmit Antenna Subset Selection in Spatial Modulation Relying on a Realistic Error-Infested Feedback Channel
in IEEE Access
Yang Y
(2017)
Trellis- and Network-Coded Modulation for Decode-and-Forward Two-Way Relaying Over Time-Varying Channels
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Cui J
(2021)
Twin-Component Near-Pareto Routing Optimization for AANETs in the North-Atlantic Region Relying on Real Flight Statistics
in IEEE Open Journal of Vehicular Technology
Xiao Z
(2024)
Twin-Layer RIS-Aided Differential Index Modulation Dispensing With Channel Estimation
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
Lu S
(2019)
Two-Dimensional Index Modulation for the Large-Scale Multi-User MIMO Uplink
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Sheng Z
(2021)
UAV-Aided Two-Way Multi-User Relaying
in IEEE Transactions on Communications
Huo Y
(2019)
Unequal Error Protection Aided Region of Interest Aware Wireless Panoramic Video
in IEEE Access
Wang J
(2022)
Unsourced Massive Random Access Scheme Exploiting Reed-Muller Sequences
in IEEE Transactions on Communications
Rajashekar R
(2017)
User Selection Algorithms for Block Diagonalization Aided Multiuser Downlink mm-Wave Communication
in IEEE Access
Lin Y
(2019)
User-Centric Clustering for Designing Ultradense Networks: Architecture, Objective Functions, and Design Guidelines
in IEEE Vehicular Technology Magazine
Li X
(2017)
User-Centric Visible Light Communications for Energy-Efficient Scalable Video Streaming
in IEEE Transactions on Green Communications and Networking
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
Mao T
(2017)
Zero-Padded Tri-Mode Index Modulation Aided OFDM
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 | 07/2016 |
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 | 09/2016 |
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 |
Sector | Academic/University |
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 |