NOKIA NETWORKS FRANCE

As we move to the Internet-of-Things, the number of devices which will be connecting to the Internet – many of them without any direct human control - is estimated in billions in the immediate future. In October 2016, the Mirai Botnet performed the largest Denial-of-Service attack in history using infected consumer devices, showing how pressing is the need to properly secure the IoT. In parallel, a new technology has emerged which will be key in any future development in this sense: the blockchain. Initially designed as the backbone of Bitcoin a decade ago, Blockchain Technologies (BCT) are seen now as powerful digital abstraction of trust and stand out as a promising alternative to deal with it in the online world. Several initiatives are moving towards using BCT for securing the IoT, and the academic and industrial sector are participating in a race to envision and design new applications of BCT. However, there are few experts with a solid scientific background in IT Technologies who also have first-hand knowledge of the needs of the industry and who understand the financial and regulatory challenges of BCT. These professionals can be key to articulate converge of the BCT and the IoT technologies, to envision and create new business opportunities for the European economy. BAnDiT or Advanced Blockchain Attacks and Defense Techniques is an innovative research training network with two beneficiary organizations, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) in the academic sector and Nokia Bell Labs in the private sector, which aims at bridging this gap. UPF will contribute through the network her knowledge and research experience in the departments of Information and Communication Technologies, Economics and Law and Nokia its hands-on experience in BCT. Partner organisations will contribute with transversal training events and providing access to existing blockchain ecosystems to test the results of the research conducted by the ESRs.

Industry and construction 4.0 have high expectations of AR technologies in terms of productivity gains and quality improvement. Numerous proofs of concept demonstrate significant returns on investment but difficulties occur when it comes to large-scale deployment in operational dynamic environments exposed to variable lighting conditions. To overcome these limitations IT leaders (Google/Apple/Microsoft) investigate ARCloud technology in building a 3D map of the environment in the cloud which can be updated and shared by any AR device, allowing collaborative AR experiences and a more robust and accurate 3D registration. Unfortunately, the early-stage ARCloud implementations do not fully meet industry and construction 4.0 requirements and European players may face a lock-in situation if no sovereign solution is proposed to them. ARtwin project aims to provide European Industry and Construction 4.0 with a ARCloud platform that meets their needs. This platform deployed on a private distant or/and edge cloud ensures the privacy of information and offers three key services: (i) an accurate and robust 3D registration for any AR device in large-scale and dynamic environments, allowing to present relevant information to workers at the right time and place, (ii) reduction of the difference between the physical and digital world by continuously maintaining the Digital Twin/BIM model based on vision sensors available in the factory or on construction sites, (iii) display of complex 3D augmentations on any AR device by remotely rendering them in the cloud with ultra-low-latency. The ARtwin platform and services will be validated in operational environments through two use cases in Industry 4.0 and a use case in Construction 4.0. The results of the format of the 3D map stored in the cloud will be submitted to standardization bodies to prevent lock-in situation with few vendors and encourage an ecosystem with a diverse range of solutions providers (small players, academics, etc.)

EMPOWER ambitions to accelerate the joint development between the EU and the US on advanced wireless platforms targeting the new connectivity frontiers beyond 5G. EMPOWER targets the creation of a joint EU-US advanced wireless ecosystem for (i) bridging the relevant EU-US Wireless communities and stakeholders, such as scientific researchers, platform engineers, standardization experts, regulators, and product incubators; and (ii) developing a strategic EU-US collaboration agenda and supporting its execution ahead of worldwide competition for beyond 5G connectivity standards. EMPOWER foresees twinning with the best researchers and practitioners involved in projects funded by USA, especially with entities participating in the PAWR programme (https://www.advancedwireless.org/). EMPOWER will provide instruments for inducing collaboration between ongoing and forthcoming 5G and beyond initiatives targeting at wireless networks experimentation on both ends of the Atlantic. Through the EMPOWER instruments we aim to create an efficient means for stimulating the circulation of ideas and people between European and similar American experimental wireless platform initiatives. We also aim at encouraging stronger collaboration between fundamental and experimental wireless researchers by making access to platform tools and data exchange simpler. EMPOWER instruments will also provide a wealth of information for global and regional standards and regulatory organizations (e.g. ITU-R, ETSI) and industry fora (e.g. NGMN). An important additional output of EMPOWER will be in the form of recommendations on technologies and experimentation methodologies for future wireless experimentation objectives. This will assist in providing coordination between EU (Horizon Europe) and US NSF programmes for future individual and joint calls.

Large Networks is one of the key notions in contemporary science and technology. The availability of massive amounts of data and interaction between individuals of large populations of any kind, whether biological, social or computer units, places network analysis at the forefront of current scientific challenges. The mathematical foundations of large networks have now become the focus of research in the later decades from diverse perspectives. The project RandNET brings together leading researchers worldwide from the areas of combinatorics, probability theory, computer science and statistics with the aim of blending approaches from these areas in the rigorous mathematical foundations for analysing random networks. The whole project is driven by real applications in data science and learning on large networks. This is planned through an alliance between academic and industrial partners. A second goal of the project is to establish a wide platform of knowledge dissemination on the topic of randomness and learning in networks for use of specialists from all scientific disciplines.

The objective of PICTURE project is to develop a photonic integration technology by bonding multi-III-V-dies of different epitaxial stacks to SOI wafers with a thinner and uniform dielectric bonding layer. This heterogeneous integration platform will enable higher performance lasers and photo-detectors using the optimized III-V dies. In addition, the thinner bonding layer will lead to record performance MOSCAP III-V/Si modulators, and to a new generation of wavelength tunable distributed feedback lasers. Moreover the full process including SOI process, bonding, III-V and back-end process will be made on a 200mm R&D CMOS line, leading to higher yield, smaller footprint and lower cost PICs. Two types of PICs with a total capacity of 400Gb/s will be developed, packaged and validated in system configuration. In parallel, PICTURE project will develop direct growth of high performance quantum-dot lasers and selective area growth on bonded templates for high density future generation of PICs. The project is coordinated by III-V Lab, and includes University of Southampton, CEA, University College London, Imec, Tyndall, Argotech and Nokia Bell Labs. The consortium is highly complementary, covering all skills required to achieve the project objectives: growth of semiconductor materials, silicon process and III-V process, design and characterization of PICs, prototyping and assessment of PICs in high bit rate digital communication systems: Apart from the adequacy of the consortium to achieve collectively the project objectives, the consortium partners have the potential to set up a comprehensive supply chain for the future exploitation of the project results, either by exploiting the results “in house” or by setting up suitable partnerships.