ECS plays crucial role in new wireless systems for China and India
ECS researchers have been awarded a contract to design telecommunications networks across India and China.
Professor Lajos Hanzo, Chair of Telecommunications at the University of Southamptonâs School of Electronics and Computer Science, and his team are working in a consortium with nine UK institutions and seven Indian Institutes of Technology to design the next generation of wireless systems across India.
"India has a huge rural population and our aim is to provide telecommunications for remote villages,â? says Professor Hanzo. âThis is very challenging and there are theoretical and practical constraints but there is a huge need for this to support next generation healthcare and other services in India."
The five-year (two phase) initiative is in its first phase and is funded in collaboration between the Research Councils UK (RCUK) Digital Economy Programme and the Indian Government Department of Science and Technology (DST) together with the ICT industry to the tune of over £10 million.
The project is referred to as the India-UK Advanced Technology Centre (IU-ATC) of Excellence in Next Generation Networks Systems and Services, and is led overall by Professor Gerard Parr from the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland, and Professor Ashok Jhunjhunwala at the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras.
In another project, UK-China Science Bridges: R&D on (B)4G Wireless Mobile Communications (UC4G), which has the ultimate goal of creating a UK-China Joint R&D Centre for Future Wireless Communication Networks, and is funded by the Research Councils UK (RCUK) to facilitate the collaboration of British and Chinese academic institutions, Professor Hanzo and his team are working with academic and industrial partners to develop next-generation global wireless telecommunications systems.
In this three-year China-UK project, a test bed will be created for the research and development of cutting-edge mobile communication systems.
In the UK consortium, there are six academic partners led by Dr Cheng-Xiang Wang of Heriot-Watt University, four associate academic members, and the Mobile Virtual Centre of Excellence (representing its 15 industrial members). The Chinese consortium consists of seven academic partners and six industrial partners led by the Shanghai Research Centre for Wireless Communications (WiCO).
Professor Hanzo commented: "China and India together form a market of two billion people. The provision of effective telecommunications in these markets will have a powerful influence on industry."
These systems are expected to support flawless tele-presence with the aid of three-dimensional (3D) âAvatar-styleâ stereoscopic video and audio communications. The team at Southampton has recently made substantial investments in 3D cameras and displays as well as in holographic visualization facilities in support of these radical research goals.
For further information contact Joyce Lewis; tel.+44(0)23 8059 5453.