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International Workshop on Future Communications celebrated in Glasgow
Published: 3rd July 2024
On the 24th and 25th of June, the INTER-ACADEMY INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON ‘FUTURE COMMUNICATIONS AND 6G’ was held at the Technology and Innovation Centre in Glasgow. More than 100 delegates from around the world attended this event to discuss the evolution of future telecommunications and to ensure that future wireless systems are open, interoperable, scalable, sustainable, and universally accessible. Luca Campanalonga, Technical Business Development Manager at the Scotland 5G Centre, was part of the organising committee and in charge of the exhibition space.
Over the two days, various talks and panel sessions took place alongside an exhibition, where the Scotland 5G Centre had the pleasure of being one of the exhibitors and sponsors. The Centre showcased various use cases and projects they are involved in, including SCONDA and 5GIR.
On the second day of the workshop, MSP Mr. Tom Arthur delivered the opening speech, highlighting the importance of digital transformation in Scotland. He presented some of the 5G use cases the Centre has developed, emphasizing their broad range—from retrofitting autosteering technology in agriculture at the James Hutton Institute to 5G metaverse and augmented reality innovations in the fashion industry with Scotland ReDesign.
Following his speech, the minister visited the exhibition, where the Centre’s team had the opportunity to explain these use cases and further activities in detail. The event was highly productive, featuring insightful talks and gathering significant interest from attendees, including representatives of the Swedish Government, in the Scotland 5G Centre’s model and its use cases.
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Pop-Up 5G Drones to Transform Mountain Search and Rescue
Published: 17th May 2024
Tay Cities Region Deal funds pathfinder project to create moving 5G search bubble
A team of mobile connectivity and drone specialists have demonstrated the use of flying 5G drones as a moving connectivity bubble which could transform mountain search and rescue missions.
The demonstrations, which took place near Tarfside in Angus, Scotland, brought together JET Connectivity’s pop-up 5G technology with an aerial drone to form a self-deploying 5G network.
Mountain search and rescue is traditionally reliant on teams hiking the mountains and glens or the assistance of helicopters for wider area searches. These two options are either time consuming – potentially disastrous in an emergency – or expensive.
Hillside and mountain locations also often suffer from poor phone signal, so rescue teams cannot communicate or share location or video information while working to save lives.
The challenges seen in emergency situations across the world can be revolutionised with the use of a pop-up, moving, mobile network and visual search platform.
The 5G drone network can be set up in minutes in an emergency. One or multiple drones will search a wide area, whilst streaming video and infrared footage back to the controller over the 5G network which has been created by the drones.
JET Connectivity’s 5G base station in a box is lightweight and low power, so can be carried by the drone and either deployed remotely on the ground for fixed coverage throughout the mission or kept in flight to provide a moving bubble of connectivity.
The demonstration at Tarfside concludes a research and development pathfinder project as part of the Tay5G Project under the Tay Cities Region Deal. Funded by the Scottish Government, the project has been led by JET Connectivity, supported by DTLX who provided the drone approvals and flights, as well as Abertay University and Scotland 5G Centre.
A second demonstration is planned in June for an offshore beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone demonstration, utilising the pop-up 5G capability at sea as a floating network. This will enable increased safety and less risk to people working offshore by transforming skilled jobs to the safety of a control room with remote surveying, inspections and maintenance.
James Thomas, CEO at JET Connectivity, said: “It has been fantastic to see the integration of our 5G technology in an aerial drone coming to life. Seeing the difference this could make to search and rescue missions is really exciting, and I hope it can be used to make the work of the fantastic search and rescue teams easier as they continue to save lives. Providing connectivity for safety has always been at the heart of JET’s vision, and I am so excited to see this come to life in new ways with the fantastic work of our engineering and networks teams. There are so many other opportunities to use this solution now the technology has been developed, such as disaster recovery, and we are delighted to be a part of making a difference.”
Scottish Government Economy Secretary Kate Forbes said: “The Scottish Government is providing £2 million towards innovative 5G trials such as the search and rescue drones project as part of the Tay Cities Region Deal. Our funding is enabling businesses and academia to explore the benefits of new technology for communities across Scotland, supported by our Scotland 5G Centre. This project is a great example of how 5G connectivity can be used to support the emergency services in rural areas and potentially save lives.”
Richard Stark, Director at DTLX said: “With the UK’s drone industry starting to ramp up on the back of several government initiatives, it has been really exciting to work with our sub-contractor, the Edinburgh Drone Company, to build a heavy lift drone and fascinating to learn about the intricacies of 5G technology. Hopefully this project will act as a launchpad for further development to support both the mountain rescue as well as other public and commercial services in remote locations where the ability to communicate large amounts of data, almost instantaneously, is important.”
Dr Laith Al-Jobouri of Abertay University’s School of Design and Informatics said: “This project is a powerful example of what can be achieved when academia and industry work together to address real world problems. There’s huge potential here, not just to advance the UK’s approach to search and rescue situations, but also to apply the same or similar technology to a wide range of other sectors.”
Kirsty Scott, Senior Business Senior Business Engagement Manager at The Scotland 5G Centre said: “The Centre is excited to contribute technically to support to this project, and also arrange access to our 5G test bed. Using mobile 5G private networks, we’re demonstrating the endless possibilities and flexibility of this technology, without being bound by geography. This project exemplifies how 5G can be used to bring network coverage to remote areas, enhancing mountain rescue operations by enabling drone flights. It’s a game-changer for search and rescue teams, revolutionizing mountain rescue efforts as we know them. We look forward to helping support the wider adoption of this solution.”
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Pioneering 5G technology scoops industry awards
Published: 30th April 2024
A private pop-up 5G network designed by Scottish engineers to beam live footage of the coronation of King Charles III and the Queen across the globe, has won two prestigious industry awards.
The potentially game-changing technology reduces the reliance on fixed wire connections between camera crews and outside broadcast vehicles, and the team included engineers from the University of Strathclyde’s Software Defined Radio team (StrathSDR) and spin out company Neutral Wireless, in collaboration with the BBC and other key partners.
A research paper: This link opens a PDF document detailing how the private network was deployed along The Mall, a project that drew on years of collaborative work and demonstrated the viability of 5G technology for media production, won the Best Paper Award at the 2024 NAB Broadcast Engineering and Information Technology (BEIT) Conference in Las Vegas on April 13. The conference event showcases new trends, ideas, products, and services, driving innovation in content creation and distribution and runs in parallel with the NAB Show.
Historic event
Lead author, Dr Samuel Yoffe from the University of Strathclyde’s Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, said:
“It was an amazing opportunity to play a part in such a historical event, and it was a real collaborative effort.” “To have our paper detailing the design, development and delivery of such an ambitious project recognised by the NAB and BEITC with a best paper award is fantastic, and we are hugely grateful to the organisers and panel.”
The project, which delivered the world’s largest temporary private 5G standalone network to connect cameras, for the worldwide broadcast of the historic event on May 6 last year, also won an IABM Broadcast and Media award for best project, collaboration, event or other innovation award. The awards, also recognised at the NAB show, celebrate outstanding technological innovations.
The judges noted: “This project demonstrated the very best in technical collaboration and problem solving to meet the needs of broadcasters to solve a very real problem around access to reliable spectrum and bandwidth for important events.
“The detailed planning and proof-of-concept work was a great foundation for the live use of the technology in a real environment … a future pathway to a very agile approach in deploying non-public networks for events such as this.”
Uncontested coverage
The network was used by 20 leading broadcasters, including the BBC, CBS, Sky and CNN. Eight 5G cells were set up along The Mall, providing reliable and uncontested coverage from Buckingham Palace to Admiralty Arch. It delivered 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps) of wireless connectivity, carrying high definition (HD) video from wireless cameras to production facilities around the world.
The kit was deployed after successful network testing in Loch Lomond-side at the Scotland 5G Centre supported Wave 1 Rural testbed earlier in 2023.
Professor Bob Stewart, head of the University’s Software-defined Radio team, said: “Spectrum sharing has come of age in the last two years and solutions like the Neutral Wireless private 5G networks for media and broadcast mean that, from local community events to professional sports, there are new options to be streamed live using wireless 5G technology.”
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Ayrshire’s 5G Vision Comes Alive: Exciting Engagement at the Innovation Region Event
Published: 5th February 2024
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