Labs
This laboratory, which will be located at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros de Telecomunicación and inaugurated soon, will be open to collaboration with the Madrid City Council, the Community of Madrid, other public institutions, companies in the sector, universities, and research centers interested in partnering. The 6GMADLab will be equipped with state-of-the-art instrumentation and measurement equipment and will integrate with other existing laboratories at the School to address the technological challenges demanded by 6G technology.
The primary goal, beyond tackling the theoretical challenges associated with deploying this technology, is to configure the laboratory for the analysis of use cases that will lead to a harmonized vision of the functionalities and capabilities that 6G networks should offer. Developing this technology will require the cross-disciplinary participation of all the School's research groups and will naturally offer companies and research organizations the opportunity to work and assess the feasibility and applicability of these technologies.
The figure above illustrates the various infrastructures that will comprise the 6GMADLab, which are detailed in the following paragraphs:
5G SA MPN of ATHONET / 5G PRIVATE NETWORK BY AMARISOFT IN FR1 AND FR2 BANDS / 5G SA MPN DISRADIO / TERALAB / 5G+RADIO LAB /
OPEN RAN PILOT / LEHA-UPM / IMCOLAB
5G SA MPN of ATHONET
The 6GMADLab will feature another private 5G network donated to the laboratory by the VANTAGE TOWERS-ETSIT-UPM Chair. This private network will operate in the 2.4 GHz band, which is an auto-provisioning band enabled by the Secretary of State for Digital Infrastructure for the industrial sector to conduct testing and deploy 5G use cases. The private network includes installation, integration, project execution, and management services.
It also includes the Push Over Cellular application, which integrates Alea's xPTT solution for 10 subscribers, along with the service for its installation and configuration. The deployment of the MPN by Athonet will allow validation and implementation of additional use cases related to the 5G corridors of the Madrid City Council, such as the integration and distribution of radio resources among multiple operators.
5G PRIVATE NETWORK BY AMARISOFT IN FR1 AND FR2 BANDS
The 6GMADLab will feature two base stations integrated into a plug-and-play PC, an ideal solution for 5G NR SA and NSA testing of all types of user equipment with advanced configurations. Each will function as an eNodeB compatible with 3GPP standards, ng-eNodeB, gNodeB, EPC, and 5GC, enabling functional and performance testing of 5G NR, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-M, and NB-IoT devices.
The setup will include an integrated IMS server and an eMBMS gateway for VoLTE/VoNR and eMBMS testing. These components will facilitate the deployment of use cases in a laboratory environment.
5G SA MPN DISRADIO (5GMADNet)
This network will be one of the key elements of the 6GMADLab, as it will enable a 5G network to operate in the 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz bands under real-world scenarios. The service will be based on the use of a private 5G SA core, on which the private network will be deployed.
The architecture of this private network will involve the installation and integration of a series of base stations providing 5G coverage in both indoor and outdoor areas of Building C at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros de Telecomunicación. This network will also serve as the core for the 5G corridors deployed by the Madrid City Council.
These base stations will be equipped with radio technology to provide private mobile connectivity to authorized users through the use of SIM cards and 5G technology. The base stations will be connected via fiber optic links to a redundant private core located on the School's premises.
TERALAB
It is equipped with high-performance equipment and instrumentation that allows the measurement and characterization of devices, subsystems, and both active and passive RIS surfaces, operating in the millimeter-wave and terahertz bands. Currently, equipment is available to measure passive RIS devices and antennas up to 220 GHz. The enhancement of its capabilities is planned through the acquisition of new instrumentation and technological manufacturing capacity. The availability of this technology is highly attractive, positioning the laboratory as a leading authority in the 6G technology field.
5G+RADIO LAB
A set of instrumentation and equipment for the generation and analysis of signals based on the 5G-NR standard, including frequency bands FR1 (< 6 GHz), FR2 (24.5 GHz to 42.5 GHz), and FR3 (7.125 GHz to 24.25 GHz), considering the latest updates from the various 3GPP releases. This instrumentation will enable the analysis of the advantages of using 5G technology and its potential, such as massive MIMO and beamforming.
It will also allow the design and characterization of phased array antennas and reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS). An SDR platform is available to emulate 5G signals, evaluate their behavior, and enable the integration and characterization of the aforementioned systems in real-world scenarios.
OPEN RAN PILOT
A network based on Open RAN will be deployed with the aim of facilitating pilot projects for the end-to-end development and demonstration of this innovative technology currently undergoing standardization. Additionally, it will enable the evaluation of configurations and algorithms for radio resource management. The platform will consist of one or more base stations and the necessary core network for its operation.
LEHA-UPM
Currently, it allows the characterization and measurement of passive antennas in the 5G bands (up to 6 GHz and millimeter waves) and also in the future 6G band (up to 220 GHz). The necessary equipment is in the process of being acquired to measure active systems in the sub-6 GHz 5G band, enabling the characterization of mobile terminals or tablets, as well as the analysis of MIMO systems and the characterization of phased arrays and RIS surfaces.
IMCOLAB