UK based University of East Anglia (UEA) will lead the high-speed communications network project in India
New Delhi : With an investment of £1.4-million, the new UK-India Future Networks Initiative (UKI-FNI) project will be led by the University of East Anglia (UEA) that will support the integration of high-speed communications networks in India. The project is funded by the UK Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (UKRI’s EPSRC).
The project will explore innovations in the supply chain for hardware and software systems that provide access, connectivity and services for future digital networks. The UKI-FNI project, collaborating with scientists and engineers in India, will also develop a joint vision and research strategy for the future of 5G and 6G.
India has an excellent research and innovation base in networking systems software and has the complex testbeds required for proving new technologies. It aims to increase competitiveness and choice of vendors that design, manufacture and deploy systems such as antennae, transmission and switching equipment at base stations, as well as the integration components that support backhaul transport and associated network management systems.
Prof Gerard Parr, Chair in Telecommunications Engineering and Head of School of Computing Sciences at UEA, is leading the project. Partners include Regius Prof Rahim Tafazolli at the University of Surrey; Prof Lajos Hanzo at the University of Southampton; and Prof Steve Hailes at University College London. Key partners in India are Prof KVS Hari of the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore and Prof Subrat Kar of the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi.
UKI-FNI is a community-building project that will address key research, engineering and business challenges and opportunities. The team will also endeavour to develop a longer-term, larger-scale research and innovation collaboration in future networks between the UK and India. (For more details : https://www.ukifni.org)
This project is part of a wider UKRI collaboration with the Indian Department of Science and Technology (DST) as together they explore a new India-UK research and innovation partnership in the area of future telecom networks.