iTNT-NS Laboratory

Developed in the context of RESTART program (namely “RESearch and innovation on future Telecommunications systems and networks, to make Italy more smart”, which is the most important public R&D program ever implemented in the Telecommunications sector in Italy funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU), the research team belonging to the iTNT-NS laboratory designs and investigates – also through heterogeneous Proof-of-Concepts - the integration of terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks and services through a 3-dimensional communication infrastructure. At the time of this writing, the mission of iTNT-NS is the:

• Study (through field measurements) of the coexistence between Terrestrial/Non-Terrestrial (T/NT) communications in FR1 frequency bands,
• Performance analysis of a 3D multi-layer communication architecture for integrated T/NT networks to support new 6G-oriented use cases (including IoD), with specific Quality of Service and energy requirements,
• Analysis (through field measurements) of the performance of new transmission techniques and advanced orchestration schemes for resources and services in integrated T/NT networks,
• Definition of the architectural principles, components, APIs, and tools required to build and validate advanced test platforms for 5G and 6G, and
• Implementation of pilot installations and experimental demos to study the technologies of interest for the projects under Spoke 2, testing the impact of future telecommunications networks and services on principles such as inclusiveness, sustainability, security, etc.

To this end, iNTN-NS explores the following enabling technologies:

Internet of Drones (IoD). Unmanned Aerial Vehicles are an important enabler for 5G and 6G communications and can be employed for a wide range of applications. Drones can fly in swarms, continuously optimizing their trajectory, and coordinate among themselves, thus delivering value-added services in many applications, including goods delivery, environmental surveying, first-aid units in disruptive events, and Flying Base Stations in 5G and Beyond scenarios with multiple users requesting connectivity at the same time in the same area. Research activities on the Internet of Drones context include the design and assessment of different channel models and the optimization of the entire mission plan, spanning from the trajectory to the communication outage probability. 

Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) and Integrated Terrestrial/Non-Terrestrial Networks (T/NTN). Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) and their integration with Terrestrial Networks (T/NTN) represent a fundamental evolution in 5G/B5G/6G systems, enabling seamless global coverage and supporting mission-critical services with stringent requirements. These networks must harmonize heterogeneous components across space, air, and ground segments within virtualized infrastructures.

5G and Beyond. The 5th Generation of mobile networks and beyond communication systems, namely 5G/B5G/6G, target the ambitious goal to support a very heterogeneous mixture of services having specific and challenging requirements. To this end, they should integrate and properly harmonize heterogeneous technical components, services, and network functions, deployed at different level of the overall (virtualized) infrastructure.