FANTASTIC-5G

Link to project website: FANTASTIC

Contact: FANTASTIC-5G-Contact@5g-ppp.eu

Achievements:

The intention of FANTASTIC-5G has been to develop, investigate and propose the air interface (AI) for 5G New Radio (NR) for the frequency region below 6 GHz. 5G NR will have to cope with a high degree of heterogeneity in terms of services, device classes, deployment types, environments and mobility levels. So, diverse and often contradicting KPIs need to be supported. To this end, we have been identifying, developing and evaluating the relevant technical AI components (at PHY, MAC and RRM) and have been integrated them into an overall AI framework where adaptation to the above described sources of heterogeneity can be accomplished.

A subset of innovation clusters the project has worked on, can be summarized as follows (for a complete set of investigated techniques and the respective evaluations the interested reader is referred to the project deliverables to be found at http://fantastic5g.com/ and the numerous publications being issued by the project partners):

Harmonized multi-service air interface for 5G below 6 GHz

FANTASTIC-5G’s ambition has been right from the beginning to neither design different RATs for different use cases nor to propose a “one-fits-all”-solution, but instead to include the relevant degrees of freedom into the basic AI design for the system to allow for various specialized access mechanisms to co-exist. This innovation includes a high number of component innovations.

New waveforms for the next generation of wireless access

FANTASTIC-5G has developed and investigated a set of new waveforms that overcome the demerits of CP-OFDM (better spectral localization of the signal power), improving the performance for MTC services and ensuring efficient coexistence with MBB. These come with novel Link-to-System abstraction, allowing system level assessment and hardware PoCs.

Service-driven frame design and RRM

FANTASTIC-5G has reached consensus on a frame design and the respective RRM framework that enables efficient multi-service support. We advocate a scaling approach in time and/or frequency allowing the multiplexing of services with different requirements and enabling forward compatibility. The ingredients include e.g. dynamic scheduling with variable TTIs, support for asymmetric link operation, and punctured scheduling for latency critical communications. Multi-service scheduling algorithms and use of service classification techniques have been developed.

System level integration of MIMO

FANTASTIC-5G has developed enablers for the integration of massive MIMO at system level, considering both cooperative and non-cooperative schemes, based on a grid of beams (GoBs). The proposed concept includes intra-site CoMP and various configurable options for inter-site CoMP. It presents a powerful interference management framework, where active coordination between cells is applied for cover shift and interference floor shaping to obtain improved performance. We also addressed the MIMO compatibility with new waveforms and exploit multiple antennas to enhance channel prediction in moving scenarios.

Impact:

FANTASTIC-5G has/had major impact in multiple domains:

On standardization level:

The industrial partners of FANTASTIC-5G have submitted 74 Tdocs towards 3GPP being fed by the outcomes of the project (e.g. related to waveforms, coding, channel design, etc.). There is a strong alignment between the decisions being taken by 3GPP and the proposals of FANTASTIC-5G. Additionally, many outcomes of FANTASTIC-5G will be fed into 3GPP once they are under discussion (e.g. related to intercell-interference cancellation, enhancements for massive MIMO, etc.).

On publication level:

The partners in FANTASTIC-5G have produced more than 80 publications both for the major communication conferences and the relevant printing media. Additionally, the project has organized a high number of work-shops, special sessions and booths to distribute the project outcomes. Various partners have contributed to various panels. So, the outcomes of the project have successfully been fed into the research community ensuring their relevance beyond the project lifetime.

On educational level:

The partners in FANTASTIC-5G from academia have supervised a high number of master, bachelor and PhD Theses during the course of the project dealing with research questions being covered by the project. Additionally, the findings of the project have been incorporated in multiple courses preparing the new generation of engineers for the future of telecommunications.

On EU-research level:

A part of the consortium of FANTASTIC-5G has developed a project proposal for the second phase of H2020. It has been granted and is currently on-going under the name ONE5G.

Homepage:     http://fantastic5g.com/

Project Participants:

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