FUTON

Current two big trends in wireless communications are the development of new broadband component and the integration of heterogeneous wireless networks, to achieve the vision for the so-called 4G network.

The FUTON project addresses both issues by proposing the development of a hybrid fibre-radio infrastructure transparently connecting remote antenna units to a central unit where a joint processing can be performed. This allows the development of virtual MIMO concepts to achieve broadband wireless transmission, and also inter-cell interference cancellation. Furthermore the fact that several heterogeneous systems are co-localized enables the development of efficient Common Radio Resource Management procedures. The focus of the project includes two main components: one, the dominant, dealing with technical aspects and a second addressing business / deployment models related with the techniques under study.

At the technical level the main goals are:

Specify, design, implement and provide proof of concept for a hybrid optical-radio infrastructure enabling the integration of heterogeneous systems including the broadband component of future wireless systems
Exploit the potentialities offered by the transparent infrastructure to specify and develop the PHY and MAC layer of the broadband wireless system based on distributed processing.
Exploit the potentialities offered by the infrastructure for distribution of heterogeneous radio services and develop mechanisms for inter-system coordination and optimum usage of the radio resources and provide the proof of concept.
And in terms of deployment/ business models

Evaluate the implications on the current wireless architecture models of the FUTON concept, determine cost models for upgradeability / replacement and provide roadmaps for evolution and standardization.
The FUTON consortium brings together expertise from the areas of wireless and optical communications, allowing synergies between these two areas.

In FUTON, Sigint contributes from the physical to the application layer. At the physical layer, the company is investigating radio planning issues and the MIMO capacity gain that can be achieved in a virtual MIMO setup. At the system/network layer, Sigint is developing a centralised mobility platform that will execute and control all the handover functionality between heterogeneous wireless networks.