The UPV leads technology to "optimize" 5G networks and the Internet of Things

VALENCIA, 6 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) leads 'Musician', a disruptive project in the field of telecommunications whose objective is the development of new devices that would allow the optimization of new generation wireless access networks and would facilitate the development and use of Internet of things.

Coordinated by the Nanophotonics Technology Center (NTC), 'Musician' "will cross the traditional boundaries between disciplines such as radio frequency electronics and nanophotonics, uniting them through high-frequency nanomechanical resonators." The project focuses on the development of NOEMS (Nano-Opto-Electro-Mechanical Systems), integrated devices where electrons, photons and phonons are manipulated.

"With adequate engineering, NOEMS can have essential functionalities in information and communication technologies (ICT), particularly in both wireless and wireline access networks that are characterized by requiring an interface with fiber optics as well as managing microwave channels in which the information addressed to a certain group of users is encoded", explains Alejandro Martínez Abiétar, a researcher at the Center for Nanophotonic Technology and coordinator of the project, in a statement.

In this sense, the specialist points out that any technology used in future access networks --5G and successive ones-- must be compatible with silicon CMOS microelectronics, to guarantee large-scale and low-cost production.

Thus, the long-term vision is that the nodes of the next-generation access networks, necessary to make the Internet of Things paradigm a reality, will include NOEMS on integrated silicon chips, which will be mass-produced at low cost and interconnected. with fiber optics.

Among its advantages, the NOEMS technological platform that will be developed in this project stands out for its scalability and for allowing greater manufacturing capacity and reproducibility. In addition, it would reduce consumption compared to the ICT devices currently used, because the use of nanomechanical resonators (with very low energy consumption) avoids the use of high-frequency electronic devices to generate the GHz signals that are radiated and which are more bulky and Consequently, they consume more energy.

"'Musician' will improve the performance of current systems through more efficient electromechanical interfaces that will reduce energy consumption in these nodes. The use of nanomechanical resonators will allow us to generate the frequencies at which the information is modulated in a region of several microns square, reducing the size of the chips. The objective is to demonstrate that NOEMS technology can be disruptive in 5G networks, as well as in the next-generation access networks required by the Internet of Things", emphasizes Alejandro Martínez Abiétar.

The project, of special relevance for companies dedicated to network installation and manufacturers of integrated optics devices, also participates in the Institut Català de Nanotecnología (ICN-2, Spain), the Technical Research Center of Finland Ltd (VTT, Finland) and the Institut d'Electronique, de Microélectronique et de Nanotechnologie (Lille, France).

Funded by the State Research Agency, within the framework of the CHIST-ERA call, the project started last December and will conclude at the end of 2025.