EU’s EVOLVED-5G Project to Back Open XR Networks

The experimental platform aims to empower European telecoms and XR developers with fresh tools

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Published: December 15, 2021

Demond Cureton

The European Commission’s research and development funding division, CORDIS, has provided updates on its new Experimentation and Validation Openness for Long-term evolution of VErtical inDustries in the 5G era and beyond, or ‘EVOLVED-5G project’, the organisation announced on Tuesday.

The project, launched in January this year, aims to build an ecosystem of network applications (NetApp) and boost European experimentation in open-source 5G solutions for vertical industries.

NetApps supported by the EVOLVED-5G project will include extended reality (XR) manufacturing, haptic consoles to conduct repairs on industrial surfaces, machine-to-machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) platforms for remote monitoring of industrial facilities, among many others.

The CORDIS-funded project will also incorporate technologies to build blockchain data brokerage engines, AI-based humanoid robots and robotic fleets for logistics, as well as video analysers to improve safety for autmated processes for industries, the organisation said.

EVOLVED-5G also aims to facilitate readiness across European Union member-states and partner nations with technology and marketing focuses, CORDIS said.

The project would also provide small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and third-party developers with a crucial ecosystem of network tools such as application programming interfaces (APIs) to allow greater interoperability between multiple network apps.

NCSR Demokritos and 5G Network Emulation

The National Centre for Scientific Research-Demokritos (NCSR Demokritos) near Athens, Greece, is developing a Network Exposure Function (NEF) emulator to allow SMEs to further their 5G programming capabilities.

According to the project’s website, the emulator would implement “the standardized NEF APIs in a configurable emulated environment, where the user can define specific simulation environments.”

Features on the open-source NEF API include the monitoring the numbers and types of user devices on 5G ‘Next Generation NodeB’ (gNBs) wireless base stations used for sending and receiving communications between mobile networks and personal equipment, CORDIS explained.

Users can also define simulation environments and test such NetApps using ‘testbed’ emulations from the NEF API ecosystem.

Dr Harilaos Koumaras, Project Technical Manager for the NCSR Demokritos, said,

“EVOLVED-5G and NEF Emulator democratizes the 5G openness to every third party that is interested to develop 5G-aware services and applications, the so-called NetApps. NEF emulator is an easy tool that provides access to the 3GPP NEF APIs, even if a real 5G Core network is not available.”

XR4ALL, XRA Push for Tech Ecosystems

News of the developments come amid major efforts from the pan-European XR4Europe Initiative, which aims to develop and promote XR solution ecosystems on the European continent and abroad.

Additional organisations such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) have also moved to build standards for the global XR industry with intensive research and use case building.

Speaking to XR Today, the IEEE’s Jennifer Rogers explained how her organisation worked with partners around the world to back the XR industry for educational and industrial purposes, among others.

In the United States, the XR Association launched a GitHub repository along with the XR Access Initiative to provide accessibility features for developers to build solutions for users with disabilities.

 

 

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