A partnership with Polish mobile network company IS-Wireless has made it possible for RTU’s Institute of Telecommunications (TI) of the Faculty of Electronics and Telecommunications (ETF) to create its own 5G Open RAN (open radio access network) laboratory. Thanks to this support from IS-Wireless, RTU researchers will be able to utilize the private 5G network to create laboratory conditions that will enable diverse research in the field of data transmission. The ceremonial signing of the memorandum of cooperation between the two partners took place on October 19 at RTU student campus in Ķīpsala.
The memorandum of cooperation between RTU and IS-Wireless provides that RTU will supply specialized software to create a private 5G network that will create laboratory conditions for conducting various scientific research. The research will be isolated from the surrounding world’s influence, thereby preventing interaction with other network users, and creating the possibility for more accurate measurements - in data transmission, for example. For ETF scientists, an investment such as this is important for their research work, as one of their research profiles is to find a way to transmit large amounts of data over a certain distance as quickly and safely as possible.
In addition, the capabilities of RTU’s private 5G network could also be used by other RTU research units for their scientific activities, conducting research, and creating prototypes, such as smart home or smart city technologies, self-driving cars, or drones. This network could also be used in the future to test 5G devices to determine their compliance with the required standards.
This investment is promising, as it is likely the Open RAN architecture will also be used in next-generation mobile communication networks, such as 6G and 7G.
The contract was signed while representatives from both RTU and IS-Wireless were in Latvia attending the 5G Techritory forum, Europe’s leading 5G ecosystem initiative. The 5G Techritory forum was organized by Elektroniskie Sakari in cooperation with the Latvian Investment and Development Agency (LIAA), Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development (VARAM) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), with the Latvian Mobile Telephone as the strategic partner and additional support provided by the Minister of Nordic Countries the Council and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
