Tyrone Burke, February 24, 2022
Photo credit: Lindsay Ralph and Ericsson

New Ericsson Chair in 5G Wireless Research at Carleton University Receives a $2-Million Investment in Developing 5G to its Full Potential

The Ericsson-Carleton University Partnership for Research and Leadership in 5G Wireless Networks has established the Ericsson Chair in 5G Wireless Research to explore solutions to the real-world application challenges of 5G.

5G is more than just an update to existing wireless networks. It is a new system being built from the ground up that will modernize applications in industries such as health care, agriculture, transportation, robotics and autonomous vehicles.

“Anything that requires information transmission will happen on 5G. Fiber optics will retreat into the background and 5G wireless will be what consumers actually interact with,” says Ioannis Lambadaris, the Ericsson Chair in 5G Wireless Research and Chancellor’s Professor in Carleton’s Department of Systems and Computer Engineering. “The new 5G infrastructure is seamlessly integrating into every aspect of life—from entertainment to emergency response to communications.”

Once 5G is fully established, there will be billions of people who will use these networks on more than just their mobile phones. Connected 5G devices are expected to proliferate in the coming decade, and by 2030 there could be more than 25 billion of them. This will bring a demand for data that far exceeds anything experienced to-date, and even ultra-fast 5G networks will require enhancements to cope with the expected traffic levels.

“To satisfy all users, you will need to slice networks, almost in real time,” explains Lambadaris. “Different network slices will need to be configured in an adaptive fashion. How can this be done? That is one challenge we are trying to solve with our partners at Ericsson. We are not doing the bits and bytes—they know how to implement that much better than we do—but we will go into the concepts and algorithms to achieve that aim. By knowing this more abstract level of networking, we will come up with new ideas, proposals, and strategies on how to optimize the 5G network technologies.”

$2-Million Investment
As research chair, Lambadaris’ work will be informed by some of Ericsson’s pressing challenges. Among his current research projects are the development of mathematical techniques for indoor localization over 5G, drone control systems that allow beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations over 5G, and an algorithm that reduces latency in drone control systems, enabling error-free operation of drone auto-stabilization systems.

Ericsson Canada established the chair with an investment of $1 million. That amount has been matched by Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada’s (NSERC) Alliance Grant program for a total commitment of $2 million.

Industry Presence Key to Generating New Ideas and Training the Next Generation

For close to a decade, Lambadaris and Ericsson have worked together on a variety of research projects, and renewed their working relationship on a project-by-project basis. The new partnership brings long-term continuity, and for Lambadaris, that’s key.

Lambadaris completed his PhD at the University of Maryland’s College Park Systems Research Center (now known as the Institute for Systems Research), and has watched it grow from a partnership into a prestigious permanent institute. As a PhD student, he was funded by NASA, and he credits the presence of industry with helping students appreciate the complexity of high-tech work and the challenges that companies face.

“I would like to see a constant and growing presence of engineers from industry at Carleton University—for the university to have strong links with industry, and the necessary funding to generate new ideas and promote high tech,” he says.

“Most importantly, I want to see this partnership go forward into the future—to become bigger and grow. Ten or 15 years from now, I will be retired, but I want to see the research infrastructure here continue to build. We want to do research with practical applications. Working on these types of problems will help Carleton attract the best talent.”

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