KTH announces government funding for 6G research centre

SSF has awarded a grant of 60 million kronor to the multidisciplinary research center “SMART 6GSAT - Sustainable Mobile Autonomous and Resilient 6G SatCom”, the first Swedish center of its kind.
“Our goal is to provide everyone in the world with reliable and sustainable mobile connectivity, even in remote locations where today's connectivity is poor or non-existent,” says the Center Director Cicek Cavdar, KTH.

Full connectivity is made possible within the SMART 6GSAT center by seamlessly integrating terrestrial mobile network technology with space-based satellites. The new 6G technology is expected to be deployed in the 2030s.

“The three-dimensional infrastructure we are developing will revolutionize the way we build the networks of the future, from ground to space. It will significantly reduce network costs and enable connectivity in hard-to-reach places without expensive and cumbersome antenna equipment,” Cavdar says.

She leads a center collaboration that includes 21 partners from universities, research institutes, companies, regions and authorities.
The center will develop network technologies that integrate terrestrial and space systems, and develop new intelligent applications that combine communication, localization and remote sensing.

“We want to create not only a technology for global connectivity, but also one that is energy efficient, reliable and resilient. We work with all stakeholders in Sweden to ensure that the systems meet their requirements.”

Research ranges from improving hardware for 6G devices and satellites to developing new algorithms and protocols that enable network integration from ground to space.
This includes the development of signal processing methods that handle high signal losses while being robust to space-based interference.

The start of the center, which is made possible by the grant from the SSF Foundation for Strategic Research, is January 1, 2025.

This article was first published on 16 December by KTH.