6G-EWOC: Artificial intelligence and 6G technologies to achieve safe, more interconnected mobility

In the future, vehicles will generally circulate autonomously, as the technologies required for them to perceive their surroundings are evolving rapidly. 6G-EWOC is designed to go a step further and ensure that future vehicles can be driven autonomously and even better than human-driven cars. To achieve this, in addition to detecting the objects, other vehicles or people that are around them, vehicles must be able to determine accurately at what distance these obstacles are, at what speed they are moving and in which direction. With all this information, the vehicle’s intelligence can decide which is the safest route to take and can even detect ‘blind spots’ or ‘see’ situations that are not easy to perceive and that are a common cause of crashes or accidents (for example, when a vehicle or another object obstructs the view of a pedestrian who is about to cross a road).

To avoid accidents, vehicles that are driven autonomously and those driven by humans must have a map in real-time, with detailed 3D information of roads, traffic jams and other vehicles, beings or objects that are present in each environment they pass through. To achieve this, connected vehicles are needed that can exchange the large volumes of information that are generated by their powerful sensors, both between vehicles and with computing centres. The computing centres will be responsible for fusing, in real time, everything that vehicles detect or “see” in each moment, through RADAR and LiDAR sensors or the cameras of various vehicles. Therefore, very powerful networks are needed that can manage the volume of data that is generated. Various technologies must be used, such as those developed and brought together in the 6G-EWOC project.

These technologies range from sensors based on integrated lasers (such as LiDAR, which can detect in 3D everything around them) to optical wireless communications between vehicles and with elements such as lampposts or traffic lights, which can act as an extra antenna for 6G. To develop the project, high-capacity optical fibres are required, which are increasingly present in homes, cities, motorways and urban furniture and can transport all this large volume of data to the nearest distributed calculation centre.

In addition, AI will help to organise and direct all the data traffic to the various calculation centres and fuse the data of vehicles in each zone. This will construct a piece of the 3D map and integrate it with the rest of the pieces, which will be generated by the computing elements distributed in other zones. Through the network that is developed, a detailed map can be transmitted to drivers and vehicles, which is comprehensive and updated in real time. This will make driving as safe as possible.

Consortium, budget and funding

At the UPC, researchers from the following centres are participating in 6G-EWOC: the Advanced Broadband Communications Center (CCABA), who are the coordinators of the project, the Research Centre of Intelligent Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (IDEAI-UPC), the Centre for Sensors, Instruments and Systems Development (CD6), and the Remote Sensing, Antennas, Microwaves and Superconductivity Group (CommSensLab -UPC). In addition, a further 11 European members are involved in the project, including the Telecommunications Technology Centre of Catalonia (CTTC), which is also associated with the UPC and with the spin off BEAMAGINE, which emerged from CD6 UPC.

6G-EWOC was one of 27 projects selected in the second call for applications for the programme Smart Networks and Services in 6G (6GSNS), which is associated with the European framework programme Horizon Europe and has been allocated over five million euros (four of which were provided by the European Union and more than one by the Swiss government). It has a duration of 3 years (2024-2026).