COREnext at Nokia Bell Labs Seminar: Driving Innovation with Impact
This summer, Nokia Bell Labs hosted an internal seminar that brought together around 40 participants, creating an engaging platform for knowledge sharing and collaboration. One of the highlights of the seminar was a presentation by José Luis González Jiménez from CEA-Leti, who delivered an insightful talk titled "Recent Investigations of Channel Aggregation Transceiver Architectures for D-band and H-band Communications".
The presentation showcased the latest research in advanced communications architectures, including contributions from the COREnext project.
Motivations for Polymer Microwave Fiber Communications
One part of the presentation focused on the motivations for Polymer Microwave Fiber (PMF) communications, where COREnext research was highlighted. PMF technology represents a new frontier in high-data rate communications, offering significant benefits for professional connectivity, data centers, connected industries, and medical equipment. The technology aims to replace traditional optical cables, such as 10-25GbE optical links, with more efficient solutions, providing telecom fronthaul applications with better flexibility and scalability.
The research also emphasized the role of PMF communications in bridging the gap between Baseband Units (BBUs) and Radio Heads (CPRI), showcasing how this approach could replace conventional optical cables, offering enhanced performance for on-board interconnections in various industrial and medical sectors.
Sustainability and Industry Impact
For nearly 100 years, Nokia Bell Labs scientists have made many groundbreaking discoveries and innovations including the transistor, the laser, Information Theory, UNIX and more. These breakthroughs have been recognized in the awarding of hundreds of prestigious prizes, including ten Nobel Prizes and five Turing Awards. Nokia Bell Labs continues to champion disruptive technologies for improving sustainability to make a measurable impact on society. By integrating the research results of projects like COREnext, Nokia Bell Labs is advancing the vision of connected industries that operate more efficiently, with reduced energy consumption and lower environmental impact.
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Driving Progress Towards SDG 9 and SDG 11 through Cybersecurity and Innovation
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are 17 interconnected goals established by the United Nations in 2015 to tackle pressing global challenges such as poverty, hunger, education, gender equality, sustainable energy, and climate change, with the aim of creating a better world by 2030. The COREnext project plays a pivotal role in advancing two of these goals: SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure, and SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities. By integrating cutting-edge digital components and architectural innovations, the project ensures that infrastructure and urban development remain both resilient and energy efficient.
Building Trustworthy and Resilient Digital Infrastructure (SDG 9)
SDG 9 aims to foster resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialisation, and support innovation. As part of Work Package 4 (Digital Components: Components for power-efficient signal processing, and Components for isolation, orchestration & TEEs) in the COREnext project, the focus is on developing trustworthy infrastructure that ensures resilient industrial and societal digitisation. These digital components play a pivotal role in ensuring the security of industries and communities during digital transformation. COREnext enhances system security by implementing robust component isolation and minimizing trusted computing bases, thereby reducing the attack surface and improving overall resilience.
Additionally, Work Package 3 (Trustworthy Disaggregated Computing Architecture) contributes to SDG 9 by shaping an architecture that promotes secure and scalable digital infrastructure, which is vital for sustainable development in various sectors, from transport to energy. To fully achieve SDG 9 by 2030, investments in infrastructure - including transport, irrigation, energy, and information and communication technology - are crucial. Supporting Least Developed Countries (LDCs) through investments in advanced technologies, reducing carbon emissions, and expanding mobile broadband access are essential steps toward empowering communities and fostering sustainable development.
Enhancing Energy Efficiency for Sustainable Cities (SDG 11)
SDG 11 aims to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. COREnext supports this by improving energy efficiency through accelerator integration, enabling hardware to perform tasks previously handled by software on general-purpose processors. The digital innovations within Work Package 4 enable the integration of energy-efficient solutions into digital infrastructure by systematically replacing inefficient components with more efficient alternatives. This facilitates the operation of smart cities with reduced energy consumption and lower carbon footprints, thereby promoting sustainability by optimizing energy consumption and management in urban environments.
Digitalisation also plays a vital role in boosting energy efficiency across various sectors, contributing directly to SDG 11's sustainability targets. By incorporating innovative technologies, cities can reduce their environmental impact, improve public services, and ensure long-term resilience to climate change and population growth.
What Needs to Be Done to Achieve SDG 9 and SDG 11 by 2030
While the COREnext project is making contributions, there is still work to be done to fully achieve these goals by 2030. For SDG 9, it is essential to:
- Continue investing in infrastructure in critical areas like transport, energy, and communication technology.
- Increase support for LDCs by investing in advanced technologies and ensuring their inclusion in global digital advancements.
- Focus on lowering carbon emissions through sustainable industrial practices.
- Improve access to mobile broadband, ensuring that all regions, particularly underserved ones, can benefit from digital innovations.
- For SDG 11, more efforts should be made to:
- Boost energy efficiency through further digitisation and integration of smart technologies in urban areas.
- Promote the use of sustainable energy solutions in cities to minimise their carbon footprint and improve the overall quality of urban life.
A Secure and Sustainable Path Forward
COREnext's contributions to SDG 9 and SDG 11 showcase how cybersecurity and digital innovation can directly impact global sustainability efforts. By prioritising trustworthy infrastructure, improving energy efficiency, and promoting inclusive digitisation, COREnext is helping to shape a future where industries and cities are not only more secure but also more sustainable. Achieving these goals by 2030 will require continued innovation, investment, and global collaboration.
Stay tuned for further updates as COREnext continues to drive forward the future of sustainable and secure infrastructure.
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