Faculty of Electrical Engineering with state-of-the-art 5G equipment for students and research

THE FACULTY HAS SET UP A 5G COMMUNICATION SYSTEM WITH PARTNERS FROM INDUSTRY.

Ljubljana, 28 March 2023 - The Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the University of Ljubljana strives to provide students with a top-quality education supported by state-of-the-art technologies and equipment, and therefore works closely with the economy and other stakeholders in pursuit of the goals of digitisation of society and the advancement of modern technologies and services.

The Telecommunications Laboratory at the Department of Information and Communication Technologies, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, UL, has established a 5G research and test environment that enables higher data transmission speeds, increased reliability and energy efficiency. The hardware and software for the 5G radio access network was donated by Huawei, the Stand-Alone 5G core network software was provided by S&T Iskratel, and the use of radio frequencies was made possible by Telekom Slovenije. The equipment was co-funded by the Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS). Modern equipment at technical faculties is crucial for the education of future staff entering the digitalised labour market, and some of them will certainly contribute to innovation in this field and to the further rapid development of the ICT industry. Future engineers will now be able to train in mobile ICT and cyber security using the most advanced 5G technology.The 5G system is part of a larger test and measurement environment at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, which provides an infrastructure for measurement, testing and verification, as well as experimental research in the field of complex communication systems and services in modern communication and data environments.

"At the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, we are aware that the creation of a 5G environment is one of the most topical acquisitions in the digital transformation era. Therefore, we are very pleased that in cooperation with our partners, Huawei, S&T Iskratel and Telekom Slovenije, we have been able to establish such an environment. We believe that this will enable our students and researchers to be educated in the latest technologies and to develop new innovative solutions in the field of mobile communications and cyber security," said the Dean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Prof. Dr. Gregor Dolinar.

"The 5G environment is an important asset for the Telecommunications Laboratory, both from a teaching and research perspective. The equipment will allow students to learn about modern mobile networks and their applications in a hands-on way, and researchers to test and validate different application scenarios based on big data, cybersecurity, high reliability, low latency and massive inter-device communications. We are particularly pleased that the establishment of the environment further strengthens the cooperation between the university and industry, which is a good basis for increasing scientific progress and developing innovative technological solutions in the future," said Prof. Dr. Andrej Kos, Head of the Telecommunications Laboratory at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering.

Huawei is the world's leading provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices. As the most advanced provider of 5G technology, Huawei offers comprehensive solutions and services in more than 170 countries around the world. More than half of Huawei's employees work in research and development. "Huawei is committed to the progress and development of the ICT industry. We believe in collaboration, so we are proud to have provided equipment to the Faculty of Electrical Engineering together with our partners, which will make a significant contribution to the quality of study programmes and is a good example of the cooperation between the education system and the economy. Huawei attaches great importance to talent development and actively cooperates with educational institutions and organisations in the markets where it operates. We also organise our own ICT talent development programmes, such as Seeds for The Future, which offer young people, including in Slovenia, an insight into the world of innovative technological solutions and trends, while empowering them to play an active role in the digital world," said Walter Zhang, CEO of Huawei Technologies Slovenia.

S&T Iskratel is committed to developing and advancing comprehensive and highly reliable solutions for a secure, smart and digitised future. Digital technology is having a profound impact on the operation of critical business infrastructure. 5G technology is expanding from public networks to private networks and will complement and replace other wireless technologies in the future. With private mobile networks, enterprises get reliable, secure and high-performance mobile communications, while controlling data traffic and supporting network operation under all conditions for business-critical applications. "This is crucial to support digitisation, as well as to ensure reliability and business continuity for enterprises. New skills and business models are needed for the transition to 5G private networks. In light of this, we are committed to developing the workforce of the future, who will be able to handle increasingly powerful networks, develop innovative new use cases for networks, and ensure a higher level of security for employees and critical infrastructure," said Urban Zaletel, Head of 5G Development at S&T Iskratel.

Telekom Slovenije, as Slovenia's leading provider of ICT services and solutions, is constantly developing and introducing new innovative technologies, providing users with connectivity through a state-of-the-art network, state-of-the-art services and an excellent user experience. It was also the first to enable Slovenian users to use 5G technology as early as 2020. By working closely with the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, it makes an important contribution to developing the competences and skills of young people who are and will be the co-creators of the digital future. "Inaddition to traditional communication services, 5G technology enables the development of new innovative ICT solutions, including dedicated, so-called campus networks, which can be fully virtualised or hybrid public-private mobile networks. Together with our partners, we have also established such a dedicated network at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, which will enable young people to acquire the necessary knowledge to develop digital solutions that will respond to the extremely rapid technological development, while at the same time enabling organisations to be competitive and successful," emphasises Dejan Šošter, Head of Research and Development Projects at Telekom Slovenije.

The equipment will provide students, researchers, professors and other professional staff with additional support for their studies, project work and the realisation of development and business ideas in the field of mobile information and communication technologies.