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edgeFLEX participates in EuCNC & 6G Summit, Grenoble

Posted: 01-07-2022

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    Walton Institute represented the edgeFLEX project at this year’s European Conference on Networks and Communications (EuCNC) & 6G summit, along with representatives from Ericsson Germany. edgeFLEX aims to further develop the concept of the Virtual Power Plant (VPP) in order to manage a wider range of energy generation and storage assets in a new way, particularly focusing on renewable sources.

    After two years of restrictions, this edition of the conference took place as an in-person event, based in the World Trade Center within the city of Grenoble, located in the French Alps. The conference brought together representatives from many organisations in the telecommunications research and commercial space, demonstrating their various projects for the three-day event which took place in June.

    Project Trends

    The automation of manufacturing, transport and other processes appeared to be a general trend of the projects present at the conference and in total the conference hosted 42 project booths, featuring many diverse applications of 5G and terahertz communications, from the operation of robotics and machinery in the smart factory setting, low-latency satellite communications and automated drone control.

    As the conference targets the applications of 5G & 6G, the edgeFLEX project stand focused on the application of 5G for low-latency VPP communications and how this benefits the operation of dynamic grid balancing and control services, in addition to device management with a 5G specific API. The Walton Institutes contribution to the stand was the operation of a software demo, highlighting the edgeFLEX platform and services, and how Policy Based Grid Management (PBGM), a new research concept which has been awarded an Innovation Radar, allows System Operators to easily manage the operational bounds of grid management services and energy flexibility.

    From left to right: Felix Maier (Ericsson), Tuana Ensezgin (Ericsson), Darren Leniston (Walton Institute)

    Re-connecting with partners

    The edgeFLEX project stand was a great success, attracting interest from individuals from a wide range of backgrounds and expertise, each with interesting questions and queries regarding the 5G implementation and the project as a whole. It was also a great opportunity to connect with new people, as the conference attracted well over 200 participants, and to meet face to face with project partners, as over the last number of years, all meetings and communication have taken place remotely.

    The city of Grenoble was a fantastic choice of location to host the conference, boasting warm weather, interesting sites such as the famous cable cars, friendly locals, and a selection of delicious food, both traditional to the area and a host of multi-cultural options.

    Pictured: View of Grenoble from the cable car station

    All in all, the EuCNC & 6G summit was a worthwhile experience and great opportunity to showcase the outputs of the edgeFLEX project and to obtain a sense of the research trends and topics of interest in the telecommunications space.