CONNECT SFI Research Centre

Overview

CONNECT, the SFI Research Centre for Future Networks and Communications, comprises a consortium of Irish academic institutes undertaking world-leading research, development and innovation in future communications networks with a unified purpose and mission: CONNECT envisions and researches a future of sustainably deployed dependable networks that foster innovation in services and customer experience to empower citizens and improve quality of life. 

Over 250 researchers across 10 Higher Education Institutes are supported by €90 M of funding from the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centres Programme, the European Regional Development Fund and industry partners.

Implementation

CONNECT researchers tackle issues of particular interest to industry. Their work includes the development of:

•     Energy-efficient networks, and ultra-low power smart sensors, and storage
•     Programmable network substrates for multi-stakeholder ecosystems
•     Extreme-sharing systems for Cloud-RAN architectures
•     Network-aware, high performance and mm-wave radio transceiver architectures for 5G
•     Quality-of-experience management for sparse, bursty data networks

Key objectives

CONNECT focuses on ten research themes looking to the next generation of networks:

•     Dependable Networks
•     Sustainable IoT
•     Link Performance
•     Customised Networks
•     Data-driven Optimization and Management
•     Network Ecologies
•     Smart Cities
•     Connected Autonomous Vehicles
•     Cybersecurity
•     Quantum & Satellite Communications

Achievements

Communications networks are now part of our critical infrastructure, enabling a vast range of applications that we have all come to rely on. These networks must now evolve to enable services that one day will also become ubiquitous, from augmented reality to autonomous vehicles. At CONNECT, we design the next generation of networks that automatically respond to the services that run on them.