Our aim is to design and develop new algorithms and protocols for 6G waveform standardization and increase the technology readiness levels of the proposed technologies by implementing the proof of concept within the open RAN testbed. To demonstrate the specific fields we would like to provide contributions, our recent project acivities can be summarized as follows.
• Field measurement-based channel characterization studies for air–to–ground (A2G) and air–to–air (A2A) wireless communication systems using two drones equipped with lightweight software-defined radio.
• We have been developing secure waveform for 4G/5G including physical, link and network layer security aspects in European Union projects.
• A QoS simulator demonstrating the performance improvements of relay in 4G/5G networks has been developed using a realistic propogation model on digital terrain elevation data.
• We have employed various AI/ML algorithms for wireless signal detection and identification and developed a real-time spectrum monitoring prototype.
• We demonstrated physical layer security using reconfigurable intelligient surface (RIS) prototype in an indoor office environment, where we developed AI/ML based algorithms for configuring the phases of RIS elements.
• We developed a computationally efficient blind adaptive beamforming algorithm for receiver with array miscalibrations. The performance improvement of this algorithm has been experimentally verified for 1x4 SIMO using SDRs. We have been working on establishing a testbed for massive MIMO system having 64 antenna elements.
• A measurement setup for sub-THz frequncies is designed, and a measurement campaign is conducted for the micro-scale THz communication applications, where measurements are collected for different distances and orientations. Measurements are processed to derive channel impulse and frequency responses. Statistical channel characteristics are modeled using ML algorithms.
The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK) is the leading agency for management, funding and conduct of research in Türkiye. It was established in 1963 with a mission to advance science and technology, conduct research and support Turkish researchers. TÜBİTAK has several divisions and institutions such as industry, space, defence, metrology, transportation, energy & climate, material sciences, observatories and academic, research and technology infrastructure & zones. It disseminates publications, organizes events and provides financial and non financial support and programs for academia, public and private sectors. TÜBİTAK has 14.4 billion TL allocated budget for 2023 and operates currently with approximately 6000 personnel in its 12 million m2 area.
BİLGEM, an affiliate of TÜBİTAK, produces and applies scientific and technological solutions with its qualified human resources and internationally accepted infrastructure in the areas of information security, communications and advanced electronics. With more than 2400 staff (80% work on R&D, %10 Ph.D. and %40 M.Sc. graduates), 40 years of experience and expertise on the design of advanced electronic systems, TÜBİTAK BİLGEM have so far completed a remarkable number of successful projects in the fields of information technologies, information security, electronic intelligence, electronic warfare, cyber security, software technologies and cryptology. The employees of BİLGEM have all adopted the common ideal of “Becoming an international technology and production center that pioneers the development of new technologies in communications and advanced electronics areas”. BİLGEM contributes to universal science by incorporating the universities into the ongoing projects and encouraging its researchers for academic career development opportunities.
Communication and Signal Processing Research Laboratory (HİSAR) in TÜBİTAK BİLGEM has been established to perform interdisciplinary research and development studies with the hardware/software co-design principle for investigating cross-layer (L1/L2/L3) waveforms in the field of next generation wireless communication and sensing technologies. HISAR provides a laboratory infrastructure for experimenting different aspects of heterogeneous wireless networks including 4th and 5th generation wireless networks. We have been currently working on expanding the infrastructure for 6G R&D studies including mmWave/THz equipment, massive MIMO setup, reconfigurable intelligent surfaces at sub-6 GHz and 29 GHz to support 6G standardization. HİSAR works with Turkish universities, companies, and operators to harmonize the 6G R&D activities throughout the country. The main research areas include:
• Waveform design and optimization for 5G and beyond systems
• Statistical channel modeling and algorithm design for visible light communication, mmWave and TeraHertz band communication
• Digital signal processing applications for communication, navigation, and sensing
• AI/ML for wireless communication and sensing applications
• RF based navigation and localization
• Prototype hardware and software development (CPU, FPGA, GPU)
In HİSAR, there are 18 full-time researchers (3 Ph.D., 3 M.Sc., and 12 B.Sc) focused on algorithm development for wireless communication and signal processing applications. For prototype development activities, there are 19 full time researchers (2 Ph.D., 10 M.Sc., 7 B.Sc.) working on hardware, FPGA and embedded software development. We have been closely working with Antenna, RF, and Radar departments to design and develop wireless communication and sensing solutions within TÜBİTAK BİLGEM.