Grant: CCI Applied Research and Development Grants

Increasingly, Canadians view connectivity as a life-line rather than a convenience. Access to online services supported physical distancing measures adopted across the country to combat the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, with Canadians dramatically widening the range of activities they perform online. With recent service outages making international news, it’s clear that digital connectivity is viewed as essential to daily life. Against this backdrop, we are at the peak of two generational investments in digital infrastructure in Canada and worldwide: the replacement of telephone-era Internet infrastructure with fiber-broadband and the transition of wireless access to dramatically modernized fifth-generation cellular technologies – 5G. This project seeks to improve wired internet access using technology advances and approaches driven by emerging fifth-generation cellular systems (5G) and current research into sixth generation systems (6G). The project will help operators to build unified networks that can serve Internet users who are connected by wired access, wireless access, or even both simultaneously. On both state-of-the-art fiber networks and networks which include copper-wire access, the project will demonstrate 5G-derived AI-driven improvements to delay, speed, quality, and reliability. On widely-available, residential-style fiber, this work will help to support use of live, professional-grade audio; remote industrial control; and emerging virtual, collaborative experiences. In rural areas, the project will help leverage 5G radio and legacy copper networks to provide services that are significantly faster and more reliable than what would be possible with either one alone.