The 5G-STARDUST partners just returned from another trip to EuCNC, coming back from a dense activity schedule across the event – which took place in Poznan, Poland this year. As per usual, it was a great platform to present the project’s activities among fellow EU-funded endeavours, synergise with other projects working under the Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS JU) umbrella, and catch-up with our peers working in the field.
Workshops, talks and tutorials
5G-STARDUST was integral part of Workshop 8 at the event, entitled “Terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks unification towards 6G”: the workshop was co-organised with Eurescom and fellow SNS JU projects 6G-NTN and ETHER, and took place on EuCNC’s opening day, June 3. Our Project Coordinator Tomaso de Cola – from German Aerospace Center (DLR) – delivered a compelling talk as part of the programme, entitled “From architecture design to lab demonstrations: the 5G-STARDUST journey”. The talk illustrated the main directions taken by the project in regards to a converged 5G-NTN network architecture and presented and outlined the design of an integrated testbed to demonstrate the potentials for multi-path protocol exploitation in 5G-NTN integrated networks. In particular, the main building blocks of the proof-of-concept were presented and the reference demonstration scenarios outlined.
On the same day, de Cola was joined by Alessandro Guidotti, from project partner Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le Telecomunicazioni (CNIT), as co-lecturers of the tutorial on “NTN (r)evolution: stepping into 6G”, which was also the result of the synergy with colleagues working around matching themes and aspects within 6G-NTN. Guidotti also featured as speaker of the workshop on “System Level Analysis of Non-Terrestrial Networks”, completing an exciting day with many discussions on the future of Non-Terrestrial Networks in 6G, including distributed and sustainable architectures, federated Cell-Free MIMO from space, waveform analysis, and services.
5G-STARDUST returned to the stage on June 5, during Special Session 19 “AURA-6G: Towards an AI-native, service oriented, ubiquitous and verifiable 6G integrated fabric”: this workshop aimed to explore innovative methodologies for integrating TN, NTN NPN, leveraging AI/ML, and creating sustainable, scalable 6G architectures. The idea was to offer a platform for researchers, industry leaders, and policymakers to share insights, discuss challenges, and shape the roadmap for 6G advancements, in direct alignment with the strategic objectives of Europe in maintaining global competitiveness and fostering cutting-edge innovation in integrated networks and AI technologies. Project Coordinator de Cola, alongside partners from CNIT, Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya (CTTC) and Orange, contributed a talk entitled “Data-Driven Design of Integrated B5G-NTN Systems: The 5G-STARDUST Perspective”, which revolved around a paper surveying the approach taken by the project regarding radio resource management, network slicing/orchestration and NFV placement, as well as multi-connectivity support, providing interesting insights on a data-driven approach distributed across space and ground segments.
More SNS JU synergies
EuCNC 2025 also saw the official release and presentation of the white paper “Sustainability in SNS JU Projects – Targets, Methodologies, Trade-offs and Implementation Considerations Towards 6G Systems“, which presents a comprehensive analysis of how 27 projects funded by the SNS JU address sustainability in their work on next-generation communication technologies: an analysis drawing upon detailed questionnaire responses and follow-up interviews, spanning four core themes: sustainability targets, methodologies, trade-offs, and implementation considerations. As part of the SNS JU orbit, we were among the contributors, through our Thales Alenia Space partner Flavien Ronteix-Jacquet.
In addition, 5G-STARDUST was also represented at the ETHER project booth, which showcased information about the project alongside their demo and 6G-NTN’s promotional material, in yet another joint effort.
