IIT Roorkee, C-DOT, and IIT Mandi Announce Strategic Partnership for Cell-Free 6G Network Innovation

IIT Roorkee, C-DOT, and IIT Mandi are collaborating to develop a Cell-Free 6G network, aiming to provide affordable broadband and mobile services to bridge India's digital divide. Know details here

IIT Roorkee, C-DOT, and IIT Mandi Announce Strategic Partnership for Cell-Free 6G Network Innovation

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi has signed an agreement with the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), R&D centre of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Government of India for the development of "Cell-Free 6G Access Points". This initiative aims to provide affordable broadband and mobile services, significantly helping to bridge India's digital divide.

The agreement is signed under the Telecom Technology Development Fund (TTDF) scheme of the Department of Telecommunications, Government of India. This scheme is designed to provide funding support to domestic companies, Indian startups, academia, and R&D institutions involved in the design, development, and commercialisation of telecommunication products and solutions.

The agreement was signed during a ceremony attended by the CEO, C-DOT - Dr Rajkumar Upadhyay, the principal investigator - Dr Abhay Kumar Sah from IIT Roorkee, the co-investigator - Dr Adarsh Patel from IIT Mandi along with the Director of C-DOT - Dr Pankaj Kumar Dalela.

Cell-Free 6G Network

Traditional mobile networks use cellular topologies where each cell is serviced by a single base station like 4G/5G. 'Cell-Free' Massive MIMO eliminates cells and boundaries by deploying numerous access points (APs) across a large area to serve many users simultaneously. Each user is supported by multiple APs, ensuring ubiquitous connectivity, eliminating dead zones, enhancing signal strength, and significantly boosting data speeds for an exceptional user experience, even in densely populated areas.

This 6G project will focus on developing APs for enabling the upcoming 6G radio access networks and also aims to contribute to the 6G standardization activity, drive commercialization, generate intellectual property rights (IPRs), and develop a skilled workforce to support the emerging 6G landscape.

Dr Rajkumar Upadhyay, CEO, C-DOT highlighted the important role of indigenously designed & developed technologies in meeting the specific requirements of communication for our diverse country, reaffirming the commitment towards “Atmanirbhar Bharat”. He also said this will help us generating IPRs in 6G domain and emerging technologies in the area of 6G.

Prof. K.K. Pant, Director of IIT Roorkee, said: " This partnership with C-DOT marks a pivotal step in our commitment to indigenous development of state-of-the-art telecommunications technologies. IIT Roorkee is proud to lead this initiative, which aligns perfectly with our mission to foster innovation and excellence in research. This collaboration significantly contributes to India's 6G vision and reinforces our position as a leader in technological advancements”.

Read More

• IIT Roorkee and CWC Join Forces to Tackle Water Resources and Urban Flood Management
• IIT Mandi Highlights Cancer Risk from Toxic Metal Pollution in Baddi-Barotiwala Groundwater