Exploring the Future of Spectrum: Highlights from HASC Connect Technical Meet-Up

Posted on 9 October 202514 October 2025 by hascadmin

On 23rd September, the entire HASC research team came together in Oxford for our annual technical meet-up, HASC Connect. This event is an important opportunity for researchers from across the UK to come together, share their progress, their wins and their innovations. With our project growing rapidly, the day provided a vital face-to-face forum for knowledge exchange, collaboration, and networking across our multi-disciplinary community.

This type of meet-up is always about much more than just research updates, they are about creating the space for new conversations, burning questions, and the collaboration that helps shape the future direction of our work.

HASC Connect Technical Update – Delegates meet in reception

HASC Connect Technical Poster Event — The HASC Connect technical poster sessions proved a highlight of the day, giving researchers a chance to explore innovative work from across the project

HASC Connect Technical Update Delegates Gather in the Lecture Theatre — HASC Connect Technical Update – delegates gather in the lecture theatre in the Engineering Science Dept. at the University of Oxford

HASC Director Dominic O'Brien — HASC Director Dominic O’Brien outlines the vision for the year ahead during the HASC Connect wrap-up

A Packed Agenda

The day was built around an ambitious programme, covering research from across our four challenges, updates from the Federated Telecoms Hubs (FTH), lightning presentations from our new projects, poster sessions, a keynote, a lab tour and, as if that wasn’t enough, we also had a look towards what the future holds for HASC.

Key themes included measurement and modelling, connectivity, adaptive networks, and security, brought to life by the following contributions:

C0 – Measurement & Modelling – Indoor Channel Measurements from 6 GHz to 600 GHz
- Presented by: Simon Cotton & Vanessa Wood (Queens University Belfast)
C1 – Connectivity – Overcoming Intensity Modulation/Direct Detection Transmission Limits with a Silicon Photonic Optical Processor
- Presented by: Hao Liu (University of Southampton)
C2 – Adaptivity – Efficient, Reliable and Resilient Networks
- Presented by: Xiaolan Liu (University of Bristol)
C3 – Security – CV-QKD: How to build a real system
- Presented by: Amanda Weerasinghe (University of Cambridge)

Simon Cotton Presents Measurement & Modelling at HASC Connect — Simon Cotton introduces Challenge 0 (Measurement & Modelling) with his talk: ‘Indoor Channel Measurements from 6 GHz to 600 GHz’

Vanessa Wood Presents Indoor Channel Measurements — Vanessa Wood showcases her research on ‘Indoor Channel Measurements from 6 GHz to 600 GHz’ as part of the Measurement & Modelling section of the project’s Lightning Presentations

Sam Giltrap briefs HASC researchers on the Federated Telecoms Hubs structure, outlining available support for IP protection and commercialisation across the project

Highlights from the Sessions

One of the standout moments was the keynote from Professor Noa Zilberman, who explored Carbon Aware Communications: Challenges and Opportunities. Her talk encouraged us to think about the environmental impact of our networks, raising important questions about sustainability and the choices we make as a research community.

Across the lightning presentations, we saw a diverse range of exciting work, from silicon photonics and advanced optical networking to quantum key distribution and resilient network design. The poster session provided a lively forum for in-depth discussion, with researchers engaging directly on all the deep-dive technical detail and identifying opportunities to connect work across different challenges.

The FTH directors talked to the team about IP, skills & training, commercialisation and standards. The content was delivered by Sarah Hardy, Samual Giltrap and Nikola Serafimovski, to whom we are very grateful.

The afternoon featured newly funded projects from partners including NPL, Essex, York, Bristol, Sheffield, Strathclyde, King’s, Leeds, and Bangor. These projects are already bringing fresh expertise and ideas, from reconfigurable intelligent surfaces and 6G massive access to O-RAN adaptive load balancing, fibre-mmWave convergence, and metasurface-enabled security.

Key Takeaways

The community is expanding rapidly, with new partners and projects strengthening our collective capability.
There is a growing focus on cross-cutting themes such as sustainability, standards, and real-world deployment.
Poster sessions and lightning talks proved invaluable for deep technical discussion and idea exchange.
Integration with the JOINER national experimentation platform will be central to progress in the year ahead.
There is strong momentum to showcase HASC research on the international stage, with Mobile World Congress 2026 already in sharp focus.

Looking Ahead

HASC Connect once again demonstrated the value of bringing people together. Not just to share research updates, but to build the connections that make collaboration so effective. As we move into the next phase of work, the ideas and partnerships formed in Oxford will play a crucial role in shaping our research and its real-world impact.

A big thank you to all who contributed, from presenters and poster authors to everyone who attended and made the journey to Oxford to make the day so valuable. We’re excited to continue this journey with you and look forward to sharing more in the future.

Want to stay involved? Keep an eye on our channels for updates, opportunities, and news from across the HASC community. Sign up for updates to our newsletter here.

IEEE ICC Montreal, June 2025 – Event Round-up With Abderrahmen Trichili

Posted on 7 July 20257 August 2025 by hascadmin

The IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC) took place in Montreal, Canada at the beginning of June 2025, leading with the banner, ‘Communications Technologies 4Good’.

Abderrahmen & Team Meet at IEEE ICC Montreal June 2025 — From left to right: Prof. Eduard Jorswieck, Meriem Ghali, Abderrahmen Trichili, Alireza Vosoughi Rad, Dr. Ilias Gravalos, Dr. Iman Tavakkolnia

About IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC)

As one of the IEEE Communications Society’s two flagship conferences, the annual ICC is dedicated to driving innovation across almost every area of communications. The conference has a large global attendance with more than 3,000 scientific researchers from over 70 countries and over 1,000 papers and proposals submitted for programme sessions this year.

Content: The Research that is Shaping Our World

This years’ focus of IEEE ICC conference focused on “Communications Technologies 4Good”, featuring a comprehensive technical program including 13 symposia and a variety of tutorials and workshops. The industry programme was tailored towards practitioners, with keynotes and panels from leading research, industry and government leaders, business and industry panels, and technological exhibits.

HASC Representation at IEEE ICC 2025

Our HASC colleague, Abderrahmen Trichili, (UK IC Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, Research Fellow at Wolfson College, University of Oxford), attended the event as well as others from the HASC project. We caught up with Abderrahmen to find out the inside track on the event.

Guest Contribution: Abderrahmen Trichili on IEEE ICC 2025

I attended the IEEE ICC Conference, which was held in Montreal in June. The conference is hosted over five days. The first and last days of the conference are for workshops and tutorials, with the three days in the middle dedicated to the technical symposium.

There were many tracks running in parallel, so I had to mark the sessions I wanted to attend before heading to the conference. I also wanted to attend some of my former colleagues’ presentations.

Although I am not usually a big fan of big conferences, this one was special; I met many of my former colleagues and undergraduate friends along with people working in my field, notably Professor Steve Hranilovic. I also had dinner with 25 people who were at some point part from my previous group. So, conferences can be perfect opportunities to catch up with friends and see how successful they have become.

Networking with Leaders

Prof. Hranilovic is a pioneer in optical wireless communication at McMaster University (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada). I have met Prof. Hranilovic a few times remotely but we finally got to meet person while attending the same tutorial and discussing with the presenters. I am very grateful for all the advice he gave during the conference – this is a striking benefit of attending conferences like this – learning from the giants.

Presenting: Optical Wireless Channel Sounding in a Realistic Environment

I was also lucky enough to be presenting in the first session of the first day of the technical symposium – even with the early morning slot, I was pleased to be presenting to packed room! Some came specifically for the topic, and others who knew of me (former colleagues, friends, even one of my former teachers) came to see the work I am currently doing at the University of Oxford!

Abderrahmen Presents Optical Wireless Channel Sounding at IEEE Communications Society — Abderrahmen Trichili presents Optical Wireless Channel Sounding in a Realistic Environment at IEEE ICC – Photo Credit: IEEE Communications Society

I presented my work on Optical Wireless Channel Sounding in a Realistic Environment (co-authored with Mr. Grahame Faulkner and Prof. Dominic O’Brien). Prof. Majeed Safari (a co-investigator in Titan) was the chair of the session and asked me some very interesting questions together with some of the attendees.

About the Research: Optical Wireless Channel Sounding

Optical wireless communication (OWC) is seen as a promising technology for future-generation communication systems. In particular, OWC in the visible spectrum, known as visible light communication (VLC), can enable high-speed indoor connectivity, offering opportunities for data-intensive applications that conventional radio-based technologies struggle to support due to bandwidth limitations. Currently used VLC channel models have limitations in their underlying assumptions and lack verification through experimental measurements. Over the past two years, I have developed the world’s first visible laser-based channel sounder, capable of measuring optical channels with high temporal resolution. The system is based on a highly sensitive silicon photomultiplier detector and frequency-swept laser sources. The sounder was used to conduct indoor measurements to derive realistic OWC channel models. I reported initial measurement results collected in an office environment (considered a realistic deployment location for VLC) at the conference.

Abderrahmen Trichili with Measurement Rig Collecting Data — Abderrahmen Trichili with the measurement rig used to collect the data

Optical Networks and Systems Symposium

It was a busy schedule – I also had the chance to chair one of the sessions of the Optical Networks and Systems Symposium (ONS-03: Energy efficient optical communications). In the session, I had five brilliant presentations with presenters from the University of Alberta, Technische Universität Braunschweig, The University of Cambridge, École normale supérieure de Lyon, and Nokia; one of the presentations was given by a HASC Co-Investigator Dr. Iman Tavakkolnia (University of Cambridge).

I had the opportunity to meet with other HASC and Federated Telecoms Hubs (FTH) members, including Prof. Timothy O’Farrell (The University of Sheffield), Prof. Michail (Michalis) Matthaiou (Queen’s University Belfast, he came with a few of his group members and colleagues from the same University), and Dr. Hossein Kazemi (University of Cambridge). From Oxford, my colleague Daniele Di Martini from the Oxford Robotics Institute, with whom I co-organised a third-year project for the last two years, also attended the conference.

Conferences like these are not just an opportunity to share and learn, but also to meet and network with others – all vital for the advancement of the innovations and technologies in our field. A fantastic event and I am very much looking forward to the next ICC which will be held in Glasgow in May 2026.

Conclusion

The IEEE ICC 2025 conference in Montreal showcased the sheer depth and ambition of the research taking place across the global communications landscape from both academia and industry. It not only provided a platform for sharing cutting-edge ideas but also a space for meaningful exchanges between researchers, industry leaders, and innovators all working towards a more connected, equitable future.

Abderrahmen’s reflections capture the spirit of these gatherings: part inspiration, part collaboration, and entirely driven by a passion for progress. As we look ahead to the next IEEE ICC in Glasgow, we carry forward the momentum of these conversations, the relationships formed, and the research that continues to shape the future of communication technologies.

Connect with Abderrahmen Trichili https://www.linkedin.com/in/abderrahmentrichili/

To keep up to date with all the news coming out of the HASC project, sign up to our regular newsletter here.

HASC Secures £3.2 Million to Drive the Future of Telecom Innovation

Posted on 17 April 20252 July 2025 by hascadmin

We are delighted to announce that the Future Communications Hub in All-Spectrum Connectivity (HASC) has secured an additional £3.2 million in funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). This continued support enables HASC to further its development of world-leading communication technologies essential to shaping the UK’s digital future.

Advancing Digital Infrastructure Through Innovation

“Communication underpins the functioning of modern society – from staying in touch with one another to powering the operations of smart cities and national systems,” said Professor Dominic O’Brien, HASC lead at the University of Oxford.

“The Hub is focused on developing the technologies and insights needed to create the networks of the future. We are delighted to continue collaborating with key partners, including TITAN, CHEDDAR, and JOINER, and we thank UKRI for their continued support in helping us realise this vision.”

What HASC Has Achieved to Date

Our work is pushing the boundaries in secure, high-speed and low-latency internet services. New technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) demand much higher capabilities than currently exist – our mission is to overcome the today’s limitations by completely reimaging connectivity. At HASC, we are exploring how to combine wired and wireless internet technologies to achieve seamless end-to-end connectivity.

The HASC project is led by Professor Dominic O’Brien from the University of Oxford and includes seven research partners from across the Universities of Belfast, Bristol, Cambridge, Southampton, Strathclyde, Imperial College and UCL. Additional partners include teams from the universities of Liverpool, Sheffield, Strathclyde, Surrey, Herriot Watt, Queen Mary and Kings College. Together, we are helping to develop the digital communications of the future by addressing four main challenges, Connectivity, Adaptivity, Security and tying it altogether with Modelling.

Here’s a look at what has been achieved so far:

Innovative Research: Pioneering studies across the four main challenges resulting in over 35 new academic publications covering a huge range of brand-new discoveries and technologies
Collaborative Partnerships: We have established strong collaborations with leading academic institutions and industry partners to help drive innovation and the practical applications of our research
Talent Development: Nurturing a new generation of researchers and engineers skilled in advanced communication technologies

Looking Ahead: The Impact of Extended Funding

The need for reliable, high-speed, low-cost, and energy-efficient communications only continues to grow. HASC will continue to work with our partners in CHEDDAR, TITAN and JOINER to deliver new research and to exploit the work that we do. Our key goals for the coming year are to continue with our research across each of the challenges, and to make full use of the connectivity that the JOINER Platform provides. Funding in the coming year will support a broad range of work, including:

Challenge 1 (C1) Connectivity

The C1 challenge is focused on demonstrating novel connectivity across and between radio frequency (RF) and optical domains. Here, the focus is on engineering the wireless propagation environment and leveraging the JOINER infrastructure to demonstrate new types of connectivity.

Challenge 2 (C2) Adaptivity

The C2 challenge addresses the need for reliable, adaptable networks, with a particular focus on the adaption of the physical layer using AI/ML techniques. Continued funding will allow us to further advance this work, addressing the future demands of applications such as smart cities, autonomous transportation systems, and industrial IoT applications.

Challenge 3 (C3) Security

With rising threats, the one major consistency in telecoms is the need for security. The C3 challenge focuses on this area and includes the use of quantum key distribution (QKD), post-quantum and physical layer techniques. Our work is creating new deployment scenarios for QKD which is a key technology for many carriers and vendors. Work here will extend the applicability of QKD in free-space transmission applications.

Challenge 0 (C0) Modelling

And finally, the C0 challenge pulls together all the other research by developing ‘system level’ end-to-end models of RF and fibre systems, delivering the data and models required to enable spectrum sharing and engagement in standards activities. We will continue to develop models and measure channels, creating open-source data sets relevant to standards and future spectrum planning.

Acknowledgements

We wish to extend our gratitude to UKRI for their continued support and belief in our vision. We also appreciate the collaborative efforts of our partners, including the other Federated Telecoms Hubs, Cheddar, Titan and Joiner Platform who are leading complementary projects in this wider initiative.

Join HASC on Our Exciting Journey

We invite you to stay connected with HASC as we embark on this next phase of innovation. Follow our progress, engage with the research, and explore opportunities to collaborate by following us on social media and subscribing to our newsletter.

YouTube