Networks that know: How Herts researchers are shaping a 6G future
From intelligent sensing to signal-bending smart surfaces, University of Hertfordshire researchers are helping to design the technologies that could define the next generation of wireless connectivity.
Even as the global telecommunications industry rolls out wider 5G coverage, the race to develop 6G wireless networks is already underway.
With mobile data usage in the UK rising by 15 per cent year on year and demand growing for smart cities, autonomous vehicles, and immersive technologies, the UK Government has identified ‘advanced connectivity’ as one of five critical technologies in its Science and Technology Framework.
As international 6G standards take shape, there is a push to ensure the UK leads the way, backed by a £100m government investment in cutting-edge telecoms R&D and collaborations like the University of Cambridge-led TITAN future communications research hub, where the University of Hertfordshire is a partner.
Sensing the world in real time
6G promises far more than higher data rates and lower latency in data transmission. To support applications like driverless cars and drone deliveries, tomorrow’s networks should be able to sense the world around them and respond intelligently.
That is the goal behind two projects led by Herts researcher Dr Pan Cao within the TITAN 6G hub: 6G-DISCO and 6G-NetMAGIC. Dr Cao’s work fuses communication and sensing into one intelligent system, essentially giving wireless networks the ability to ‘see’ the physical world.
“In 6G, the radio signal won’t just carry data – it will detect, locate and interpret objects and movement,” says Dr Cao. “We’re creating networks that understand their surroundings and make smarter, faster decisions.”
Smarter systems, faster decisions
To achieve this, Dr Cao is developing a new concept of ‘integrated radar imaging and communication’ that was first proposed by Herts and based on a system known as cell-free massive MIMO. Instead of relying on a single fixed wireless transceiver, or base station, this system uses many small, distributed and connected access points, eliminating signal blackspots and interference, especially in cities and transport corridors.
Dr Cao’s goal is to develop an architecture that functions like a network of radars, creating a seamless surveillance shield for both military and civilian use. These dual-functional networks could guide driverless vehicles, track drone swarms, detect movement behind walls during emergencies, or map disaster zones in real time.
His team is also designing imaging algorithms to fuse radio frequency ‘snapshots’ from multiple access points, like building a 3D model from multiple camera angles. That could help distinguish between, for example, a bird and a drone, or even identify what kind of drone is in the air.
Integrated Sensing and Communication will be a foundation of 6G. It represents a fundamental shift in how networks operate, enabling a new wave of intelligent services across transport, security, industry and more.
Doctor Pan Cao,
TITAN 6G Hub Researcher
Bending signals, reshaping connectivity
But all this intelligence needs more advanced wireless hardware and greater bandwidth – moving to higher radio frequencies like millimetre wave or sub-Terahertz. That’s where Dr Qi Luo and his team come in.
Dr Luo is a lead partner in the €6.3m (£5.3m) EU-funded TERRAMETA project, which is tackling one of 6G’s biggest technical challenges: the use of higher-frequency signals that offer faster speeds, but cannot travel far or penetrate walls.
His team is developing Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS) – thin, programmable panels designed with metasurfaces that act like smart mirrors for wireless signals, bending them around obstacles and into hard-to-reach spaces.
“RIS will help us push wireless signals into places they would otherwise never reach,” says Dr Luo. “Imagine the surfaces around us – walls, ceilings, even furniture – quietly guiding data signals to where they are needed most.”
The vision is a future where RIS panels blend into everyday environments: lining office walls, mounted on lampposts, or wrapped around vehicles. They would eliminate network blind spots, increase data rates indoors, and improve reliability without burning extra energy.
Dr Luo’s team has already developed a RIS prototype operating at 104 GHz – one of the few in this critical sub-THz frequency range. The next step is pushing to 140 GHz and integrating intelligent algorithms for localisation and sensing.
As Dr Cao puts it: “6G is not just about better mobile internet. It’s about creating networks that observe, understand, adapt and respond to the world around them.”
Doctor Pan Cao
FHEA, Senior Lecturer
Pan Cao is a Senior Lecturer in Electronics and Communications since Sept. 2017. He received the BEng degree (with first class) and the MEng degree both from Xidian University, China in 2008 and 2011, respectively, and the Dr.-Ing (Ph.D.) degree in Electrical Engineering from TU Dresden, Germany in Jan. 2015, supervised by Prof. Eduard Jorswieck. He worked on radar signal processing and imaging, especially on SAR/ISAR imaging, in the National Key Lab of Radar Signal Processing, Xidian University, during 2008-2010, with Prof. Mengdao Xing. After finishing Ph.D. from Germany, he worked with Prof. John Thompson and Prof. Harald Haas as a Postdoctoral research associate in the Institute for Digital Communications at the University of Edinburgh, supported by the EPSRC 5G project from Mar. 2015 to Sept. 2017. He was also a visiting Postdoctoral researcher in Prof. H. Vincent Poor's group at Princeton University, USA during Jan.-Mar. 2017.