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Fakultät für Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik
A robotic platform on a field with fire in the background © CNI

ADAPT

Efficient production and intralogistics increasingly rely on flexible, highly dynamic systems that require reliable wireless communication. Variable order structures, changing product portfolios, mobile storage systems, autonomous robotics, and temporary production areas lead to rapidly changing communication requirements within industrial environments. These dynamics place significant demands on the underlying network infrastructure. Conventional network planning and operation concepts are often unable to reliably respond to such highly dynamic environments. Network adaptations during operation are typically resource-intensive and cannot be implemented in real time, which may result in reduced efficiency, increased waiting times, or even production interruptions. Therefore, there is a clear need for adaptive, non-stationary ad-hoc radio networks (campus networks) as well as automated network planning and operation methods that can flexibly respond to changing conditions.

© CNI​/​Consortium

The industrial research project ADAPT addresses these challenges by developing adaptive and secure 5G/6G network infrastructures that adapt in real time to changing production and logistics environments. The core innovation is a hybrid digital twin that combines real operational data with virtual simulations to enable predictive network planning and automated optimization. AI-supported network optimization using the DRaGon model of TU Dortmund allows network configurations to be dynamically adapted to ensure stable and efficient operation. In addition, flexible mobile 5G and 6G campus network components are developed to enable demand-oriented deployment. Further innovation focuses on cybersecurity through physical layer security, radio-based protection mechanisms, and Joint Communication and Sensing (JCAS), enabling early threat detection and self-optimization of the network.

Scientific and Technical Objectives of TU Dortmund University
Within the framework of ADAPT, TU Dortmund University focuses on requirements analysis, the development of network planning and operation concepts, programmable network components, and their end-to-end evaluation. The objectives of TU Dortmund primarily focus on:

  • Adaptive automated network planning and operation concepts
    The objective is to transfer network planning concepts from outdoor to indoor environments and subsequently optimize the concepts with regard to network adaptation in dynamically changing logistics and production environments. This includes the creation of an adaptable and efficient AI model for the accurate generation of area-wide propagation maps, taking into account the most up-to-date environmental information.
     
  • Development and Enhancement of Programmable 6G Campus Network Components
    TU Dortmund focuses on the functional validation of defined interfaces for dynamic network control, as well as the conceptual and prototypical preparation of mobile radio units and relay nodes in two- and three-dimensional space.

Project duration: 01.01.2026 – 31.12.2028

This project is funded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Action and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and co-funded by the European Union.

© MWIKE.NRW
© EU