Pioneering research at the University of Southampton is developing the enabling techniques for the future of global wireless communications and the 6G network.

Professor Lajos Hanzo from the School of Electronics and Computer Science is leading a £2.5 million research programme that proposes a novel architecture for combining space-communication and terrestrial networks. This vision would exploit the world's civilian airliners to breaking existing technological bottlenecks at high capacity with low cost.

Professor Hanzo, Head of Next-Generation Wireless, says: "The civil airliner network covers a large area of the global land and sea surface and has sufficient plane density to form a major contributor of a dynamic airborne network.

"The proposed integration of spaceborne and airborne networks, along with ground-based networks, is capable of improving the global communication coverage which is the main objective of 6G networks."

State-of-the-art 5G wireless systems are still ground-based, so they have the same coverage limitations as other terrestrial networks. Creating this space air-ground integrated network (SAGIN) would be critically important for so-called 'vertical' industries such as logistics, mining, agriculture, fisheries and defence.

As seen at FlightAware's home page, which is the world's largest flight-tracking data provider, there is a huge number of passenger planes in the sky at any given time. These planes cover most of the land and sea globally, and hence can provide networking services supported by the SAGIN with almost global coverage both day and night. They can also supplement the expensive, yet low-rate satellite links supporting the shipping industry.

To provide more reliable service, a limited number of dedicated aerial nodes such as tethered airships and so-called high-altitude platforms could also be deployed to supplement the scheduled airliners.

Rural and remote areas have been missing out on the wealth-creation benefits of broadband for many years, due to the lack of connectivity. The main obstacle for rural broadband deployment has been the high cost of ground-based infrastructure.

The proposed SAGIN concept is capable of supporting smart mining, farming and precision-agriculture in gradually eliminating the coverage hole in global connectivity.

For supply-chain tracking and shipping applications, low-cost global connectivity would enable detailed tracking of containers at sea and livestock in remote rural areas, closely monitoring their shipping and roaming conditions respectively.

The QuantCom research project is funded by an Advanced Fellow Grant from the European Research Council.

Read the full story in the latest edition of Re:action, the university's research and enterprise magazine.

Researchers from the University of Southampton's IT Innovation Centre are driving the creation of an AI-enhanced digital health platform for personalised care of Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

A consortium led within Southampton's School of Electronics and Computer Science has won an Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Health and Care Award for the mySmartCOPD platform.

COPD is a common disease and is predicted to become the third leading cause of death by 2030. A key characteristic of COPD is acute worsening of symptoms called ?exacerbation events? which are detrimental to health and often lead to hospitalisation. Avoiding exacerbation events reduces lung function deterioration and increases quality of life.

mySmartCOPD will provide a new way of managing COPD by using computers to predict exacerbation events several days in advance.

Professor Michael Boniface, IT Innovation Centre director and mySmartCOPD project lead, says: "Our research has demonstrated that computers can learn when patients were likely to exacerbate from reported symptoms, lifestyle, and demographic data. By providing an early warning, people living with COPD have an opportunity to take action to prevent an exacerbation or lessen severity.

"Consequently, we expect that patients will have more control over their condition, medication will be used more appropriately, and NHS resources will be used more efficiently."

The IT Innovation Centre has partnered with my mhealth Ltd, the University of Bath and University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust on the project.

mySmartCOPD will enhance the existing myCOPD self-management application from my mhealth Ltd, which is currently used by many NHS providers and patients. Personalised alerts will be sent to patients and clinicians to work towards preventing an exacerbation.

Read the full story on the main news page.

Artificial Intelligence and management experts from the University of Southampton have partnered with Spearfish Security to enhance digital tools supporting several large UK foreign aid programmes across the world.

The partners have been awarded a Management Knowledge Transfer Partnership (mKTP) worth over £118,000 by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and Innovate UK.

The funding will support the employment of a KTP associate who will be embedded within Spearfish for the next two years. The associate will be co-supervised by Electronics and Computer Science's (ECS) Dr Enrico Gerding and Dr Ajit Nayak, an Associate Professor in Southampton Business School.

Spearfish is based in Winchester and provides security risk management for several large UK foreign aid programmes across the world in countries including Nigeria, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, and Kenya. They utilise a network of in-country advisors to provide relevant information to clients to help them manage risk. In response to changing customer needs, they are adapting to a more digital approach which the KTP will help implement.

The project will create a more sophisticated set of consulting tools for advisory teams, using management theory to create efficiencies and increase productivity. It is anticipated that the project will create better digital tools and introduce these tools to an upskilled, motivated, and aligned workforce.

Dr Gerding, Director of the University's Centre for Machine Intelligence (CMI), says: "I'm very pleased to be part of this collaborative project between ECS, the Southampton Business School and Spearfish. The project has the potential for wide-reaching impact of our AI and data science research, and supports vital work in foreign aid programmes across the world."

Rosie Turner, Spearfish Head of Operations and Marketing, says: "Spearfish Security are thrilled to be have been awarded a Knowledge Transfer Partnership Grant from Innovate UK. We will be working closely with Southampton's Business School and School of Electronics and Computer Science to achieve a digital transformation of our business. We believe this project is innovative for the wider security risk management industry by utilising state of the art research and knowledge to enhance our people led-approach."

Stephen Woodhouse, Knowledge Transfer Advisor, says: "The knowledge and skills embedded by this new mKTP will enable Spearfish to scale-up and grow their business at pace, whilst simultaneously achieving greater efficiencies through access to world-class research expertise in management practices.

"The collaboration with the University will provide a firm foundation for a series of future innovations, supporting a range of exciting future innovations by the business. I'm delighted KTN were able to help convene this partnership and to support the development of their successful grant application."