What is the Future Networks Lab?

Digital Catapult’s Future Networks Lab has been created to support the adoption of IoT, LPWAN and 5G technologies. The lab has been created with the goal of enabling collaboration, experimentation and demonstration of the potential of these new and exciting IoT technologies. Located in London, the Future Networks Lab is one of the first facilities in Europe specifically designed with a focus on IoT, 5G and LPWAN technologies.

What are the typical use cases?

The Future Networks Lab (FNL) caters towards two main audiences, potential adopters of future network technologies and solutions and the providers of these.

For adopters, the FNL provides the opportunity to experience first hand demonstrations of future network technologies, which are brought together in a showcase room from our ecosystem of partners. It also provides access to expertise of these partners.

For technology and solution providers, the FNL provides the ability to showcase solutions. More importantly however it provides access to test networks and lab capabilities that can be used by innovators to perform experimentation with new network technologies and performance evaluations.

Network access for experimentation:1

• Lab based network access includes access to a variety of IoT network technologies under one roof including LoRaWAN, SigFox, NB-IoT and LTE-M as well as 5G
• FNL also offers access to a larger outdoor LoRaWAN test network in London, Northern Ireland and in other parts of the UK, a 5G test network in Brighton as well as other live networks through operator relationships in the UK

Performance evaluations and benchmarking:

• Access to expertise and equipment for evaluating energy consumption
• Access to expertise and environments for performance evaluation of future network protocols
• Access to expertise on embedded AI (e.g. Tensorflow Lite for Microcontrollers) solutions
• Benchmarking of a solution/product with respect to other products/solutions on the market
• Identification of product improvements and support for product roadmaps

Where can further info be found?

https://www.digicatapult.org.uk/projects/future-networks-lab/

Video Overview: https://youtu.be/zGSz2SKXyI4

Further contacts

Csaba Kiraly
csaba.kiraly@digicatapult.org.uk

Michael Setton
michael.setton@digicatapult.org.uk