Networks
Efficient telecommunications facilities are essential for society, for the emergency services, the military and, of course, for individuals. TNO’s Networks group plays an important role by developing and standardising new network technologies and protocols, and designing, deploying and optimising wired and wireless networks to deliver fast and reliable connections for demanding applications, in particular in the sectors of media & TV, automotive and defence.
Networks is working on the next generation Internet, particularly focusing on the following technology fields:
- Content delivery: our work includes session and application-layer technologies for the ingest, delivery, processing and consumption of media on end-user devices for services such as digital TV and online video. We have expertise in media coding and transport, delivery architectures and protocols, and have hands-on experience with prototyping, proof-of-concepts and live trials. Content delivery technology is important for 5G video and IoT applications, interactive and immersive media applications, and advanced TV and online video applications;
- Connectivity: we focus on networking technologies and protocols at the network and transport layers (OSI layers 3 and 4) and on the increasing role of cross-layer links to adjacent layers. The emphasis is on new network paradigms such as softwarisation, virtualization and decentralized networking, which are key ingredients for the core networks in the next-generation internet and in 5G. Our work spans requirements setting, standardization, proof-of-concept development and field trials that address not only the technology itself but also the best approaches for management and control in large operator networks.
- Transmission: this field deals with the efficient and fast transport of bits over a physical medium. We know how to characterize the transmission medium behaviour and how to optimally design, deploy and organize networks adapted to the properties of the medium. We have a dominant position in wired transmission over twisted pair copper and coax, as well as a strong position in RF transmission for wireless access. This knowledge enables us to make crucial technology contributions to the fixed and wireless access networks in the next-generation internet.
Because of the combination of these three technologies in one group, we are in a natural position to explore and develop the growing vertical cross-layer links between these three technologies. For example, we have has developed methods for efficient and reliable transfer of video streams between trucks that closely follow each other in truck platooning situations, with specific connectivity and transmission characteristics. Furthermore, NTW has built technologies that improve media content delivery over software-defined networks and optimize adaptive streaming of video content over access networks based on Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) transmission technologies.
Unique experimental environment
The Networks group has several powerful labs for prototyping, testing and field trials, used for experimentation and obtaining inspiration for technology concept development. The labs and facilities offer unique features that attract industry projects and that strengthen our position in collaborations with partners in joint projects.
- The medialab: our development facility for advanced orchestrated media services. The lab has all elements in the end-to-end delivery chain for media and is used for developing, prototyping, testing and experiencing new applications. Recent additions to the lab are a complete SCTE chain for next-generation synchronised TV services and a VR streaming testbed for low-latency, high quality tile-based VR 360 video streaming. The lab has an UHD video capture & playout system with an immersive video wall (6K by 4K resolution).
- The Hi-5 platform: our unique pre-standard 5G mobile testbed used for experiments in the core network, radio network integration, distributed management and virtualisation. This testbed allows for experimentation, development and proof-of-concept building using different kinds of orchestrators and SDN controllers for slicing in 5G and fixed networks. The core is linked to several access network modules, such as the OpenAir radio interface and several commercial eNodeBs.
- The Access lab: offers a complete test environment for demanding video and cloud services on fixed networks at the lower OSI levels. The lab has a complete multi-pair copper access network with DSLAMs that can be coupled to a live operator network. This suite has been used to set meaningful requirements for DSL standardization and to design spectral management policies and deployment rules used in the Netherlands and abroad.
- The Networks group has developed the Road Side Infrastructure and Test Management centre of the Dutch A270 motorway and urban test site in Helmond (DITCM). This facility, now commercially operated by TASS International, offers the complete software stack for ITS-G5 communication, communication facilities and cooperative applications in personal, vehicle, road side and central ITS-stations. We use it for field testing and validation in large European projects and will also be a crucial foundation for the large new AUTOPILOT project.
Projects with impact
Networks is able to convert a theoretical framework into practical solutions to strategic and operational issues. Some examples are:
- The Cameraad live streaming platform (in collaboration with Nu.nl): this crowdsourced live mobile streaming application has brought the largest Dutch online news provider Nu.nl a new type of interaction with its audience and more reach for its popular app.
- Developments, achievable bitrates, testing and system analysis.
- TiledMedia VR360 streaming start-up company: our tiled streaming technology has solved the challenge of massively scalable distribution of high-quality streaming VR360 content at realistic bitrates. The start-up company TiledMedia, born as a spin-off from the Networks group, further enables the VR360 streaming market based on this unique technology.
- Technology-policy mappings for European Commission and Dutch ministries: our analysis of key policy questions in the internet-media-telecom ecosystem have changed the course of heated public debates and have steered long-term Dutch and European government policies.
- Steering of 5G industry development: our contributions to the standardization of 5G in 3GPP and a range of industry bodies have shaped the worldwide development of 5G requirements and architecture specifications to the benefit of network operators and verticals that will depend on 5G networks.
- Artificial Intelligence
- Application areas
- Use cases
- Program line 1: Safe autonomous systems in an open world
- Program line 2: Responsible human-machine interaction
- Secure learning in money laundering detection
- Fair decision making in the job market
- Secure learning in diabetes-2 advice
- Diagnosing for printer maintenance
- Subsidence monitoring
- Fair decision making in justice
- Augmented worker for smart industry
- Energy balancing for smart homes
- Secure learning in oncology research
- Innovation monitoring in policy
- News
- Defence, Safety & Security
- Roadmaps
- Operations & Human Factors
- Climate Chambers for Research into Human Performance
- Desdemona: The ultimate motion simulator
- LT Lab: the TNO learning technology laboratory
- Performance and health monitoring
- Motion sickness and performance
- The neurobiology of Stress
- NetForce Command: an alternative to hierarchical command and control
- Operational military performance in a virtual world
- SUPRA
- Simulation Live Virtual and Constructive
- Concept Development & Experimentation
- IAMD: Integrated Air & Missile Defence
- JROADS
- FACSIM
- Helicopter studies
- MARVEL / Comprehensive Approach
- TNO ACE: Advanced CD&E Environment
- Integrated approach to Dutch Royal Navy patrol ships
- Operational analysis during military operations
- SketchaWorld: from sketch to virtual world
- Camouflage
- Information & Sensor Systems
- Digital Resilience of The Netherlands
- LFAS - Low Frequency Active Sonar
- Tanker Remote Vision System
- Platform signatures
- TNO shapes the future of MMICs and RFICs
- CARPET: Computer-Aided Radar Performance Evaluation Tool
- Underwater Warfare and Security
- Wide Area Motion Imagery WAMI
- SAKAMATA: sonar and marine mammals
- PARANOID: rapid information processing
- Mine analysis and threat evaluation
- Ship acoustics and underwater acoustic signatures
- PERSEUS Wind Turbine Radar Interference Assessment tool
- Electromagnetic security
- Operating safely at sea
- Operations at sea
- Ocean Space
- National Security
- A new vision on modernizing the emergency reporting process
- Social media in the security sector
- Automatic Video Compilation and Analysis System (AVACS)
- The Dutch Cyber Cube Method: Improving Human Capital for SOCs and CSIRTs
- Concealed weapon detection
- FP7 Project IMPACT Europe
- Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) policies in Europe
- @MIGO: border control
- Smarter Surveillance, man, machine, synergy
- Cyber Security of Industrial Control Systems
- Privacy enhancing techniques in cyber security data sharing
- Driving Innovation in Crisis Management with DRIVER+
- Crisis management: new challenges, new opportunities
- The learning professional: resilient and deployable for the long term
- Protection, Munitions & Weapons
- Weapons systems control and analysis
- Weapon Effects & Protection Center
- Firepower
- Protection and survivability of vehicles
- Naval protection and survivability
- Infrastructure protection and survivability
- World-class ballistics research
- Countering Explosive Threats
- Materials for protection concepts
- Processing of Propellants, Explosives and Pyrotechnics
- Ammunition Safety
- Ballistic Performance and Personal Protection
- Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Protection
- Anticipating accidents, incidents and threats
- Protecting those who protect us
- Process Safety Solutions: Expertise in Handling Hazardous Conditions Safely
- Expertise groups
- Acoustics and Sonar
- Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Protection
- Electronic Defence
- Energetic Materials
- Explosions, Ballistics and Protection
- Human Behaviour and Organisational Innovation
- Human Machine Teaming
- Human Performance
- Intelligent Autonomous Systems
- Intelligent Imaging
- Military Operations
- Modelling, Simulation and Gaming
- Networked Organisations
- Radar Technology
- Weapon Systems
- Energy Transition
- Roadmaps
- Renewable electricity
- Towards large-scale generation of wind energy
- Offshore wind farms move up a gear
- Wind energy system integration
- Maximising the value of wind energy in the future energy mix
- Required infrastructure to integrate offshore wind into the energy system
- Safe and flexible integration and monitoring of wind farms in a hybrid energy system
- Energy islands for conversion, transport, and storage
- Wind farms in synergy with society and environment
- Keeping the electricity grid stable when there’s a surplus of wind and solar
- New wind energy technology
- Innovation and the rise of solar energy
- Solar farms respecting landscape and nature
- Solar panels on farmland
- Research innovative solar parks
- Better design of solar parks
- Savings on solar farm operations and maintenance
- Floating solar panels on inland waterbodies
- Offshore solar energy
- National Consortium Solar in Landscape
- National Consortium Solar on Water
- Field lab floating solar
- Research into environmental effects of solar, wind energy
- Solar energy on buildings and infrastructure
- Solar panels in façades
- Solar windows
- More focus on safety of solar systems
- Solar heat and PV-T
- Roofs for solar energy
- Noise barriers producing solar energy
- Solar energy in road surfaces and crash barriers
- Solar panel energy generated on dikes
- Solar and infrastructure
- Outdoor test facility for BIPV(T)
- Solar Highways
- Solar-powered cars
- Mass customization
- Solar panel efficiency
- New technologies make PV more versatile
- Webinar: Innovations in solar energy technologies
- Putting Europe back in the lead in solar panel production
- System transition
- The social aspects of the energy transition
- TNO facilities for research into environmental effects of solar and wind energy
- Effective interventions to increase energy efficiency and reduce energy poverty
- Green and Ease under one roof
- Capacity building programme for energy efficiency in industry
- Zooming in on the future to make the right choices
- Scenarios for a climate-neutral energy system
- A fair system without energy poverty
- Financing the energy transition
- LAUNCH
- Successful neighbourhood approach: motivate residents
- Towards a reliable, affordable and fair energy system
- Towards CO2 neutral industry
- Reducing CO2 emissions through capture, use and storage
- SEWGS: revolutionary CO2-reduction technology and blue hydrogen production
- STEPWISE and FReSMe: CO2 reduction solutions for the steel industry
- 3D-printing for CO2 capture productivity increase
- Multi-partner ALIGN-CCUS project
- CEMCAP
- Reduce emissions steel industry
- CO₂ capture with AVR
- On-site CO₂ Capture Services: reducing emissions cost effectively
- SEDMES: Efficient technology to convert CO2 to useful product
- Hydrogen for a sustainable energy supply
- Optimising production hydrogen
- Hydrogen storage and transport
- Hydrogen, fuel and feedstock
- H-vision: blue hydrogen to accelerate carbon-low industry
- 15 things you need to know about hydrogen
- World first: Green hydrogen production in the North Sea
- New research centre for hydrogen production
- Identifying the future international chain of green hydrogen
- Opportunities for green hydrogen for the manufacturing industry investigated
- Hydrogen from offshore wind: optimising the electricity grid
- Faraday lab: optimising and scaling up electrolysis
- Blue hydrogen paves the way for green hydrogen
- Biomass to fuels and feedstock
- ARBAHEAT - Sustainable future for coal-fired power stations possible through conversion to biomass
- AMBITION Advanced biofuel production from lignin rich residues
- BECOOL EU Brazilian cooperation on advanced biofuels
- Horti-BlueC - a new EU cooperation on reducing Bio-waste and CO2-footprint in horticulture
- UNRAVEL - valorization of lignocellulosic biomass
- MacroFuels advanced biofuels from seaweed
- BRISK2 Biofuel Research Infrastructure for Sharing Knowledge
- New facility for seaweed processing
- TORWASH technology successful for waste water treatment and recycling plastics
- Biofuels lab: Making transport more sustainable with biofuels
- Take-Off: Sustainable aviation fuels from CO2, water and green energy
- HEREWEAR: Circular textiles from locally-sourced bio-based materials
- Transition to e-fuels: a strategy for HIC Rotterdam
- Re-use of existing infrastructure to accelerate the energy transition
- Sustainable Industrial Heat System
- 4 pioneering routes to a CO2 neutral industry
- Research facility Industrial Electrification accelerates greening of Rotterdam port
- Mollier facility: innovating in industrial drying technology
- Research facility for negative CO2 emissions
- Carnot lab accelerates sustainable industrial heat management
- Using energy and raw materials efficiently in industry
- e-Missi0n MOOI: TNO supports Dow and Shell in electric cracking
- CO2 reduction requires improvement of industrial processes
- Making the industrial energy transition feasible and affordable
- Accelerating sustainable industry TNO Green Print
- Sustainable subsurface
- Geological Survey of the Netherlands
- Geological Survey of the Netherlands
- 100 years of geological mapping
- GeoTOP
- Sand, gravel and clay extraction
- GIS and other tools for interactive planning
- DINO, Data and Information of the Dutch Subsurface
- BRO: the Dutch Key Register of the Subsurface
- Sustainable use and management Flemish-Dutch subsurface
- Petroleum Geological Atlas of the Southern Permian Basin
- 3D Subsurface mapping of the Dutch offshore
- Geological Survey of the Netherlands across borders
- Towards an energy-producing environment
- Expertise
- Advisory Group for Economic Affairs
- Biobased and Circular Technologies
- Geo Data & IT
- Geomodelling
- Heat Transfer & Fluid Dynamics
- Applied Geosciences
- Solar Energy
- Solar Technologies & Applications
- Sustainable Process & Energy Systems
- Sustainable Technologies for Industrial Processes
- Wind energy
- Energy transition studies
- Industry
- Roadmaps
- Flexible & Free-form Products
- Space & Scientific Instrumentation
- Semiconductor Equipment
- Smart Industry
- Expertise groups
- Buildings, Infrastructure & Maritime
- Roadmaps
- Safe and Sustainable Living Environment
- Infrastructure
- Sustainable buildings: towards an energy-producing built environment
- Building innovation
- Greenhouse design
- Digitisation in construction
- Smart megastructures
- Expertise groups
- Circular Economy & Environment
- Roadmaps
- Circular economy
- Environment & Climate
- Sustainable Chemical Industry
- Expertise groups
- Healthy Living
- Roadmaps
- Health Technology & Digital Health
- Biomedical Health
- Work
- Youth
- Expertise groups
- Traffic & Transport
- Roadmaps
- SMART and Safe Traffic and Transport
- Societal impact for accessibility and liveability
- Decision-making information based on facts for municipalities
- Making disruptive technologies practicable
- Accessible, healthy and vibrant cities
- CITYkeys – Performance evaluation framework for smart cities and projects
- Big data ecosystems: collaborating on data-controlled cities
- Knowledge mediator puts an end to bickering
- Intact – Climate resilient critical infrastructure
- Organising mobility
- Smart mobility and logistics
- Smart vehicles
- Smart Mobility Research Centre SMRC
- Sustainable Traffic and Transport
- Sustainable Mobility and Logistics
- Improving air quality by monitoring real-world emissions
- Emission factors for road traffic
- Measuring the emissions of powered two wheelers
- Emissions of particulate matter from diesel cars
- Random Cycle Generator
- EnViVer: model traffic flow and emissions
- Measuring real-world emissions with TNO’s Smart Emissions Measurement System (SEMS)
- Measuring the emissions of trucks and buses
- Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Commercial Road Transport
- Measuring the emissions of non-road mobile machinery
- Emission measures in practice
- The transition to CO2-neutral mobility in 2050
- Sustainable Vehicles
- Innovative technologies for zero-emission vehicles
- CO2 reduction by high-efficiency Flex Fuel technology with extremely low emissions
- Actual energy consumption and emissions
- Automotive Battery Research
- Making transport more sustainable by means of electric vehicles
- Energy Efficient Electric Bus E3Bus
- eCoMove
- How hydrogen can accelerate energy transition in the transport sector
- Green performance of ships
- Expertise groups
- Information & Communication Technology
- Roadmaps
- Fast open infrastructures
- Data sharing
- Trusted ICT
- Efficiency, effectiveness, quality and the costs of systems
- Expertise groups
- Strategic Analysis & Policy
- Expertise groups
- Strategic Business Analysis
- Strategy & Policy
- Orchestrating Innovation
- Tech Transfer
Dick van Smirren MSc
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