Communications

About the Domain

Communications are the backbone of the Internet and the digital services we rely on daily, playing a fundamental role in enabling digital transformation. As connectivity demands grow, advances in wireless technologies, intelligent networks, and radio frequency sensing are redefining the future of communication systems. At INESC TEC, we lead cutting-edge research in the scientific domain of Communications, driving innovation in next-generation wireless networks for faster and more reliable connectivity; reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS) for wireless environment control; network security to protect infrastructure and data; and edge computing for processing at the network edge and more efficient communications.

In this domain, we bring together advanced expertise that enables us to develop faster, more secure, and adaptable networks – essential for ensuring future connectivity and accelerating digital transformation across strategic sectors. Our core areas of expertise include:

Communications Technologies

Mobile Communications

Intelligent Communication Systems

Internet of Things

Research Challenges

The forthcoming wave of mobile and wireless communications will revolutionise the landscape through ubiquitous multimodal sensing and localisation, service-oriented software architectures, the deployment of autonomous systems, including drones and high-altitude platforms, pervasive artificial intelligence, and the integration of edge and cloud computing. These technologies are key to facilitating on-demand virtual and physical networks, thus enabling a seamless, interconnected world. Our team is driven by the dual goals of addressing the need for bandwidth-intensive and latency-sensitive applications and bridging the connectivity gap for the unconnected, whether machines or humans.

Main Achievements

Our research in Communications is driving the future of wireless networks; INESC TEC advancements are making communications faster, more reliable, and efficient – both on land and in space – positioning us at the forefront of 6G networks. Some of our key achievements include:

Advanced algorithms for intelligent aerial networks

We develop innovative algorithms for aerial communication networks, with advancements in positioning control, routing, and active queue management. These solutions optimise throughput, latency, and resource allocation, surpassing the state of the art. They include traffic- and energy-sensitive approaches, promoting more efficient, reliable, and sustainable networks, even in extreme environments.

Advances in ultra-wideband communications

We created innovative solutions for ultra-high-frequency communication systems: a transceiver with a novel architecture (publication), optical modulation of a resonant tunnelling diode at 79 GHz (publication), and a new method for designing planar antennas at 300 GHz (publication), introducing new possibilities for mmWave communications.

Digital Twins for wireless networks

We created advanced simulation models based on real data and artificial intelligence, enabling the reproduction of real-world communication scenarios and testing solutions in both terrestrial and non-terrestrial environments. These tools include trace-driven and machine learning-based models in the ns-3 simulator (more here, here, and here).

Compact and Efficient Antennas

We contribute to the miniaturization and efficiency of antennas used in Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) systems and beam-steering. We developed a compact and optimised antenna for BLE, based on an inductively loaded meander line (publication). We also created a beam-steering antenna design methodology that reduces the number of components required for active reflector antennas by 25% (publication).