Representatives from Ericsson and the University of Toronto signed a new partnership agreement to explore opportunities for research collaboration and talent development. (photo by Johnny Guatto)
Collaborations between professors, graduate students and equipment makers are enhancing both the hardware and software that underly wireless communications
A new strategic partnership between the University of Toronto and Ericsson will advance the technological capabilities that underlie cell phone networks — leading to faster, more efficient and more cost-effective service in Canada and beyond.
The initiative officially launched on U of T’s St. George campus on February 18, highlighting possible topics for future collaboration and identifying opportunities for recruiting students. It brings together Canada’s preeminent research university with one of the largest players in telecommunications research and development in the world.
The partnership was awarded to U of T after a national Request for Proposals, in which Ericsson invited Canadian universities to demonstrate how they could help develop deep fundamental insights and advances that will eventually lead to the next generation of products.
It follows more than a decade of previous collaboration between Ericsson and researchers at U of T, and will set the framework for a deeper relationship that could extend into the next decade.
While it will strengthen the research and development ecosystem within the Greater Toronto region, its impact will be felt at a national level, contributing to better connectivity and stronger infrastructure to support future technologies
“This partnership will foster cutting-edge research, develop world-class talent, and support the creation of secure and reliable technologies for the future of wireless communications,” said Marcos Cavaletti, Head of Ericsson’s Ottawa site.
“As 5G continues to drive profound changes across industries and societies, Ericsson and the University of Toronto are committed to tackling these challenges together.”
U of T Engineering professor Ben Liang (ECE) and his team have been working with Ericsson since 2013.
“One of my PhD students started an internship with Ericsson, and that’s how we got started,” says Liang.
“After that, they had a national call for proposals, and our team was successful with that. Every year since then, I’ve had some collaboration with them.”
Liang says he’s worked on both the software and hardware sides of wireless communications infrastructure.
“A lot of it relates to questions about how to optimize the allocation of resources, and that includes both spectrum resources and power resources,” says Liang.
“Power is expensive, so if you use less, you lower the cost of the service. And improving the use of spectrum means you can move more data through the network, which leads to faster download and upload speeds.”
“We are also investigating longer-term challenges, such as enabling multiple network service providers to share the same hardware infrastructure in crowded venues, and how artificial intelligence and wireless networking can be tightly integrated in future systems.”
Another U of T Engineering professor, Ravi Adve (ECE) has also had long-standing collaborations with Ericsson.
“We started in about 2017, through a collaboration with another professor who is now at Ontario Tech University,” says Adve.
“We’ve been looking at a lot of the same things as Ben and his team, but we’ve also been looking at things like system architecture.”
“Right now, the model is to have a big base station that covers a large region. An alternative approach would be to deploy more, but smaller stations. They would use less power and be more efficient, because users are closer to a station on average. However, this approach brings up new challenges that need to be addressed, so that’s what we’re working on.”
Both Liang and Adve hope to continue collaborating with Ericsson under the new partnership agreement, and additional faculty members from across U of T are expected to join them.
Another key aspect of the partnership is a talent development stream. This initiative will include contributions from a number of centres and programs across U of T Engineering, including the Centre for Analytics & Artificial Intelligence Engineering (Carte), the Institute for Studies in Transdisciplinary Engineering Education and Practice (ISTEP) and the new MEng Extended Full-Time Co-op program, which launched last fall.
The talent development stream will train highly qualified personnel who are not only well-versed in the development of new wireless communications technologies, but who have the sector-wide perspective and leadership training to oversee their future implementation.
“We’re very proud that U of T has been successful in this process,” says Professor Leah Cowen, U of T’s Vice-President, Research & Innovation.
“We have a long and positive track record of catalyzing next-generation technology with Ericsson, and with these types of industrial collaborations in general. It’s a win-win proposition, enabling us to apply the expertise of our researchers, enhance the skills of our students, and elevate the global competitiveness of a major global technology innovator with major R&D operations right here in our own backyard. This strategic partnership is a great opportunity to take things to the next level,” she says.
“Ontario is proudly home to a robust sector of researchers whose ground-breaking discoveries cement the province as a global innovator in technology,” says Nolan Quinn, Minister of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security.
“Our government proudly supports this partnership between Ericsson and the University of Toronto, which will equip our researchers with the cutting-edge tools they need to design, drive and lead the future of mobile communications technology.”
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