Edge of Tomorrow: Shaping 6G and AI-driven future networks
Friday, 28 November, 2025
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As 6G becomes embedded into public infrastructure including smart cities, 'Internet of Things' and autonomous vehicles - safety, regulation and robust deployment will matter just much as speed and data transfer rates. At UCD, we take a holistic approach to 6G and future network research to meet the demands of the present and future, pursuing broad impact and playing a meaningful role in how 6G evolves, globally.
Our world-leading experts at UCD NetsLab are shaping the research agenda, influencing industry and standardisation paths, and gaining peer recognition for their novel approaches combining AI, security and privacy, network softwarisation, real-world testbeds, broad collaborations and social-industrial interface. The world class research leaders at UCD School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and UCD IoE2 Lab are developing digital power architecture that will cut the energy consumption of next-generation wireless networks by up to 50%.
Learn more about the people and projects driving UCD's rich research and innovation ecosystem for 6G and future networks.
Leading the research agenda
Associate Prof (opens in a new window)Madhusanka Liyanage is a globally recognised expert in 6G network privacy and security, network softwarisation, blockchain, multi-access Edge computing, AI/federated learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and is Director of UCD NetsLab. While many 6G and future network research groups globally focus primarily on physical layer innovations, throughput, energy efficiency, AI-based network optimisation or edge computing, few combine AI, security/privacy, network softwarisation, real-world testbeds and social-industrial interface the way UCD NetsLab does. In particular, the focus on adversarial AI threats in 6G, post-quantum cryptography and privacy at Edge/IoT, zero-touch/zero-trust security frameworks positions this team among a small, leading group globally working on next-generation networks ready for real deployment.
Learn more about (opens in a new window)UCD NetsLab based at UCD School of Computer Science.
ENSURE-6G: Evolving safety and privacy for 6G networks
With the advancement of quantum computing and AI technology, the risk of cybersecurity and privacy breaches has also increased. As the world awaits the arrival of 6G, researchers and industry are working together to achieve the evolution of security and privacy for next-generation networks. Led by UCD NetsLab, a new EU-funded global consortium ‘ENSURE 6G’ brings together 15 industry and academic partners from Europe, Asia, and South America to tackle the growing challenges of security and privacy in Beyond 5G (B5G) and 6G networks.
"ENSURE-6G is a critical step forward in developing secure, resilient telecommunications infrastructures for the future. By addressing both cyber and physical threats, this project ensures safer adoption of 6G technologies while supporting innovation and collaboration across borders," says Associate Prof Madhusanka Liyanage.
Learn more about ENSURE 6G at (opens in a new window)https://ensure-6g.eu/.
A national first for AI-driven 6G experimentation
UCD has invested €284,000 in the development of a new AI-ORAN Testbed for 6G Network Automation and Cybersecurity Innovation. The project represents Ireland’s first integrated AI-driven 6G experimentation platform combining Open RAN, edge intelligence, digital twins, and advanced cybersecurity research - led by Associate Prof Madhusanka Liyanage.
Housed at UCD’s Network Softwarisation and Security Laboratory (NetsLab), the new testbed expands the university’s existing 5G infrastructure into a fully operational 6G-ready environment. Further EU programmes, including Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking and the European Cybersecurity and Competence Centre, have sought to collaborate with the novel platform.
Reducing energy consumption of wireless networks by 50 per cent
Led by TU Delft, in partnership with UCD and Fraunhofer IAF, the groundbreaking DISRUPT project has secured nearly €10 million in funding from the European Research Council (ERC) to develop a fully digital RF power architecture that aims to cut the energy consumption of next-generation wireless networks including 6G by as much as 50 per cent.
The project adopts a radically new approach: co-integrating advanced CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) with a yet-to-be-developed segmented III-Nitride (III-N) semiconductor platform. This integration will enable a fully digital RF transmitter - a unique digital structure that will enable the direct generation of high-power, wideband, coherent RF signals, with precise control over amplitude and phase. The platform will also pioneer novel energy efficiency enhancement techniques and enable seamless integration of digital signal processing, clock generation, error correction, and AI-based signal optimization.
UCD IoE2 Lab: Connecting things
The IoE2 Lab at UCD is a multi-disciplinary research laboratory particularly focused on developing enabling technologies and making scientific breakthroughs for next generation Internet of Things (IoT) and future communication systems. The research topics range from ultra-low-power electronic circuits for enabling autonomous intelligent sensor nodes to ubiquitous communication technologies for power-efficient and smart network infrastructures, as well as complex system optimisation algorithms for effective management and control of billions of smart “things”. The lab collaborates with multiple industry partners, also conducting research and innovation in areas such as advanced signal processing, energy harvesting, microwave and optical device characterisation and complex modelling of bio sensors.
Spotlight on AI and Data
From it's academic talent pool, which has the largest concentration of researchers in AI and data science, to its campus-wide HPC infrastructure, UCD is the national leader in fundamental and applied AI, computational and intelligence-based research and innovation. See our spotlight on activity in these exciting fields to learn about the scale, excellence, leadership and impact delivered by the UCD community.