A white paper to present the outcomes of RESTART Grand Challenge 16

/ October 10, 2025/ Senza categoria

A new important result from the RESTART Program: a whitepaper presenting the outcomes of Grand Challenge 16 –  “Connect and support everything and everyone that moves“ which focuses on the role of telecommunications for moving objects.

As of today, Grand Challenge 16 has provided an overarching vision of mobile systems, covering a wide range of moving objects and considering both scenarios in which telecommunications are essential for their operation and those in which the objects themselves act as network elements providing coverage, as in the case of non-terrestrial networks. Various categories of moving objects are analyzed, including road vehicles, vulnerable road users (e.g., pedestrians), trains, maritime, flying objects, satellites, automated guided vehicles for industrial environments, and underwater vehicles. These objects span multiple industrial sectors, such as automotive and maritime industries, and can deliver an extensive range of services. Enhancing telecommunications is therefore a critical driver for the development of numerous vertical industries, with significant implications for national industrial policy.

The analysis highlights several trends in network evolution, notably the integration of 5G into vehicle operations to overcome limitations of earlier mobile standards. Operational requirements are also driving the adoption of new architectures, frequency bands, and AI-based methodologies, signaling emerging needs for 6G. One of the key challenges is radio spectrum management, particularly spectrum sharing, given the rapid growth in connected objects. At present, most operational communications occur via radio at low frequencies (below 2 GHz), which provide broad coverage even in conditions without line-of-sight. This approach will likely remain essential for basic operations, although coexistence strategies with conventional networks must be defined.

Services will require increasingly larger capacity, leading to the use of spectrum in the mmWave or sub-THz range, which poses challenges in electromagnetic field management due to the need to maintain highly directional beams under high mobility. Security must also be addressed throughout the lifecycle of each object, from manufacturing, deployment, and operational use, to eventual decommissioning.

Connectivity is now available almost everywhere and at any time. Yet, efforts are still needed to close remaining coverage gaps. New solutions are essential to enhance service quality, particularly for advanced mobile machine-to-machine use cases. Greater harmonization could help create a unified ecosystem capable of evolving to meet future challenges. Above all, security will remain a critical priority, forming the foundation of all next-generation communication systems.

Project Team:
Alessandro Bazzi | Francesco Matera | Francesco Ardizzon | Massimo Battaglioni | Luca De Nardis | Roberto Garello | Luigi Alfredo Grieco | Francesco Linsalata | Franco Mazzenga | Michela Meo | Enrico Paolini | Giuseppe Piro | Arcangela Rago | Marco Rapelli | Daniela Renga | Marina Settembre | Enrico Testi | Vittorio Todisco | Alessandro Vizzarri