SUSTAINET – Sustainable Technologies for Advanced Resilient and Energy-efficient Networks

High-performance communication networks are already essential for connecting critical infrastructures. With the ongoing digitalization, especially in the fields of medical technology, industrial automation, and energy supply, their importance will continue to grow. The reliability of these networks is particularly important in order to ensure communication even in the event of errors or disasters. In addition, the sustainability of networks is crucial for achieving a climate-neutral future. The aim of the SUSTAINET project is therefore to develop new communication technologies and solutions that increase the resilience, energy efficiency, and sustainability of networks.

SUSTAINET is a collaboration between more than 80 European research institutions, universities, and companies and is divided into three subprojects: SUSTAINET-Advance, SUSTAINET-inNOvAte, and SUSTAINET-guarDian. The total budget for the project is €67.5 million.

As a CELTIC-NEXT-Flagship project SUSTAINET relies on close cooperation between leading research institutions and industry partners from Europe to jointly tackle the challenges of sustainable digital transformation and strengthen Europe's technological sovereignty.

The SUSTAINET-inNOvAte subproject aims to research and demonstrate a reliable and fail-safe communications infrastructure that enables secure, seamless, and energy-efficient connectivity. To further increase the reliability of information and communications technology systems, resilient system technologies and novel network monitoring concepts are being considered. To this end, concepts for the efficient distribution of resources for time-critical and sensitive services between network elements and across network segments are being developed. This will ensure that connections, for example from the cloud via the optical metro and access network to the radio network, remain robust even in the event of disruptions and failures. Within this framework, digital twins will also be tested for the detection of disruptions and attacks and for the prediction of network failures in order to increase failure and operational reliability.

Activities Fraunhofer IPK

As part of the SUSTAINET-inNOvAte project, the Fraunhofer IPK is investigating the requirements and applications of passive optical networks (PON) in an industrial context. The focus is on distributed control systems and the real-time capability of these complex network structures. Among other things, the scientists are investigating how virtual controllers (vPLC) from cloud environments can be integrated into the field level. To this end, they are setting up a test environment and illustrating the results in a demonstrator.

• Nokia Solutions and Networks GmbH & Co. KG
• noris network AG
• BALLUFF GmbH
• Lehrstuhl für IT-Sicherheitsinfrastrukturen, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
• Lehrstuhl für Rechnernetze und Kommunikationssysteme, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
• Lehrstuhl für Multimediakommunikation und Signalverarbeitung, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
• Karlsruher Institut für Technologie
• Universität Stuttgart
• Fraunhofer-Institut für Nachrichtentechnik, Heinrich-Hertz-Institut HHI
• Fraunhofer-Institut für Produktionsanlagen und Konstruktionstechnik IPK
• Fraunhofer-Institut für Integrierte Schaltungen IIS
• Ruhr-Universität Bochum
• Creonic GmbH
• OmegaLambdaTec GmbH
• ASTRUM IT GmbH
• lets dev GmbH & Co. KG