In GIRTEL we investigate in different topics in the Telecommunications area, adapting our research challenges to the technology advances.

If you want to know about the Ph.D. thesis in progress/defended in GIRTEL, click here.

Network planning, optimization and traffic engineering

One of our main investigations is networking in different technologies: IP/MPLS, optical and wireless. We seek, through analytical models, numerical methods and computer simulations, to optimize the topology, capacity upgrades, bandwidth allocations, reliability and traffic engineering in the network. We are developers of the open-source network optimization and planning software Net2Plan, which includes a public repository where our algorithms and results are available for the industry, and for public inspection and validation of other researchers. Net2Plan was originally thought as a tool to assist the teaching of communication networks planning courses, and it is also used for this purpose in several Universities (including UPCT).

Optical networks

Optical WDM networks in the metro and backbone and passive optical networks in the access are a future-proof solution. We investigate the optimization and planning of these networks, and the design of optical switching nodes with higher throughput and reduced power consumption.

SDN and NFV for network operation and management

We investigate and develop tools in the context of the Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) paradigm for a full and agile network operation and management. We target a network which automatizes and simplifies a large portion of the operation and provisioning tasks that today need human intervention, cutting down operational expenditures.

Internet and mobile technologies

We investigate and develop applications with technologies like NFC for creating smart environments. We have experience in large-scale transcoding platforms and multimedia delivery systems for heterogeneous clients (smartphones, tablets, web, smart TVs…). We research in optimal design of Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) and cloud infrastructures for this or other purposes.

ICTs for agriculture and industry

GIRTEL collaborates with researchers from Agronomics Faculty in UPCT, to apply the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to agriculture sector for improving the way in which farmers and agricultural technicians work today. Our contributions focus on the design of mobile applications for assisting agricultural tasks, like optimizing the irrigations costs and fertilizing mixes according to the sun and soil parameters, and the application of cloud-computing paradigm for storing and managing data of agricultural installations. We also investigate and develop RFID systems for applications like warehouse management or food traceability.

IoT, e-Health, Smart Cities

The group researchers on the application of IoT technologies in the areas of e-health and smart cities. We have experience in LPWAN communications for deploying wireless sensor networks and crowdsensing schemes. We are actively participating in projects applying IoT technologies to gather environmental information for pollution monitoring, as well as activities in which wearable devices are used to extract vital signs with the aim of evaluating remotely the health of patients.

Vehicular Telematics and Mobility

The members of the group hold wide experience in vehicular communications and services. We have participated, among others, in activities related to vehicle positioning, network selection, management of wireless networks, reduction of network congestion, IPv6 mobility, contextual services and freight monitoring. We have open-source software for realistic simulation of vehicular scenarios, and the group is active in projects related to urban mobility.

Applied Machine Learning

There are active lines in the group to applied machine learning algorithms for data analytics and perform intelligent decisions, including network planning and operation. We have applied successfully machine learning in the area of e-health for diabetes monitoring and autonomous insulin injection using reinforcement learning, as well as detecting patters in environmental pollution and city mobility.