Techtile -- Open 6G R&D Testbed for Communication, Positioning, Sensing, WPT and Federated Learning

New concepts for next-generation wireless systems are being developed. It is expected that these 6G and beyond systems will incorporate more than only communication, but also sensing, positioning, (deep) edge computing, and other services. The discussed measurement facility and approach, named Techtile, is an open, both in design and operation, and unique testbed to evaluate these newly envisioned systems. Techtile is a multi-functional and versatile testbed, providing fine-grained distributed resources for new communication, positioning and sensing technologies. The facility enables experimental research on hyper-connected interactive environments and validation of new algorithms and topologies. The backbone connects 140~resource units equipped with edge computing devices, software-defined radios, sensors, and LED sources. By doing so, different network topologies and local-versus-central computing can be assessed. The introduced diversity of i) the technologies (e.g., RF, acoustics and light), ii) the distributed resources and iii) the interconnectivity allows exploring more degrees and new types of diversity, which can be investigated in this testbed.

A Primer on Techtile: An R&D Testbed for Distributed Communication, Sensing and Positioning

The Techtile measurement infrastructure is a multi-functional, versatile testbed for new communication and sensing technologies relying on fine-grained distributed resources. The facility enables experimental research on hyper-connected interactive environments and validation of new wireless connectivity, sensing and positioning solutions. It consists of a data acquisition and processing equipment backbone and a fabric of dispersed edge computing devices, Software-Defined Radios, sensors, and LED sources. These bring intelligence close to the applications and can also collectively function as a massive, distributed resource. Furthermore, the infrastructure allows exploring more degrees and new types of diversity, i.e., scaling up the number of elements, introducing `3D directional diversity' by deploying the distributed elements with different orientations, and `interface diversity' by exploiting multiple technologies and hybrid signals (RF, acoustic, and visible light).