SiKora - Sichere Kommunikationsräume

In the context of communication solutions for areas with high security requirements, the link of the end nodes to the LAN / WAN infrastructure is a critical element of the overall security concept. A wireless connection via radio-based protocols (WLAN, Bluetooth, LTE, 5G) fundamentally poses a risk here. The propagation and reception of radio signals are not strongly hindered by physical obstacles and open up the possibility of active disruption of the network (jamming), but also intrusion into communications in the form of eavesdropping (sniffing) and active takeover of connections (spoofing). The use of visible and non-visible (infrared) light as a carrier for light-based communication (Visible Light Communication VLC or Light Fidelity LiFi) allows targeted illumination of desired areas with sharp delineation of the desired communication zones. Neither intrusion into the wireless communication nor external interference by third parties will be possible with such a solution. Nevertheless, free movement of the end devices is ensured within the desired zones.

This subproject focuses on the optical transceiver unit referred to as a radio unit (RU) in the OperRAN concept, which must be upgraded for use with any software-defined radio (SDR)-based systems. Such a generalized hardware platform shall be developed and tested based on the system design and derived specifications. These optical transceiver units shall have defined spatial coverage with sharp boundaries and require a documented and open interface for interfacing with Distribution Units (DU).