The Hypercore project (energy-efficient, secure and high-performance communication infrastructure in the metro and core network for the hyper-networked society), coordinated by the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute (HHI), was launched this summer. The joint project is dedicated to the development of a new generation of communication networks in order to achieve a significant increase in network capacity, flexibility and security while keeping energy consumption low. As part of the project, Fraunhofer HHI is working on optimizing the metro and core networks that will serve as the backbone of tomorrow's hyper-connected society. The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and will run for three years.
In recent years, transmission capacity in metro and core networks has mainly been driven forward by increasing the data rate per wavelength channel. However, this approach is increasingly reaching its physical limits. Hypercore, on the other hand, considers for the first time a combination of all three physical dimensions available for increasing transmission capacity, time (channel data rates), frequency (channel wavelengths) and space (number of spatial transmission channels), in order to develop new, more powerful and energy-efficient transmission and network concepts.
The concept is based on four core technologies. The researchers will develop multiband transmission systems with an extended wavelength range and energy-efficient multiband transceivers. The project partners will also design a coherent OTDR (Optical Time-Domain Reflectometry) system to automate network control using machine learning. Finally, they will develop digital twin technology for use in optical communication networks.
An important part of the project will be to evaluate the practical suitability of the developed technologies and thus lay the foundation for broad application in Europe. To this end, field tests will be carried out under real conditions in the Kiel and Berlin regions from spring 2026.
Kiel University is providing a designated fiber optic network in collaboration with the network operator Stadtwerke Kiel. Here, the researchers will test the newly developed coherent OTDR systems. These systems will be able to query additional information such as movements and vibrations in the vicinity of the installed optical fibers and simultaneously enable data communication.
In a second setup in Berlin, the researchers are evaluating novel transmitters and receivers in the O-band as well as energy-efficient signal processing algorithms in real applications with high data consumption (e.g. 8K video conferencing).
The project focused on network security and energy efficiency in all developments in order to help protect critical infrastructures and reduce the carbon footprint of digital applications.
The Bundeswehr University Munich, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, the Christian Albrechts University and the University of Stuttgart are also involved in the project. The project is supported by industrial partners such as Adtran, VPIphotonics, ADDIX and CAD connect to enable rapid implementation of the developed technologies.
