Catherine DOUILLARD

On-going research projects

AI4CODE: "AI-aided FEC code design & decoding", ANR project, 2021-2025

The aim of the ANR AI4CODE project is therefore to explore and assess how Machine Learning (ML) techniques can contribute to improvements in coding  theory, techniques, and practice. The focus is placed on Forward Error Correction (FEC),and the project is built around four inter-related objectives:

Objective #1: Explore how ML can contribute to improving the state of the art (SoA) in FEC decoding. 
Objective #2: Investigate how ML techniques can  improve current knowledge and practice in FEC code design.
Objective #3: Learn from the machine.
Objective #4:  Develop  a  general  expertise  and  critical  thinking  on  ML  algorithms  and  their applications to coding theory and practice. 

In AI4CODE, we will  lead  the  investigations  on  AI-based  structured  interleaver  design  for  Turbo codes, considering both very short codes and very long codes for which different challenges arise. 

Beyond5G: "Support for investment in strategic sectors for the resilience of our Economy" -  5G Telecommunications, French recovery plan, 2020-2024

France is currently involved in initiatives led by the Comité Stratégique de Filière (CSF) for Digital Infrastructure, whose main objectives are to organize the sector necessary for the development of a sovereign digital telecom "industry" and its applications in other user sectors ("verticals") such as health, transportation and production industries.

The Beyond5G project is part of this approach. Its main objective is to propose technical solutions for the development of sovereign and secure 5G/post 5G networks. It articulates these solutions to the needs of the verticals in the context, on the one hand, of a sustained effort in R&D and, on the other hand, of a significant interfacing between R&D and verticals. This can be done through the platforms that will be set up with the resources made available by the partners of the  project, or through the portability of functional blocks and services resulting from the project's work.

QCSP: "Quasi-Cyclic Short Packet", ANR project, 2019-2022

The aim of the ANR QCSP project is to contribute to the evolution of IoT networks by defining, implementing and testing a new coded modulation scheme dedicated to IoT networks. The “big bet” of the project is to work on the emergence of Non-Binary (NB) codes combined with a Cyclic Code Shift Keying (CCSK) modulation. This new coded modulation scheme, called CCSK-NB-code, can be easily implemented in a cost efficient way at the device side. CCSK-NB-code provides several advantages compared to state of the art waveforms: it offers self-synchronization and self-identification capabilities, and is able to operate at ultra-low Signal-to-Noise Ratios (SNR).

Our contribution to QCSP is mainly related to the investigation of non-binary turbo codes optimized for CCSK modulation.

Past research projects

EPIC: "Enabling Practical wIreless Tb/s communications with next generation channel Coding", H2020 project, 2017-2020

H2020 European project in collaboration with 7 industrial and academic partners. EPIC aims to develop a new generation of Forward Error Correction (FEC) codes to enable practical wireless Tb/s technology, corresponding to a 10x-100x throughput improvement over the SoA for beyond-5G (B5G) systems.

Our contributions to EPIC are mainly related to new architecture-aware high-throughput turbo decoding algorithms and to the investigation of non-binary turbo codes.

FANTASTIC-5G: "Flexible Air iNTerfAce for Scalable service delivery wiThin wIreless Communication networks of the 5^th Generation", H2020 project, 2015-2017

H2020 European project, stemming from the 5GPPP consortium with 16 industrial and academic partners and led by Alcatel-Lucent. FANTASTIC-5G aims at developping a new multi-service 5G Air Interface (AI) for below 6 GHz through a modular design. To allow the system to adapt to the anticipated heterogeneity, the pursued properties are: flexibility, scalability, versatility, efficiency, future-proofness.

In this project, we have contributed to the enhancement of the LTE turbo code and to the proposal of non-binary turbo codes for the different 5G core services: eMBB, URLLC and mMTC. We also studied new efficient resource allocation techniques for NOMA (Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access) transmissions.

M³: Mobile Multi-Media, ANR project, 2010-2013

French ANR (Agence Nationale de la Recherche) project in collaboration with 7 industrial and academic partners: Orange Labs, CNES, Alcatel-Lucent, Teamcast, Parrot, Mitsubishi Electric, and INSA-IETR.  Mobile Multi-Media  project  addressed the cooperation of broadcast and broadband standards, likely to be used to deliver multi-media services, whatever the location, the type of receiver, and the mobility situation of the user. Telecom Bretagne was in charge of studies related to Forward Error-Correcting (FEC) coding and diversity techniques.

ETNA: Enhanced wireless Technologies for News and security Applications, Eurostars project, 2011-2013

Eurêka/Eurostars European project in collaboration with European SMEs, Teamcast (FR), Nulink SA (CH), AKAtech (CH), bSoft (IT) and the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (CH).  This project project aimed at defining, developing and validating an optimised system for wireless video links for applications in the electronic news gathering and security sectors. Telecom Bretagne’s contribution mainly dealt with the validation and optimization of some innovative modulation and diversity concepts for the physical layer of the wireless video link.

ENGINES: Enabling Next Generation NEtworks for broadcast Services, Celtic+ project, 2010-2012

Eurêka/Celtic European project in collaboration with more than 30 industrial and academic partners, intended to develop the next generation broadcasting standards and their implementations for portable, mobile and handheld reception. 

Turbo codes, signal space diversity and MIMO techniques were studied in the framework of the project and also proposed for standardization to the DVB-H technical module.

SME42: SME for T2, Eurostars project, 2008-2010

Eurêka/Eurostars European project in collaboration with two European SMEs, Teamcast (Rennes, France) and Sidsa (Madrid,Spain).  This project aimed to deliver the world first complete DVB-T2 prototype. Telecom Bretagne’s contribution dealt with the design of the coding and modulation hardware architectures in the transmitter and receiver.

B21C: Broadcast for the 21st Century, Celtic project, 2007-2009

Eurêka/Celtic European project in collaboration with more than 30 industrial and academic partners, intended to elaborate technical propositions for the future of European digital TV.  A new generation hybrid turbo code (3D-Turbo Code) and a signal space diversity technique were studied in the framework of the project and then proposed for standardization.

BSDT: study of enhanced digital transmission techniques for Broadband Satellite Digital Transmissions, ESA project, 2006-2009

Research contract European Space Agency/Newtec: Proposal of a coded modulation scheme based on a Continuous Phase Modulation (CPM), for satellite transmission. This scheme, called 4CPM, has been implemented in the Belgian company Newtec’s triple play service terminals, Sat3play. These terminals were successfully put onto market via several satellite operators, including SES Astra (Astra2Connect service).