VIAVI Solutions SAS

VIAVI (NASDAQ: VIAV) is a global provider of network test, monitoring and assurance solutions for communications service providers, enterprises, network equipment manufacturers, government and avionics. We help these customers harness the power of instruments, automation, intelligence and virtualization to Command the Network. VIAVI is also a leader in light management solutions for 3D sensing, anti-counterfeiting, consumer electronics, industrial, automotive, and defense applications. Learn more about VIAVI at www.viavisolutions.com.

The Service Enablement (SE) business of VIAVI  which is leading the engagement on the LOCUS project focuses on solutions for Operators and Enterprises to manage, assure, optimize and monetize their networks. Of particular relevance to LOCUS is the VIAVI market leading GeoLocation Solution. This solution operates at scale, processing approaching one trillion events per day within a single system, calculating more than a million geolocations per second and operating on virtualized or bare-metal infrastructure depending on operator preference.

LOCUS provides an opportunity for VIAVI to explore localization methodologies that leverage information available with 5G and from other sources (for example, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi) with the objective of making localization 5G native a service. This will support VIAVI to build the global R&D relationships in 5G systems by cooperating with key vendors, operators, and leading research centres and universities across Europe. VIAVI will utilize LOCUS trial outputs and results for future development of solutions for geolocation, performance management, network optimization and orchestration. Furthermore, through collaborative research in LOCUS we also seek to build industry consensus that can lead towards standardization, in particular within 3GPP, IEEE, ETSI work groups and O-RAN.

Profile of key persons:

  • Takai Eddine Kennouche was awarded a degree in Telecommunications Engineering from the National Institute of Telecommunications of Oran, Algeria in 2013 and obtained his PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Pavia, Italy in 2017. After a year in Boston as a visiting researcher at Northeastern University, he joined the Grenoble Computer Science Laboratory (LIG) in 2018 as a postdoctoral researcher. His research experience includes the study of wireless networks coexistence problems, resilient communication protocols for smart grids, and the design of efficient network simulation models, in addition to building software and hardware testbeds for wireless networks experimentation, and hands-on experience applying machine learning models on large datasets. Takai is now based at the VIAVI offices in Saint-Étienne, France.
  • Howard Thomas is a Principal Scientist at VIAVI, based in Newbury, UK, with more than 30 years’ experience in the mobile radio business including contributions on mobile radio propagation research; the creation, design and 3GPP standardisation of features and systems; and research and design of self-organising-network algorithms. He was principal investigator from VIAVI on the iCIRRUS Horizon 2020 project. In parallel with this, he has been involved in the creation, management and enforcement of intellectual property rights, including authoring over 60 patents and acting as an expert witness to the Chancery Division of the High Court in London. Howard currently represents VIAVI at industry bodies including the ORAN Alliance.
  • Chris Murphy has 20 years of commercial experience in telecommunications covering network performance measurement, optimization and SON, particularly in cellular RAN including LTE, UMTS, CDMA and 5G. His focus has been on the modelling, simulation and optimization of next generation technologies to build a revenue stream early in the life cycle of each new generation of telecommunication systems. He has contributed to various industry and standardisation bodies including 3GPP, NGMN, ATIS and the WiMAX Forum. Chris holds a degree in Mathematics and Computing and a Ph.D. in the calibration of oceanic remote sensing satellites for improved models of climate change. He has authored numerous journal and conference papers and has filed nearly 20 patent applications. He is based at VIAVI in Newbury, UK.