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Persons standing with two drones in front of them © TU Dortmund

ComNets Dortmund presents “Interactive Smart Factory RAN Planner” at EuCNC 2026 and receives Best University Demo Award

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The ComNets Dortmund team represented at the 6G Platform Booth. © ComNets, 2026
The ComNets Dortmund team represented at the 6G Platform Booth.
The EuCNC & 6G Summit took place this year in Málaga, Spain, bringing together researchers, industry representatives, and policymakers from across Europe and beyond to discuss and showcase the latest advances in communication networks and future mobile systems. Over four days, the conference featured scientific presentations, demonstrations, exhibitions, and networking activities focused on the evolution towards 6G and beyond. Together with partners from Ruhr University Bochum, RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, DFKI, and others, ComNets Dortmund represented the 6G Germany booth and showcased innovative approaches for next-generation mobile network planning.
Group Photo of 6GEM+ researchers from TU Dortmund University, Ruhr University Bochum, and RWTH Aachen University at the 6GEM+ exhibition booth. © 6GEM+ Consortium, 2026
Group Photo of 6GEM+ researchers from TU Dortmund University, Ruhr University Bochum, and RWTH Aachen University at the 6GEM+ exhibition booth.

DRaGon in Near Real Time – Experiencing mmWave Connectivity Hands-On
The demonstrator showcased the capabilities of the AI-enabled DRaGon propagation model in an interactive smart factory scenario, highlighting both prediction accuracy and computational efficiency for dynamic indoor environments. Based thereon, visitors could modify a physical factory setup by placing obstacles and adjusting base station locations. These changes immediately affected the radio environment and triggered updated connectivity maps projected onto the factory floor in near real time using DRaGon. In comparison, conventional ray tracing can require up to two hours for a similar scenario. Thereby it was demonstrated how research results can be transformed into interactive tools for intuitive and responsive RAN planning. The work was awarded the Best University Demo Award.
 

Best University Demo Award awarded to ComNets Dortmund. © 6G Platform & ComNets, 2026
Best University Demo Award awarded to ComNets Dortmund.

The demonstrator was developed as part of a master student project thesis leveraging the mmWave-DRaGon model, which originates from the  6GEM+ transfer hub and the associated Pangolin project. The student project is also part of the 6G talent development activities of 6GEM+.

A recent scientific paper enabling this demonstrator is available on our homepage:
M. Geis, S. Häger, B. Krluku, C. Wietfeld, “Hybrid Active-Passive Network Design Enabled by Physics-Informed ML-based Propagation Modeling,” in IEEE INFOCOM Workshops, Tokyo, Japan, May 2026. [pdf] [Details]
 

Additional Recognition: Pangolin Selected for European Pitch Contest
Another highlight of the event was the presentation of Pangolin by Melina Geis as one of only five startups invited to pitch before an international jury.

Melina Geis presents the PANGOLIN project at EUCNC Startup Pitch Session. © ComNets, 2026
Melina Geis presents the PANGOLIN project at EUCNC Startup Pitch Session.

Acknowledgments
The presented works were supported by the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) through the PANGOLIN Networks project (16KIS2357) and the 6GEM+ transfer hub (16KIS2412).

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