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Fakultät für Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik
Studierende sitzt am Arbeitsplatz und schaut auf den Laptop. © Aliona Kardash​/​TU Dortmund

First FR3 Research Results and Best Paper Award for ComNets Dortmund at IEEE MNC 2026

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Photo of Marco Danger at IEEE MNC 2026 and Best Paper Award for the contribution by ComNets Dortmund. © ComNets, 2026
Marco Danger at IEEE MNC 2026 and Best Paper Award for the contribution by ComNets Dortmund.
Researchers from the Chair of Communication Networks (ComNets) at TU Dortmund University were honored with the "Domenico Grimaldi" Best Paper Award at the 2026 IEEE International Symposium on Measurement in Networking and Communications (MNC) in Naples, Italy. The awarded paper, "Two Birds, One Stone: FR3 as 6G Golden Band? Analysis from Measurement-Calibrated Ray Tracing," explores the potential of the upper mid-band for future 6G systems.

Held from July 13 to 16, 2026, IEEE MNC 2026 brought together researchers from industry, academia, government, and standardization bodies around the theme of measurement science in networking and communications. The symposium was newly renamed this year (formerly IEEE International Symposium on Measurements and Networking) and, in its eighth edition, gathered many contributions from researchers across five continents.

The presented paper examines whether the upper mid-band FR3 (7 - 24 GHz) can act as a 6G "golden band" that balances coverage and capacity, bridging the gap between the established ranges FR1 (< 7 GHz) and FR2 (> 24 GHz). Using extensive FR1 and FR2 measurements from large-scale industrial environments, the authors built a measurement-calibrated ray tracing framework that predicts FR3 propagation with a modeling error below 5 dB (RMSE) and enables a consistent performance comparison across all three frequency ranges.

The findings confirm FR3 as a compelling middle ground: it maintains connectivity at 99.4 % of receiver positions while delivering far higher throughput than FR1, and scales more efficiently than FR2, requiring fewer transmitters to achieve a comparable target coverage. Realizing and validating these benefits in practice will, however, depend on comprehensive field trials and regulatory guidance for the upper mid-band.

At the closing ceremony of the conference, the contribution was honored with one of two "Domenico Grimaldi" Best Paper Awards, underlining the relevance of and the interest in the presented FR3-related research results.

ComNets researcher Marco Danger receives Best Paper Award from Technical Program Chair Federico Tramarin. © MNC Organizing Committee, 2026
ComNets researcher Marco Danger receives Best Paper Award from Technical Program Chair Federico Tramarin.

Presented Contribution

  • M. Danger, S. Böcker, C. Wietfeld, "Two Birds, One Stone: FR3 as 6G Golden Band? Analysis from Measurement-Calibrated Ray Tracing," in IEEE International Symposium on Measurement in Networking and Communications (MNC), Naples, Italy, July 2026. (Best Paper Award)  [pdf] [Details]

Acknowledgments
This work has been funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) in the course of the VICTOR6G project under grant no. 16KIS2549, the 6GEM+ Transfer Hub under grant no. 16KIS2412, and the GEM-X project under grant no. 16KISS005.