Next generation connectivity for a smarter tomorrow

Next generation connectivity for a smarter tomorrow

Communications Hub for Empowering Distributed clouD computing Applications and Research

We’re a consortium of seven leading UK universities researching the communications technologies of tomorrow.

The Communications Hub for Empowering Distributed Cloud Computing Applications and Research (CHEDDAR) is a national research hub advancing future communications and connectivity. Funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), through the Technology Missions Fund (TMF), CHEDDAR is one of the Federated Telecoms Hubs (FTH), working alongside TITAN, HASC and JOINER. Together, the FTH programme provides pioneering platforms to accelerate innovation in communication systems, strengthen collaboration between academia and industry, and deliver global impact.

CHEDDAR Subprojects and Collaborating Institutions

As part of its mission to drive innovation in next generation telecoms, CHEDDAR Hub supports a series of subprojects led by universities across the UK. These collaborative efforts extend the reach and impact of the Hub’s research by addressing targeted challenges in distributed cloud computing, secure connectivity, and advanced network systems. These subprojects form a vital part of CHEDDAR’s ambition to empower research with real-world application.

Lead Institutions for CHEDDAR Subprojects:

• University of Surrey
• Keele University
• Lancaster University
• Glasgow Caledonian University

Collaborating Universities (non-core CHEDDAR partners):

These institutions are actively involved in CHEDDAR subprojects but are not part of the core CHEDDAR university consortium:
• Birmingham City University
• University of Exeter
• University of Warwick
• Northumbria University
• Queen Mary University of London
• Coventry University

Our Vision

Our vision is to shape the future of intelligent, sustainable, and trustworthy connectivity, enabling communications networks that go beyond connecting people and devices to support interconnected intelligence, autonomous systems, and emerging digital technologies.

Building on our foundations in distributed computing and the edge–fog–cloud continuum, CHEDDAR is advancing Cognizant Convergent Connectivity, a research direction that integrates communications, sensing, computing, and energy with AI-native intelligence.

We envision a future in which networks can understand their environments, adapt to changing demands and operate efficiently and autonomously, supporting innovation across healthcare, transport, energy, industry and society.

Our Aims

CHEDDAR aims to advance the research, technologies and collaborations required to develop the next generation of intelligent communications infrastructure.

Our research is organised around three interconnected missions:

  1. Converging Technologies

Integrate communications, sensing, computing and energy to develop interconnected systems that support emerging applications and increasingly complex digital environments.

  1. Resource-Efficient AI-Native Networks

Develop intelligent network architectures that use resource-efficient AI to learn, adapt and optimise performance, improving sustainability, resilience and the efficient use of network resources.

  1. Trustworthy Autonomy

Advance secure, reliable and trustworthy autonomous systems capable of operating in dynamic and challenging environments while meeting the needs of users, industry and society.

Collaboration and Impact

Working with our university partners, industry collaborators and the wider Federated Telecoms Hubs, CHEDDAR aims to strengthen the UK’s research and innovation ecosystem.

Through interdisciplinary research, knowledge exchange and real-world demonstrations, we aim to translate pioneering ideas into practical technologies, develop research talent and accelerate the adoption of intelligent connectivity across multiple sectors.

Our Research Focus

CHEDDAR is advancing the future of intelligent connectivity through pioneering research in next-generation communications, distributed computing and AI-native networks.

Building on our foundations in emergent, sustainable and human-centric systems, our research is evolving towards Cognizant Convergent Connectivity, bringing together communications, sensing, computing and energy to create intelligent, adaptive and resource-efficient networks.

Our work focuses on three interconnected research missions: Converging Technologies, Resource-Efficient AI-Native Networks and Trustworthy Autonomy. Together, these missions aim to enable secure, resilient and sustainable connectivity that supports increasingly complex applications and autonomous systems.

Working across academia and industry, CHEDDAR is translating research into practical innovations for healthcare, transport, energy, industrial systems and beyond.

The CHEDDAR Hub is being led by Imperial College London, and its core partner universities include the Universities of Cranfield, Durham, Glasgow, Leeds, York and King’s College London.

Next generation sub-projects within CHEDDAR

CHEDDAR Hub supports a series of university-led sub-projects designed to complement its strategic research in distributed cloud-continuum, secure connectivity, and sustainable 6G infrastructure. These projects are funded through both Sandpit and Follow-on mechanisms and involve collaboration across UK universities.

6G-AI-FINESSE

Improving 6G Rural Security using AI-Driven Intelligence to Identify Friend or Foe for Physical Layer Security.
Type: Follow-on Project
Principal Investigator: Dr. Aisha Junejo
Universities involved: Imperial College London, Keele University, University of Surrey.

SecureSense

Enhanced Secure 6G Real-Time Joint Communications and Sensing Testbed
Type: Follow-on Project
Principal Investigator: Dr. Muhammad Usman
Universities involved: Glasgow Caledonian University, University of Glasgow, Coventry University; collaborating organisation: InterDigital.

ORAN-TWIN-X 

Explainable Digital Twin for Energy-Aware and Trustworthy O-RAN Control
Type: Follow-on Project
Principal Investigator: Dr. Mohammad Shojafar
Universities involved: University of Surrey, University of Leeds, University of York, Birmingham City University

CHEESE: Configurable Holistic Explainability for Emerging Sixth-Generation Network Evaluation

Type: Sandpit Project
Principal Investigator: Yansha Dang
Universities involved: Kings College London, University of Hull, Brunel University, collaborating organisation; Digital Catapult

Electromagnetic Neural Networks for Over-the-air Communication, Sensing and Computing

Type: Sandpit Project
Principal Investigator: Marco Di Renzo
Universities involved: Kings College London, Essex University, Loughborough University

EcoNGN: Embedding Carbon Awareness into Next Generation Telecom Networks

Type: Sandpit Project
Principal Investigator: Nagham Saeed
Universities involved: University of West London, Oxford University

The Cheddar Hub

Our Research Focus

Research Themes

CHEDDAR strives to research, design, and derive proofs-of-concept of the 6G technologies that will support edge-fog-cloud continuum of computation through three thematic research pillars:

The pillars are augmented by innovative blue-sky and pilot research projects, which are structured to encourage multi-partner collaboration, generating a substantial presence and impact in each research area (see our Research Themes pages for more details).