Kristen Smith 
The National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships has awarded Peraton Labs a cooperative agreement for research and development initiatives supporting real-time extended reality medical collaboration over next-generation wireless networks.
The project is part of NSF’s Breaking the Low Latency Barrier for Verticals in Next-G Wireless Networks initiative, also known as NSF Breaking Low, Peraton said Tuesday.
What Will Peraton Labs Develop?
Peraton Labs will develop networking techniques and technologies designed to support latency-sensitive XR applications, focusing on innovations across the wireless stack, such as adaptive radio access network resource allocation to improve spectrum efficiency.
“By applying Peraton Labs’ expertise in radio resource/spectrum optimization and scheduling techniques for mobile networking to 5G latency-sensitive and bandwidth-focused services, we can make more efficient overall use of the wireless spectrum,” said Christine Zhang, Peraton Labs’ director and chief research scientist.
The technologies developed through the effort could support additional applications across transportation, utilities, industrial operations, security and defense environments.
How Is the Project Structured?
The effort is structured as a university-industry collaboration involving separate awards to Peraton Labs and the University of Illinois.
According to NSF award data, the cooperative agreement Peraton Labs received has a potential value of $2.6 million, with work extending through June 2027.
Why Does the Research Matter?
NSF’s Breaking Low program was established to address bottlenecks in current wireless and cellular networks and accelerate the development of ultra-low-latency communications technologies for emerging applications.
According to NSF, the initiative supports research teams working to overcome architectural and technical limitations affecting current 5G and future Next-G wireless networks while strengthening U.S. leadership in advanced wireless technologies.
Peraton said its research and development arm’s broader 5G and FutureG research portfolio has addressed applications in autonomy, logistics, tactical communications, virtual and augmented reality, and critical infrastructure.
