Background

The digital sector has been receiving increasing attention over the past few years, as evidenced by the many recent reports and publications on the subject. The digital sector indeed accounts for between 2% and 4% of the world's carbon footprint, and this footprint is constantly growing. Networks, and more specifically telecommunications technologies, represent the central nervous system of this digital world. As manufacturers embark on a sustainable development approach to move towards carbon neutrality, pressure is mounting to find tangible solutions to move towards this horizon. Telecoms players are already imagining tomorrow's technologies that could be used in the networks of the future to deliver a more sustainable 6G mobile network.

Missions

In this context, we have a vacancy for a CDD research engineer in eco-innovation for 6G networks, to take part in assessing the environmental impact of the technologies envisaged for 6G. The work will be carried out mainly within the framework of the European SUSTAIN-6G project, recently accepted by the European Commission. The aim of this European project, which focuses on 6G technologies, is to propose a method for assessing their sustainability in the broadest sense: economic, social and environmental over the entire life cycle, for both first-order effects (known as footprint) and higher-order effects (known as handprint).

More specifically, the candidate will be responsible for the following tasks:

-        Review the state of the art in telecoms sustainability assessment methodologies, based in particular on recently completed or ongoing European projects (e.g. Hexa-X II), but also on work from the industry (NGMN alliance, 3GPP, etc.).

-        Propose a method for assessing the sustainability of future technologies, taking into account their key performance indicators (KPIs) and key value indicators (KVIs).

-        Evaluate the sustainability impacts of 6G technologies according to use cases.

-        Apply the proposed evaluation method to selected use cases to assess their relevance to sustainability.

A study will also be carried out to develop a model of the energy consumption behavior of the Radio Access Network (RAN) infrastructure as a function of network configurations. This energy model will be used to analyze the performance/consumption trade-off of the new technologies studied in the SUSTAIN6G project. The study will aim to identify the components and control parameters with the greatest impact, so as to contain its complexity and scope of validity. The model will combine data from CEA's in-house developments, those of the project's partners, and from the literature (e.g. EARTH project).

The successful candidate will have a 5-year degree or a doctorate in telecommunications, and ideally be trained in sustainable development issues, particularly life cycle analysis. Knowledge of methods for assessing the environmental impact of digital technologies would be highly appreciated.

Here are some of the skills involved in this mission (non-exhaustive list):

- Good knowledge of information and communication technologies (in particular 6G telecom networks)

- Knowledge of eco-design principles, ideally in the field of electronic equipment

- Life cycle assessment (LCA) of electronic systems (ISO 14040-44).

- Mastery of an LCA tool such as GaBi or SimaPro

- Good level of technical English (reading and writing) for the field concerned

- Good interpersonal skills, ability to make proposals and work as part of a team

- Ability to work independently