IMDEA is a partner of GERMINAL, the European project driving the next generation of navigation communication solutions.
Running from June 2024 to June 2026, the GERMINAL project, an initiative co-financed by the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), aims to design and test two groundbreaking solutions in the field of positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT): a Universal Hybrid User Terminal (UHUT) and a highly optimized IoT software receiver. IMDEA Networks participates in the consortium as a partner, contributing to the UHUT by developing and validating its 5G component, integrating 5G signals and procedures into the hybrid terminal to improve robustness, availability, and performance in challenging scenarios.
IMDEA’s Technical Activities and description.
IMDEA Networks Institute is a public, not-for-profit top premier research foundation based in Leganés (Madrid, Spain), dedicated to advancing the fields of computer networks and communication technologies. IMDEA is recognized for combining fundamental research with a strong drive toward real-world impact, through technology transfer, collaboration with industry, and contributions that inform standardization and next-generation deployments. IMDEA conducts research across 5G/6G systems and architectures. Over the years, IMDEA has also developed advanced techniques for 5G and beyond positioning, leveraging open-source platforms and commercial off-the-shelf devices to strengthen reference-signal support and enable reproducible, real-world evaluation.
A core strength of IMDEA is its ability to bridge theory and practice through extensive experimental capabilities. The institute deploys and operates a range of wireless testbeds and benefits from innovation environments such as NEXTONIC, where IMDEA helps translate research prototypes into validated solutions. The institute’s scientific output is regularly published in top journals and conferences in networking and mobile systems, and its work is backed by strong international collaboration through participation in major European, Spanish, and US R&D programmes.
As a consortium partner, IMDEA Networks Institute contributes to GERMINAL alongside GMV (project lead) and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). In this role, IMDEA supports the joint technical roadmap with a specific focus on the 5G dimension of the UHUT, helping ensure that cellular capabilities are properly integrated into the project’s hybrid Navigation/Communications (NAV/COM) vision.
On the technical side, IMDEA’s activities concentrate on 5G signal integration and experimentation for the UHUT, aligning the terminal’s communications stack with the project’s goal of hybridizing multiple PNT and connectivity sources, where 5G Terrestrial Networks (TN) and Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) complement GNSS and emerging LEO-based PNT and signals of opportunity in a unified receiver concept.
IMDEA’s contributions are anchored in its broader mission to advancing the science and technology of networks. The institute brings an applied-research perspective to GERMINAL’s validation activities, supporting Europe’s efforts to build more robust and resilient navigation and communication solutions through cross-domain integration. Project coordination and technical progress are synchronized through formal consortium interactions with EUSPA. For example, GERMINAL’s Critical Design Review (CDR) took place at EUSPA headquarters in Prague (6 March 2025), with representatives from IMDEA, UAB, and GMV participating, reflecting IMDEA’s active involvement in the project’s engineering reviews and milestones.
The work is performed in the frame of the GERMINAL (Connectivity: Enabling next generation NAV/COM Hybrid Terminal) project, funded by the European Union and contracted by EUSPA[1] (EU Agency for the Space Programme) as part of its Fundamental Elements Grants program
Footnote [1] Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (“EUSPA”) Neither the European Union nor the EUSPA can be held responsible for them.
