In his doctoral dissertation, Bo Sun studied how future mobile networks (5G and beyond) can be used not only for communication but also for precise positioning and environmental sensing. The research shows that standard 5G signals can achieve sub-meter positioning and even create maps of surroundings, while new techniques using reconfigurable intelligent surfaces can improve accuracy to centimeter or sub-centimeter levels. These results are important because they allow reliable positioning in places where GPS does not work, such as indoors or in dense urban areas. The findings can benefit industries such as transportation, manufacturing, and public safety by enabling autonomous systems, smarter infrastructure, and cost-efficient monitoring using existing mobile networks.
The doctoral dissertation of M.Sc. (Tech.) Bo Sun in the field of Computing and Electrical Engineering titled Situational Awareness in Mobile Networks : Advances in Environment Sensing and Near-field RIS-aided Localization will be publicly examined at the Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences at Tampere University on 26 June 2026.
The Opponent will be Prof. Pedro H. J. Nardelli from LUT University. The Custos will be Prof. Mikko Valkama from the Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences at Tampere University. The work has been co-supervised by Prof. Bo Tan from Tampere University.