ADROIT6G DAI-driven Open and Programmable Architecture for 6G Networks
Christophoros Christophorou, Iacovos Ioannou, Vasos Vassiliou, Loizos Christofi, John S Vardakas, Erin E Seder, Carla Fabiana Chiasserini, Marius Iordache, Chaouki Ben Issaid, Ioannis Markopoulos, Giulio Franzese, Tanel Järvet, Christos Verikoukis
TL;DR
The paper addresses the need for a scalable, secure, and autonomous 6G network capable of supporting ultra-demanding applications across an edge-cloud continuum. It proposes ADROIT6G, a cloud-native, AI-powered architecture that embeds distributed AI (DAI) using BDIx agents, UE-VBS computing, and zero-touch management to enable end-to-end automation and multi-domain orchestration, including NTN integration. Seven innovative areas are introduced: UE-VBS, DAI with BDIx, zero-touch governance, cross-domain closed-loop orchestration, semantic communication, CrowdSourcing AI, and multimodal representation learning, each designed to improve efficiency, adaptability, and sustainability. The approach aims to deliver tailor-made, secure, and scalable 6G services, with lab-stage validation plans and an emphasis on open, interoperable interfaces across edge, far-edge, and cloud domains.
Abstract
In the upcoming 6G era, mobile networks must deal with more challenging applications (e.g., holographic telepresence and immersive communication) and meet far more stringent application requirements stemming along the edge-cloud continuum. These new applications will create an elevated level of expectations on performance, reliability, ubiquity, trustworthiness, security, openness, and sustainability, pushing the boundaries of innovation and driving transformational change across the architecture of future mobile networks. Towards this end, ADROIT6G proposes a set of disruptive innovations with a clear vision on setting a 6G network architecture that can be tailored to the requirements of innovative applications and match the ambitious KPIs set for 6G networks. More specifically, the key transformations that ADROIT6G considers essential to 6G network evolution are: i) AI/ML-powered optimisations across the network, exploring solutions in the "Distributed Artificial Intelligence (DAI)" domain for high performance and automation; ii) Transforming to fully cloud-native network software, which can be implemented across various edge-cloud platforms, with security built integrally into the network user plan; and iii) Software driven, zero-touch operations and ultimately automation of every aspect of the network and the services it delivers.