The focus of this Strand is on several complementary issues mentioned below and applicants may select one or more of those:

AI powered edge cloud continuum. Support of a fully distributed and collaborative AI approach across the various RAN, edge and core CIC (Compute Inter-Connection) domains. In scope are specific AI/ML mechanisms suitable for: i) the transient nature of resources in the IoT domain (links, devices) e.g. constrains of compute power, energy, and time; ii) guaranteed convergence of meaningful outcomes in swarm-alike environments, i.e., facing the availability of many yet individually weak agents; iii) interfaces, data models, and orchestration strategies able to explore federated learning architectures and platforms close to the edge, to enhance data protection, improve inference reliability, and increase autonomy of end clusters. (Further details in the Funding & Tenders portal)

Technologies for efficient Network and Service Resource Management in dynamic multi-tenant environments. This covers control and management aspects such as runtime service scheduling, conflict avoidance, conflict resolution, and the relationships between functions being executed in the deep edge (terminal or IoT device), the operator edge, and the core. These technologies include cross-domains solutions, on the fly SLA, architectures, as well as associated protocols, and algorithms, for dynamic, runtime assignment of resources to tasks, such that the executing system handles each task successfully under that task’s specific constraints while explicitly accounting for the resources used by the solution per se and its novel, added constraints. (Further details in the Funding & Tenders portal)

Energy efficiency enablers. In scope are protocols, algorithms, models, and policies to increase energy efficiency of the network. This covers metrics to capture energy consumption of resources in highly distributed, virtualised environments, including instrumentation to query and collect energy consumption metrics; models for target costing in terms of energy requirement per task; models able to specify the relationship of energy consumption with service and system KPIs and KVIs. (Further details in the Funding & Tenders portal)

Pervasive Resilient Autonomic Resource Control in Virtualised Systems: In CIC networks, the multi-tenancy and dynamicity of the resource pool endangers the essence of the network existence – it is necessary to build a reliable and stable system with a (potentially very large) set of unreliable components. In scope are highly scalable, distributed, self-organising control and management protocols to provide in-band connectivity between all resources. (Further details in the Funding & Tenders portal)

Integrated and dependable sensing & actuation networks. The increasing penetration of the digital and physical world, in a new cyber reality, brings particular challenges for the reliability and trust of such systems, highlighting the need for new architecture concepts. The scope covers Integrating sensing and communication with the aim of making such functionalities available to users or operators of networks, e.g., how to expose any possible trade-offs, how to properly express access rights, etc., in view of addressing essential aspects for societal privacy and trust concerns, associating actions to frameworks promoting reliability and security.(Further details in the Funding & Tenders portal)

Digital network twinning applied in 6G: This includes the dynamic virtual representation of critical components and systems, including the simulation and modelling tools for large-scale real-time environments; derivation of network models (digital twins) from traffic analysis; and digital twin models as a core for network planning, management and control.

New Communication Paradigms with enhanced intelligence. The work addresses innovative protocols in view of overcoming known Internet limitations as originating from new scenarios and vertical requirements (ultra-low latency, extreme mobility, ultra-high data rates, integration of end-terminals, controlled security, space applications). (Further details in the Funding & Tenders portal)