Towards the forthcoming transition to a fully connected world (e.g. Internet of Senses, digital twins), support of connected intelligence requires service advertisement, discovery, negotiation and management that goes beyond the complexity and scalability that existing technologies and subscription-driven mobile network operation (MNO) processes can handle. In Beyond 5G (B5G) networks, cyber-physical assets and intelligent end points will be capable of translating current service requirements to comprehensive technical specifications dynamically (e.g. QoS/QoE management per service chunk) as well as request for full customization of their service terms in line with current availability of tenants/resources and their application requirements. Distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) hold the key for natively disintermediated, cost-efficient, and anonymous B5G communications, enabling transparency and trust to be established across the integrated DLT, radio access and core network continuum. The SOVEREIGN research programme aims to fuel artificial intelligence (AI) with DLT-backed data in order to innovate the B5G service chain and the B5G protocol stack towards the support of fully decentralized, instantaneous, and anonymous resource trading across the B5G network ecosystem (end terminals, infrastructure, over-the-top OTT service providers, etc.). SOVEREIGN aims to empower intelligent end points in B5G networks, to gain full control of their identities, connectivity, sessions, service terms, and shared data upon accessing B5G spectrum, antennas, network slices and services. To this end, SOVEREIGN will conceptualize and develop a modular end-to-end service architecture integrating DLT-empowered service provisioning, fully decentralized Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA) operations, forward-thinking protocols for self-sovereign identity management and anonymity/data privacy preservation as well as user-driven AI-enabled mobility management and traffic steering over joint DLT/B5G system infrastructures.
