end-to-end Slicing and data-drivEn autoMAtion of Next generation cellular neTworks with mobIle edge Clouds

Project Information

SEMANTIC

Grant agreement ID: 861165

DOI

10.3030/861165

Project closed

EC signature date 11 September 2019

Start date 1 January 2020

End date 31 July 2024

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 3 917 315,52

EU contribution

€ 3 917 315,52

Coordinated by

ETHNIKO KAI KAPODISTRIAKO PANEPISTIMIO ATHINON
Greece

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - SEMANTIC (end-to-end Slicing and data-drivEn autoMAtion of Next generation cellular neTworks with mobIle edge Clouds)

Reporting period: 2022-01-01 to 2024-07-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

SEMANTIC “end-to-end Slicing and data-drivEn autoMAtion of Next-generation cellular neTworks with mobIle edge Clouds", aimed to create an innovative research and training network for multi-GHz spectrum communications, MEC-empowered service provisioning, and end-to-end network slicing, all integrated and jointly orchestrated by forward-looking data-driven network control and automation exploiting the enormous amounts of big data spurred into the the telecommunications network.

The 5G and beyond mobile network architecture, which is currently consolidated (in terms of network components, technologies and interfaces), reveals a great network performance potential, appealing to different vertical market players. However, this potential cannot be fully harnessed without the appropriate algorithmic innovations and data-driven network automation that will permit full exploitation, global management and end-to-end integration of all the heterogeneous network components and resources. However, despite the rapidly increasing efforts devoted to the consolidation of the core 5G technologies (e.g. 5GPPP phase 2/3 projects), substantial work is still required to meet the IMT-2020 objectives set for the 5G network performance and fully harness the multitude of technological capabilities offered by 5G with minimum human intervention (e.g. through intelligent network automation and control). SEMANTIC aimed to answer the aforementioned performance and technological gaps by forming an innovative research and training network for multi-GHz spectrum communications, MEC-empowered service provisioning and end-to-end network slicing, all integrated and jointly orchestrated by forward-looking data-driven network control and automation exploiting the enormous amounts of mobile big data spurred into the mobile data network. In this context, SEMANTIC formed an integrated, multi-disciplinary training network of Early Stage Researchers (ESRs), guided by experienced supervisors, aiming at the creation of highly-trained academic researchers and industrial professionals with a future-proof background on PHY design for multi-GHz communications, end-to-end MEC/RAN integration, slice-enabled connectivity and data-driven network orchestration in the 5G continuum.

SEMANTIC aimed to contribute to structuring doctoral/early-stage research training at the European level and to strengthening European innovation capacity. SEMANTIC created a new generation of experts capable of understanding in-depth, planning and employing emerging 5G and beyond architectures, concepts, technologies, processes and tools (e.g. data analysis, ML, OAI) for the e2e optimization of 5G-enabled and beyond services and networks.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The general exploitation principles of the project were specified in the consortium agreement and determined based on the individual ESR projects, while a more detailed plan was described in WP7 deliverables D7.1-D7.5. SEMANTIC generated a significant amount of intellectual assets, including specific methods (e.g. protocols, algorithms), anonymized network data statistics and network architectural models. An open access strategy was adopted, to motivate further innovation by academia and industry. Academic partners published results in journals and conferences, increasing their international visibility, adding new modules in their postgraduate programs and extending the functional capacity of their lab equipment (e.g. add new SEMANTIC modules to the OAI platform by EUR). It is also important to protect specific knowledge, which may be employed by the industrial partners to create patents, improve products and solutions, enhance their services, train teams to use SoA knowledge into industrial efforts, and expand business opportunities.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

In technical espects, SEMANTIC fostered novel techniques for multi-GHz spectrum communications that explore the recently-released NR capabilities for dynamic beam management, adaptive duplexing, and selfcontained subframe transmissions, further studying coexistence issues with other systems operating in multi-GHz bands and proposing future-proof NR enhancements for non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) and massively distributed MIMO. SEMANTIC was also be one of the first EU-funded projects to devise forward-thinking enhancements and original methodological tools for dynamic service provisioning capable to guarantee "zero perceived" downtime and massive connectivity at the network edge, through the integration of MEC-empowered upgrades to the 5G operation, as well as through the optimized creation, placement, chaining and utilization of e2e slices in the 5G continuum, fully exploiting the flexibility offered for dynamic functional split, traffic steering and IAB. Different from other EU-funded projects, SEMANTIC innovated 5G network control and automation through a comprehensive data-driven framework that is specialized to the i) control and parameterization of the large number of features ii) dynamic service placement and chaining of VNFs spanning the different network tiers and domains, as well as iii) inter-slice management and joint allocation of resources in converged MEC/RAN infrastructures.

To this end, SEMANTIC fostered collaboration of institutions with expertise in different disciplines through specialized schools, courses, seminars from recognized experts, and by incorporating theoretical and hands-on activities, thus, considerably promoting EU innovation capacity in 5G service provisioning. SEMANTIC exposed ESRs to a wide variety of research environments (university and industrial), practices (e.g. theoretical modelling by CTTC/EUR, simulation tools by UOA/CLM, prototypes/testbeds by NI/IQU/EUR) and cultural experiences by visiting various countries during secondments or training activities. All these aspects contributed to the creation of the required innovation-oriented, internationally trained and flexible European work-force in the emerging 5G technology arena, with increased employment prospects in both academic and non-academic sector. The SEMANTIC programme significantly contributed in structuring research training and strengthening EU innovation capacity by: 1) being one of the first projects of top EU academic and private institutions that targeted at training & research excellence in e2e technology integration and optimization beyond 5G; 2) bringing top-class ESRs on the emerging 5G market of data-driven automation of critical network tasks; 3) creating specific ToK procedures to transfer most recent research efforts from academia to industry, while bringing real-life requirements from industry to academia; 4) improving the impact of leading 5G industrial partners on the engineers training process, providing their own vision on the required know-how for ICT engineers; 6) remaining active, stable and well-connected after the project lifetime, through the structuring of new courses in academic institutions and through the joint setup of SoA platforms for experimentation.

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