Periodic Reporting for period 2 - 5G-COMPLETE (A unified network, Computational and stOrage resource Management framework targeting end-to-end Performance optimization for secure 5G muLti-tEchnology and multi-Tenancy Environments)
Reporting period: 2021-05-01 to 2023-10-31
The transition to the beyond-5G era required a radical approach to contribute to the longer-term vision of mobile networks. In the context of the post-crisis era, 5G and beyond-5G networks aimed to deliver significant changes to everyday living. From healthcare, optimized governance, citizen services, and finance to education and communication, a high-performing B5G infrastructure was of significant importance for the Age of Digital Societies. Furthermore, since ICT power consumption was an increasingly concerning aspect of climate change, the prioritization of green frameworks in support of beyond-5G infrastructures was also an important part of the research community's goals in the era of B5G networks.
The 5G-COMPLETE had proposed an architectural approach that efficiently integrated a variety of advanced wireless technologies, encompassing digital and analog approaches, as well as mmWave and THz solutions, with optical and packet networking. This integration aimed to support the necessary network connectivity for 5G. Additionally, 5G-COMPLETE proposed the full integration of the network with compute and storage resources to support the demanding current and upcoming 5G services. The architectural principles of 5G-COMPLETE leveraged the benefits of softwarization, transitioning from the notion of network elements to network functions, emphasizing the separation of user plane and control plane functions, and advocating for Radio Access Network (RAN) disaggregation.
Beyond innovations enhancing network capacity and connectivity, 5G-COMPLETE placed emphasis on the security pillar, recognizing it as a key dimension for the future of mobile networks. In this direction, the project aimed to deliver a security and resilience framework to ensure the secured execution of low-latency services at the edge of the network. Moreover, 5G-COMPLETE tackled the issue of trusted execution at the edge by providing enhanced isolation at the software level for applications running over the decentralized era of Edge Cloud enabled by powerful Mobile Edge Compute nodes. This approach enabled mobile users to leverage edge processing capabilities for low-latency services without compromising the security of their links. The project, in its pursuit of these objectives, contributed significantly to shaping the landscape of mobile networks in the past.
The 5G-COMPLETE had proposed an architectural approach that efficiently integrated a variety of advanced wireless technologies, encompassing digital and analog approaches, as well as mmWave and THz solutions, with optical and packet networking. This integration aimed to support the necessary network connectivity for 5G. Additionally, 5G-COMPLETE proposed the full integration of the network with compute and storage resources to support the demanding current and upcoming 5G services. The architectural principles of 5G-COMPLETE leveraged the benefits of softwarization, transitioning from the notion of network elements to network functions, emphasizing the separation of user plane and control plane functions, and advocating for Radio Access Network (RAN) disaggregation.
Beyond innovations enhancing network capacity and connectivity, 5G-COMPLETE placed emphasis on the security pillar, recognizing it as a key dimension for the future of mobile networks. In this direction, the project aimed to deliver a security and resilience framework to ensure the secured execution of low-latency services at the edge of the network. Moreover, 5G-COMPLETE tackled the issue of trusted execution at the edge by providing enhanced isolation at the software level for applications running over the decentralized era of Edge Cloud enabled by powerful Mobile Edge Compute nodes. This approach enabled mobile users to leverage edge processing capabilities for low-latency services without compromising the security of their links. The project, in its pursuit of these objectives, contributed significantly to shaping the landscape of mobile networks in the past.
Within the reported period of the project, 5G-COMPLETE project achieved significant breakthroughs in enhancing network functionality and capacity at the edge. The project focused on several key areas, resulting in the development of cutting-edge technologies and solutions. One major accomplishment was the creation of an SDN-compatible mmWave (PtMP) mesh node operating at 60 GHz with a 360-degree coverage. This mesh node, embedded into a device, delivered a capacity of up to 10 Gbps to client nodes with high energy efficiency. It fully supported self-organizing network functionality, enabling spectrum sharing and optimizing usage. Additionally, a fully integrated THz transceiver for the D-band was developed, providing a wireless capacity of up to 25 Gbps with remarkable energy efficiency. To address 5G fronthaul-midhaul and backhaul requirements, the project implemented a time and bandwidth elastic optical transport network. This network interconnected Remote Radio Heads with compute and storage resources, supporting both digital and analog fronthaul, midhaul, and backhaul services. In the realm of DSP platforms, 5G-COMPLETE developed innovative solutions for 25 Gbaud PAM-4 digital transport, achieving significant bandwidth efficiency gains. The DSP engine designed for V-band radio at 57-64 GHz was integrated into a modular baseband processor capable of supporting ultra-broadband operation within the D-band, showcasing record analog Fiber-Wireless transport rates. Security challenges in multi-tenancy and remote/edge environments were addressed through the integration of a comprehensive security toolbox. This toolbox included hardware- and software-based security functions, ensuring end-to-end security for critical workloads. The project tackled the complexity of resource allocation in multi-technology environments, leveraging optimization theory and AI/ML techniques. Solutions were developed for optimal network deployment and operation, addressing challenges in network, computational, and storage resource allocation. In the domain of edge computing, 5G-COMPLETE provided solutions for multi-tenancy, low-latency communication, and near-instant application spawn and tear-down times. The project delivered a secure, lightweight, and efficient framework, enabling serverless computing paradigms at the edge. A key contribution was the development of an end-to-end 5G network slicing management and orchestration framework. This framework dynamically reconfigured multi-technology networks at service runtime, incorporating efficient slice sharing strategies and service orchestration mechanisms. The architecture of the 5G network designed by 5G-COMPLETE capitalized on recent advances in Ethernet-based fronthaul standardization. The project achieved converged digital and analog transmission, a converged analog Fiber-Wireless fronthaul/midhaul/backhaul platform, and intelligent centralized management for high energy efficiency. Validation of the developed technologies was conducted through a series of scalable lab- and field-trial demonstrators, ensuring the practical applicability of the innovations. The project concluded with the formulation of a holistic roadmap and business plan for the seamless migration of 5G-COMPLETE technologies into 5G networks, identifying various business opportunities for the stakeholders involved.
The 5G-COMPLETE solution has profoundly impacted the digital economy through its end-to-end security framework, playing a pivotal role in B5G infrastructure advancement. Emphasizing cyber trust, it ensures a fully trusted environment for citizens and benefits Tech-SMEs, enabling them to promote services on trusted, serverless paradigms. Innovations in the Bristol demo zone showcased AR/VR video services over a multi-domain 5G network, driven by notable cost and energy reductions. This contributes significantly to resilient infrastructures, promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialization while fostering innovation. The energy-efficient joint computational and network resource planning aimed to minimize total network power expenditure, revealing substantial energy savings. Targeted use cases aim to make cities and settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. The virtualized infrastructure in the Athens test site provisioned Vertical Service (Advanced Surveillance Services) over Fixed-Wireless-Access 5G technologies, ensuring fast response times and high reliability. The Lannion, France demonstrator showcased a "5G System over Multi-domain Transport Infrastructure for UHD videos streaming and mobile robots," considering RAN evolution to a disaggregated, functionally split system. Finally, in the field of smart energy systems, the 5G-COMPLETE demonstrator aimed to deliver end-to-end provisioning of advanced Smart Energy Metering Services, covering a range of critical and less demanding services