6VS1 – 6G Visions and Sustainability
Wednesday, 7 June 2023, 11:00-12:30, Room J2
Session Chair: Han Yu (Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden)
XcARet: XAI Based Green Security Architecture for Resilient Open Radio Access Networks in 6G
Pawani Porambage, Jarno E. Pinola and Yasintha Rumesh (VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Finland); Tao Chen (VTT, Finland); Jyrki M Huusko (VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Finland)
The fixed security solutions and related security configurations may no longer meet the diverse requirements of 6G networks. Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) architecture is going to be one key entry point to 6G where the direct user access is granted. O-RAN promotes the design, deployment and operation of the RAN with open interfaces and optimized by intelligent controllers. O-RAN networks are to be implemented as multi-vendor systems with interoperable components and can be programmatically optimized through centralized abstraction layer and data driven closed-loop control. However, since O-RAN contains many new open interfaces and data flows, new security issues may emerge. Providing the recommendations for dynamic security policy adjustments by considering the energy availability and risk or security level of the network is something lacking in the current state-of-the-art. When the security process is managed and executed in an autonomous way, it must also assure the transparency of the security policy adjustments and provide the reasoning behind the adjustment decisions to the interested parties whenever needed. Moreover, the energy consumption for such security solutions are constantly bringing overhead to the networking devices. Therefore, in this paper we discuss XAI based green security architecture for resilient open radio access networks in 6G known as XcARet for providing cognitive and transparent security solutions for O-RAN in a more energy efficient manner.
Developing 6G Visions with Stakeholder Analysis of 6G Ecosystem
Seppo Yrjölä (Nokia & Centre for Wireless Communications, University of Oulu, Finland); Marja Matinmikko-Blue (University of Oulu, Centre for Wireless Communications, Finland); Petri Ahokangas (University of Oulu, Finland)
This paper expands the current 6G visioning stemming from usage scenarios, key value and key performance indicators towards stakeholder dynamics utilizing stakeholder analysis from strategic management. In developing a future oriented 6G system involving incumbents and a large number of novel stakeholders with distinct views, it is essential to understand the operational environment, key stakeholderinterac tions, and dynamics. This paper explores the origins of the 6G platforms and identifies key stakeholders of the future 6G ecosystem. Stakeholder salience attributes including power, legitimacy, and urgency are further analyzed. Results indicate that the competition for digital platforms’ power and legitimacy is intensifying as catalytic combinations of cloud computing, AI and data are ubiquitously embedded and multiplying their impact across 6G system. The urgency indicators for the development of pervasive general-purpose 6G are collaborative research, harmonized standardization, and anticipatory regulation efforts for empowered users and developers in the ecosystem.
6G for Connected Sky: A Vision for Integrating Terrestrial and Non-Terrestrial Networks
Mustafa Ozger (KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden); István Gódor (Ericsson Research, Hungary); Anders Nordlow (Ericsson, Sweden); Thomas Heyn (Fraunhofer IIS, Germany); Sreekrishna Pandi (Meshmerize, Germany); Ian Peterson (Airbus, Germany); Alberto Viseras (Motius GmbH, Germany); Jaroslav Holis (Deutsche Telekom, Czech Republic); Christian Raffelsberger (Lakeside Labs GmbH, Austria); Andreas Kercek (Lakeside Labs, Austria); Bengt Mölleryd (Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS), Sweden); Laszlo Toka and Gergely Biczók (Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary); Robby de Candido (Skysense, Sweden); Felix Laimer (Bernard-Gruppe, Austria); Udo Tarmann (LCA, Austria); Dominic A. Schupke (Airbus Defence and Space GmbH & Airbus Central Research and Technology, Germany); Cicek Cavdar (KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden)
In this paper, we present the vision of our project 6G for Connected Sky (6G-SKY) to integrate terrestrial networks (TNs) and non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) and outline the current research activities in 6G research projects in comparison with our project. From the perspectives of industry and academia, we identify key use case segments connecting both aerial and ground users with our 6G-SKY multi-layer network architecture. We explain functional views of our holistic 6G-SKY architecture addressing the heterogeneity of aerial and space platforms. Architecture elements and communication links are identified. We discuss 6G-SKY network design and management functionalities by considering a set of inherent challenges posed by the multi-layer 3-dimensional networks, which we termed as combined airspace and NTN (combined ASN). Finally, we investigate additional research challenges for 6G-SKY project targets.
BeGREEN: Beyond 5G Energy Efficient Networking by Hardware Acceleration and AI-Driven Management of Network Functions
Mir Ghoraishi (Gigasys Solutions, United Kingdom (Great Britain)); Oriol Sallent (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Spain); Miguel Catalan-Cid (i2CAT Foundation, Spain); Guillermo Bielsa (Telefonica, Spain); Vladica Sark and Jesús Gutiérrez (IHP – Leibniz-Institut für Innovative Mikroelektronik, Germany); Simon Prior (Accelleran NV, Belgium)
This paper presents a technical overview of BeGREEN project, a Horizon Europe, Smart Networks and Services Joint-Undertaking (SNS-JU) Phase 1 project kicked off on January 1, 2023 [1]. This paper is intended to describe BeGREEN’s technical scope and objectives. These objectives aim at improving energy efficiency of the beyond 5G (B5G) networks. BeGREEN technical agenda includes analysis of the combined energy and spectrum efficiency of the B5G networks, based on massive multiple-input-multiple-output (mMIMO) scenarios. The project proposes a novel architecture that includes several innovative solutions. An offloading engine is used for hardware acceleration that is a solution for compute-heavy physical layer processing in 5G new radio (5G NR) mMIMO and beyond to improve the processing performance and energy efficiency. The architecture also includes joint communication and sensing (JCAS) for improving energy efficiency of the physical layer functions by, e.g., efficient beam-search and beam tracking, and uses reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS) as an enabler for JCAS. BeGREEN proposes an artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted energy-aware “Intelligent Plane” as an additional plane along with user plane and data plane, that allows the data, model, and inference to be seamlessly exchanged between network functions. The project also proposes an AI Engine that is consist of an execution environment that can host AI models and will manage their lifecycle and access to data.
Assessing How the Use of Teleworking Impacts GHG Emissions: A Study Case
Nathalie Omnes (Orange Labs, France); Arnaud Brun (Orange, France); Jérôme Fournier (Orange Labs Cesson-Sévigné, France); François Bélorgey and Jean-Manuel Canet (Orange, France)
ITU-T Study Group 5 has recently approved Recommendation L.1480 ”Enabling the Net Zero transition: Assessing how the use of information and communication technology solutions impact greenhouse gas emissions of other sectors” [1]. In parallel to the standardization process, a complete study case has been led within Orange to apply this ITU methodology to the use of teleworking in Orange Atalante premises in Rennes. This article illustrates the principles of Recommendation L.1480 through this example. More particularly, first-order effects induced within the digital sector by the implementation of teleworking are described. Then second-order effects, induced in complementary sectors including notably transport and buildings are depicted. As recommended by the standard, higher-order effects are also rigorously assessed. This assessment highlights that the quantified benefit of teleworking initiation on greenhouse gas emissions reduction in this specific context is about two times smaller, due to the evaluation of higher-order effects, than the main reduction
effect (reduced commuting), and about three times smaller for the measured teleworking acceleration case. This needs to be confirmed by reusing the same methodology in different contexts.