To meet the ambitious goals set for 5G evolution and 6G systems, the mobile network architecture is being redesigned for end-to-end softwarization and cloudification, completing the decoupling of network functions from the underlying hardware, and granting an unprecedented flexibility to the communication infrastructure. NI will play a paramount role in the effective operation of future softwarized and cloudified mobile networks.

Both industry and academia are making substantial efforts to accelerate the integration of solutions for automated network management into the mobile network environment. However, even in presence of a full ZSM deployment where a plethora of NI instances takes resource and VNF management decisions in a completely autonomous manner, interactions with network managers will still be needed at multiple levels.
Building upon the experience and results of the ongoing DAEMON project, funded by the European Commission, AEON-ZERO will focus on developing NI solutions that are in fact usable by mobile network operators. The target models will embed and present interfaces that make the interactions above as simple and smooth as possible and render final decisions that are interpretable and clearly explainable. In this way, AEON-ZERO will contribute to closing the current gap between the competences of network experts and the skills needed to configure the increasingly complex AI algorithms that underpin such NI.

Funded by the Ministry of Digital Transformation and Civil Service and the European Union-NextGenerationEU through the UNICO-5G R&D Program of the Spanish Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.