By Caio Castro
The US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has hinted at the types of 6G research it is currently carrying out.
According to a recently published opportunity for small companies, NIST is seeking assistance in designing, evaluating, and demonstrating progress in several fields of 5G, 6G and quantum.
The winning bidder will work closely with a team of scientists at NIST’s Communications Technology Laboratory (CTL), which has been investigating 6G core networks.
These are the expected activities:
- New algorithms for supporting edge AI (artificial intelligence),
- AI-based network architectures,
- End-to-end service quality assurance,
- Interservice interference measurement and management.
NIST has identified three main challenges to focus on in this research:
Develop edge learning capable of fixing issues such as non-IID (identical and independently distributed) data, data privacy requirements, and security requirements,
Optimal resource allocation for end-to-end quality-of-service (E2E QoS) assurance in 5G/6G networks and other networked systems like automated vehicles,
Efficient entanglement routing in quantum networks in the presence of untrusted nodes.
Tasks
NIST has established 12 research requirements across what it calls four tasks:
Develop Edge Learning Algorithms
The research team must extend the new Federated Learning algorithm developed by the Transformational Networks and Services Group in the Smart Connected Systems Division (SCSD). The algorithm should address more edge learning challenges like more robust privacy and robustness requirements.
Another topic is edge learning for new applications: spectrum sharing, automated manufacturing, and automated driving.
Design End-to-End Quality of Service Assurance Algorithms
SCSD has developed new distributed methods for End-to-End (E2E) Quality of Service (QoS) assurance. NIST wants to extend those methods to include increasing scalability, performance, and convergence rates.
The US agency also aims to develop algorithms for measuring E2E interservice interference and analysing the risks of network events and responding to them.
Develop Entanglement Routing Models for Quantum Networks
Finally, the successful company will analyse the limitations of current entanglement routing models, algorithms, and metrics. It must develop a new algorithm to fix these limitations.
The fourth task encompasses prototyping and demonstrating all the algorithms and findings in the theoretical phase.
The call for small companies ends on July 26. Once selected, the company should provide reports and deliverables until September 2024.
