SNS JU August 2025 Newsflash

ACROSS Zero-Touch, Intelligent and Secure Orchestration enablers and open-source contributions

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Zero touch, Intelligent and Secure Orchestration enablers

The ACROSS project’s final releases detail a comprehensive suite of advancements across orchestration, artificial intelligence, automation, and security:

• Advanced Multi-Domain Orchestration The final release of the ACROSS Multi-Domain Orchestration Platform (D3.2) introduces the ACROSS Multi-Domain Service Orchestrator (AMSO), Maestro, and the ACROSS Cross-Domain Orchestrator (ACDO), OpenSlice. These orchestrators provide end-to-end service lifecycle management and domain-level resource and service orchestration, respectively. A key innovation is the Zero-Trust Connectivity (ZTC) Fabric, which ensures secure inter-domain integration by encrypting all control and data flows, aligning with ETSI ZSM principles.

The platform also delivers a comprehensive portfolio of services, including Kubernetes-as-a-Service, robust storage solutions, advanced communication tools, 5G network functions, deep telemetry capabilities, and end-to-end analytics pipelines.

• Intelligent & Secure Zero-Touch Enablers. Zero-Touch Automation services provide recommendations to orchestrators for automated changes in service deployment based on user-defined Service Level Agreements (SLAs). Furthermore, the Security and Trust services introduce innovative mechanisms like Device Attestation, Secure Container Migration, and software-defined security solutions for detecting and mitigating Denial-of-Service (DoS) and Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks.

Commitment to Open Source

The ACROSS project is deeply committed to fostering innovation within the open-source community. Many of the components developed and validated within these deliverables are slated for open-source release, contributing to the advancement of 5G and Beyond 5G (B5G) networks.

Notable open-source contributions include:

• Network Digital Twin Services: Datasets related to traffic generation for test cases are publicly available via Zenodo.
• AI Services: AI models and components for various test cases are planned for release.
• Automation Services: The full suite of Automation Services will be open-sourced.
• Security & Trust Sidecar: NBI connectors for ETSI TeraFlowSDN to leverage network topology and transport network slice details, as well as management of Access Control Lists (ACLs), are planned for release in a public GitLab/GitHub repository.
• DDoS Detection and Mitigation: These services are also planned for release in a public GitLab/GitHub repository.
• Orchestration Components: The ACROSS Portal, AMSO and ACDO are also being made available as open-source projects.
• Platform Services: Components such as Block, Object, and File Storage, Data Ingestion and Search, Message Queue and Event Bus, 5G-as-a-Service, Compute Telemetry, SDN Telemetry, Intelligent Telemetry, Data Aggregator, and Analytics components (Model Repository, Training, Inference, Data Drift Detector) are contributed to open-source projects or will be released.

For more detailed information on these components and their open-source availability, please visit the official ACROSS project website: ACROSS Open Source

6G-BRICKS Open Call 2 Winners

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The 6G-BRICKS consortium is pleased to announce the results of Open Call 2, which provides financial support to third parties for implementing vertical experiments using the project’s testbed infrastructures and validating its technological capabilities.

The call opened on September 16, 2024, and closed on December 23, 2025, attracting strong interest from the R&D community. A total of 54 proposals were submitted, requesting approximately €4.68 million in funding.

Following an internal feasibility check, 22 proposals were deemed eligible to proceed to full evaluation. Each was assessed by independent external experts in line with Horizon Europe criteria and guidelines. Ultimately, 11 proposals were selected for funding, to receive a total financial support of €1,080,000.

The 11 selected projects are:

• DIGIT(Edinburgh Napier University, United Kingdom) – €60,000
• 6G-MEC(ALLBESMART LDA & CMSF-Sistemas de Informação LDA, Portugal) – €120,000
• LearnSphere(University of Peloponnese & University of Ioannina, Greece) – €120,000
• EMERGE-XR(PIKEI NEES TECHNOLOGIES OE & ZEONTEX-ZERO ONE TECHNOLOGIES IKE, Greece) – €120,000
• Follow Me Connectivity (FMC)(FINGLETEK OY, Finland) – €60,000
• PEDESTRIAN(NEXTWORKS SRL & CNIT, Italy) – €120,000
• EDGETRUST(ONE SOURCE CONSULTORIA INFORMATICA LDA, Portugal) – €60,000
• TRACAI-CF(THE LAUDE TECHNOLOGY COMPANY S.L. & Multiverse Computing S.L., Spain) – €120,000
• CollabXR(QUANTA & QUALIA IKE, Greece & University College Dublin, Ireland) – €120,000
• LITE(IMEC, Belgium & Spindox Labs SRL, Italy) – €120,000
• BRICKS4Health(Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, Luxembourg) – €60,000

6G-SANDBOX IEEE Journal Paper

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In June 2025, a 6G-SANDBOX Journal paper was issued in IEEE Network. This study compares the performance of three multipath protocols:

• Multi-connection Tactile Internet Protocol (MTIP):
• Multipath TCP (MPTCP)
• Multipath QUIC (MPQUIC)

The tests were conducted using the 6G-SANDBOX Malaga platform, leveraging its advanced multi connectivity capabilities.

You may read it here https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11050396 

SUPERIOT: Smart Tags, smart moves

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As part of the EU-funded SUPERIOT research project, a research team from the School of Computer Science at the University of Bristol is using smart IoT tags to push the boundaries of swarm robotics in next-generation warehouse automation.

The team is integrating cutting-edge technology into the DOTS swarm warehouse system at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory. By attaching ultra-low-power smart tags— equipped with E-ink displays as well as dual-mode wireless communication via Visual Light Communication (VLC) and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)directly to products and crates, they are building an intelligent IoT network between previously passive items.

The aim is to develop and analyse a smart, IoT-enabled swarm warehouse system that will be demonstrated in the Lab’s dedicated industrial swarm robotics arena.

In this environment, autonomous robots cooperate locally—without centralised control—to move crates dynamically to their target location within the arena. The SUPERIOT smart tags attached to the crates carry real-time data about the contents, including stock, use-by date and temperature. Each smart tag is an active information node in an IoT network, empowering the swarm to make smarter, more informed decisions.

6G-XR Open Call 3 Winners

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The third 6G-XR Open Call, “Vertical Replicability Enablers,” invited innovators to access 6G-XR infrastructure and testbeds to deploy and validate XR use cases—such as real-time holography, immersive technologies, and energy measurement frameworks—contributing to the development of the 6G era.

OC1 emphasised platform-level enhancements, awarding projects like OpenCAMARA and MST to prototype multi-sensor XR solutions and API interoperability.

OC2 homed in on specific technology enablers, with projects like 6G REMIX and EMSEOS validating load balancing, Reflective Intelligent Surface (RIS), and slicing techniques.

OC3 now shifts the lens to applied use cases, reflecting a maturing 6G-XR ecosystem ready to support complex, end-user-driven experimentation.

With 41 eligible proposals from across Europe and 12 ultimately selected, Open Call 3 marks the largest and most competitive round to date—surpassing Open Call 1 (with 8 awarded projects out of 24 eligible) and Open Call 2 (10 awarded out of 15 eligible). This reflects growing momentum and interest from academia, SMEs, and research institutions in leveraging 6G-XR’s powerful testbeds for real-world experimentation.

OC3 winners show a diverse portfolio of use cases across verticals. The 12 winners are: 6G4proQ, AViD-NMP, DREAMS, EMASS, EVIT, FSXR, IMMVIEX, LCEVC-6G-XR, LEARN-6G, MechEye, RACE-6G and SafeDriveXR. If you want to check results and winners’ profiles, click here.

6G-TANDEM papers

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Six 6G-TANDEM papers were presented or will be presented at major events and conferences.

• The paper “Wideband Single-Layer D-Band Patch Antenna with Parasitic Elements and Superstrate Loading” was accepted to and presented at EuCAP 2025
• The paper “Deep Learning for sub-THz Radio Unit Selection using sub-10 GHz Channel Information and Inferred Device Beamforming” was accepted to and presented at IEEE VTC Spring 2025
• The paper “Analog Crosstalk Cancellation for High Data Rate Communication Links” was accepted to and presented at ISCAS 2025
• The paper “D-Band Cascode Up conversion Mixer Utilizing Double Mixing Technique for Enhanced Linearity and Output Power in 130-nm SiGe Process” was published in IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Technology
• The paper “Modeling, Analysis, and Optimization of Cascaded Power Amplifiers” was accepted to EUSIPCO 2025 and will be presented there at the beginning of September 2025.
• The paper “Efficient Implementation of Wireless Links Employing Polymer Microwave” was accepted by Applied Sciences.

Know more here.

TrialsNet’s feedback on Open Call 24 use cases

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Through its Open Call (May 2024-April 2025), TrialsNet selected 24 Use Cases related to the project topics, in addition to the core ones, to participate in its large-scale trial activities, to diversify and enrich its trial portfolio, within the core verticals, i.e., Infrastructure, Transportation, Security & Safety, eHealth and Emergency, Culture, Tourism, and Entertainment.

The trial activities conducted by the sub-projects further strengthen the achievement and impact of the TrialsNet’s objectives by means of different factors, for example:

• 24 additional use cases and related trials
• Extension of the project’s clusters (and sites) with 8 new locations
• 7 additional network infrastructures (i.e., private and experimental) with various
• types of deployment and coverage
• Outstanding increase in real users involved (e.g., an overall number of 1000 users
• only in the Turin site of the Italian cluster)

Find more detailed information at TrialsNet Six Months Digest #5 – June 2025 (Open Call special issue)

iTRUST6G Remote attestation (RA)

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iTRUST explores a novel Remote Attestation (RA) framework integrated into Kubernetes, designed to verify the trustworthiness of services throughout their lifecycle. This framework is complemented by an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered Behavioural Analyser, which generates trust scores based on real-time service behaviour, offering a dynamic assessment of service health and security. Together, these solutions provide continuous, real-time monitoring and verification, reinforcing the Zero Trust (ZT) model and ensuring compliance with IETF standards, all while contributing to the future of secure, resilient telecom networks.

Remote Attestation is a technology to externally verify the hardware identity of a node and its software state (i.e. configuration and binaries being executed). We have integrated an RA framework into the Kubernetes environment to enable monitoring of services within a cluster.

Read more about Remote Attestation Framework here.

6G-REFERENCE Research in Integrated Sensing and Communications: September 2025 Events

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6G‑REFERENCE, the project advancing groundbreaking research in cell‑free, coherent 6G hardware enablers for integrated communications and sensing across urban environments, will take part in two events this September.

From 3 to 5 September 2025, 6G-REFERENCE will attend URSI 2025 (XL Simposio Nacional de la Unión Científica Internacional de Radio), hosted in Tarragona (Spain). The project organises the special session on “6G systems and integration of communications and sensing” on 3 September at 9:00h, aligning perfectly with its core vision of dual‑use hardware components that treat communications and environmental sensing not as separate functions, but as mutually reinforcing capabilities. During this session, the project will deliver a presentation on “6G-REFERENCE Distributed Radio Specifications”.

Later in the month, 6G-REFERENCE continues its outreach activities at the European Microwave Week (EuMW) 2025, taking place on 21–26 September 2025 in Utrecht (The Netherlands). At EuMW, 6G‑REFERENCE will present its innovative paper titled: “Planar Low‑Cost Microwave Ring Resonator Temperature Sensor using a PDMS Active Layer”, on Thursday 25 September at 11:30h at EuMC49-3. This contribution showcases a promising proof‑of‑concept sensor that leverages a microwave ring resonator overlaid with a PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) layer —whose temperature‑dependent dielectric properties cause a resonant frequency shift of approximately 1 MHz per degree Celsius— offering a cost‑effective, integrable sensing solution at around 4 GHz.

Together, these events underscore 6G‑REFERENCE’s commitment to elevating integrated sensing‑communications systems as key enablers of future 6G infrastructure. Through active participation in scientific forums like URSI and EuMW, the project advances its research agenda and fosters collaboration within the wider European telecommunications community.

• Predictive maintenance for track defects: A maintenance vehicle was equipped with sensors for acquiring the rail profile. The developed software allows to analyse the acquired data to plan maintenance interventions, foreseeing and estimating the wear that could occur in the future in the tramway lines.
• NuvlaBox: NuvlaBox is an edge software that turns any computer into a smart edge device. This is of value in many sectors, including retail, manufacturing, and telecom, where data has to be collected and processed away from the data centre. The NuvlaBox was re-designed to be architecture-compliant with ELASTIC. Additional data managers and tooling were added. This is the unique software on the market which enables devices this way and can then be monitored and updated from a central service which also includes payment and legal terms.

• NGAP: Next Generation Autonomous Positioning (NGAP) demonstrator implements a system for measuring the tram position using only onboard sensors. The system was implemented, installed and tested on trams in an operating environment. NGAP system using only on-board equipment (sensors and edge electronics) can determine the tram position with relevant accuracy. The NGAP system allows the autonomous positioning of the system along the line by using several sensors.

• ADAS (Advanced Driving Assistant System): ADAS implements an on-board system to detect and classify tram obstacles, and it uses onboard radar, LIDAR and camera sensors. It transforms the physical sensors into a smart version through specific methods (e.g. Deep Neural networks (DNN) for video). ELASTIC has permitted to integrate ADAS with: homography to get raw data in a common reference system; Data association link sensors’ measurements to tracks; Data fusion algorithm, based on the multi-target tracking (MTT) approach, tracks detected objects and performs collision checking; the activation of visual and sound warnings to alert the driver is also implemented to complete the solution.

• Safe and Secure Edge Computing Box: The Safe and Secure Edge Computing Box is composed of mechanisms needed to provide a safe and secure execution environment and communication for critical computing nodes. It offers computational resources to applications with the high reliability of mission critical systems and provides the flexibility of services from Cloud Computing. The ELASTIC project permitted the specification of the computing and communication mechanisms needed to host critical applications.

• ICE Knowledge Discovery: This is a software tool for data exploration and visualisation without any predefined model. This tool was born with the project, and was used to help fulfil one of the main use cases in the project.

Predator + maintenance prediction tool: This new developed tool reads track profiles and indicates to the user where they would need to inspect the trail track due to a detected or predicted worn track. The tool helps rail engineers spot locations where they will focus their attention on maintenance activities. It contributed to the fulfilment of use of the main use cases in the project.