ICT-2007.1.1: The Network of the Future
Target outcome
- Ubiquitous network infrastructures and architectures supporting:
- convergence and interoperability of heterogeneous mobile and broadband
network technologies
- flexible and spectrum efficient radio access enabling ubiquitous access
to broadband mobile services for short range to wide area networking ;
- elimination of the barriers to broadband access and ultra high speed
end to end connectivity with optimised protocols and routing;
- context awareness;
- optimised traffic processing between core and edge networks;
- scalability, delivering an order of magnitude increase in the number
of connected devices and enabling the emergence of applications that are
machine-tomachine or sensor-based - beyond RFID - and are capable of functioning
within a multiplicity of public or private operating environments.
- Optimised control, management and flexibility of the future network infrastructure,
supporting the evolution towards cognitive networks and capable of:
- enabling seamless end to end network and service composition and operation
across multiple operators and business domains;
- supporting a wide diversity of service attributes and requirements,
which will be an order of magnitude more complex than those of todays
infrastructures,
through support of programmability and dynamic features, with reconfigurability
of resource allocation, of protocols and routing, self organisation and
management;
- managing in real time new forms of ad-hoc communications with intermittent
connectivity requirements and time-varying network topology;
- enabling intelligent distribution of services across multiple access
technologies with centralised or distributed control.
- Technologies and systems architectures for the Future Internet, aimed at
overcoming the expected long term limitations of current internet capabilities,
architecture and protocols, driven by the need for: generalised mobility;
scalability from the perspective of devices, service attributes and application
environments; security; trusted domains; new forms of routing and content
delivery with dynamic peering of end to end delivery and control, of ad-hoc
connectivity in a generalised wireless environment. The work of exploratory
nature will address how various classes of new requirements constrain the
foreseeable evolution of the internet and identify corresponding long term
solutions.
- Coordination and support actions:
- roadmapping and conference support;
- coordination with related national or regional programmes or initiatives
Expected impact
- Global standards for a new generation of ubiquitous and extremely high capacity
network and service infrastructures. These should support convergence, full
interoperability, a significantly larger and diverse number of devices, new
services and complex user requirements.
- Reinforced European industrial leadership in wired and wireless networks;
developing stronger synergies between various sector actors and contributing
to new business models that take advantage of convergence and full interoperability.
- New industrial/service opportunities in Europe, especially in the field
of Internet technologies, where Europe has not yet reached a position commensurate
to its
technological potential.
Funding schemes: CP, NoE, CSA
Indicative budget distribution: 171 M€:
- CP 154 M€ of which a minimum of 72 M€ to IP and a minimum of 36
M€ to STREP;
- NoE 12 M€;
- CSA 5 M€