6G standardisation – the process of agreeing common technical rules through bodies like 3GPP for mobile networks – is driving major changes in how mobile networks are planned and built. Two cornerstones underpin the 6G approach.
The first is Secure by Design, a UK Government initiative that calls for security to be built into a system from the earliest design stage. Compared with 5G, this requires a modified view of how 3GPP’s 6G work should be organised, with emphasis on the need to make security-related decisions before any other architecture decisions are made for each functionality. Federated Telecoms Hubs (FTH) strongly supports this approach and actively promotes and co-signs contributions led by NCSC and UKTL to bring those principles into concrete steps and, specifically, to give 3GPP SA3 (Security group) a more proactive role in defining 6G functionalities.
The second cornerstone is AI-native networks, where networks are built from the ground up with AI embedded in their core design. 3GPP introduced AI support starting with 5G-Advanced’s Release 18, but 6G will be the first generation to support the native AI approach. At the core of this topic is agentic AI architecture, which will determine potential solutions for key issues such as mobility, signalling, non-3GPP interworking, session management and policy control. AI for networks is therefore 6G’s defining issue – the “key” to shaping its entire architecture.
The core of FTH’s AI-related work supports the following requirements:
- Innovation and capability to build a network for any AI-related use case for service providers
- Interoperability and capability to support multi-vendor networks
- Backward compatibility with existing infrastructure
FTH provides underpinning academic expertise relevant to standards and engages with standards bodies to bring new innovations alongside industry partners, ensuring that research produced by members of the FTH can have the greatest possible societal and commercial impact. FTH’s standardisation initiative constantly validates and aligns our 6G research ideas with service providers’ requirements. Our direct involvement in 6G standardisation ensures that the connection between the research, standardisation and real-world requirements remains strong.
Now that detailed solutions are being brought to 3GPP SA2 – the group that develops the overall system architecture – we support, endorse and co-sign a solution that introduces a new, optional AI domain. This domain provides operator-managed services that complement those in the 6G Core Network Packet Switched (CN PS) domain and enables intent-based interactions between user equipment, 6G core network and third-party applications. We work together with the key 3GPP players – including Ericsson, Qualcomm, Apple, AT&T, Deutsche Telekom and Verizon – to ensure the solution’s details are complete.
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