FLEX-SCALE: A Disruptive Approach Toward Flexibly Scalable Energy Efficient Networking

The European FLEX-SCALE project advances disruptive research on complementary optical x-haul network technologies in support of emerging requirements for 6G cellular systems. Employing a top-down strategy, it addresses the diverse requisites across all network levels. The architecture introduces optical nodes (ONs) for efficiently aggregating traffic, strategically placed to meet ultra-low latency demands at the network edge and varied capacities in the core. Utilizing optical ultra-wideband (UWB) and space division multiplexing (SDM) multiplexed transmission links, each ON routes traffic at multiple granularities (MG), from full fiber to flexibly defined bands, down to individual wavelength channels, as needed by the traffic flows. This enables the replacement of electronic routers by all-optical switches, significantly reducing energy consumption. The support of UWB/SDM boosts the network node aggregate capacity to 10 Pb/s, meeting the envisioned year-2030 capacity targets for 6G. With enabling technologies and components like the optical digital-to-analog converter (DAC), the plasmonic transceivers, or multi-granular optical nodes, FLEXSCALE seeks to make a reality key 6G network attributes like ultra-high capacity, flexibility, scalability, cost-effectiveness, low latency, and reliability. A sophisticated control and orchestration system ensures optimal operation, energy efficiency, and service provisioning, utilizing advanced traffic engineering, cloud-native architecture, and machine learning. In summary, FLEX-SCALE represents a visionary and comprehensive approach, ushering in a transformative era for 6G connectivity.

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Publication Details

Journal
IEEE Communications Magazine
Published
2025-04-07
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1109/mcom.001.2400283
Citations
3
Primary Topic
Software-Defined Networks and 5G
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
4.46
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article

FLEX-SCALE: A Disruptive Approach Toward Flexibly Scalable Energy Efficient Networking

Josep M. Fàbrega, Carsten Schmidt‐Langhorst, Dimitrios Klonidis, Hicham Zaid et al.
3 citations
IEEE Communications Magazine
Software-Defined Networks and 5G
4.46
article

FLEX-SCALE: A Disruptive Approach Toward Flexibly Scalable Energy Efficient Networking

Josep M. Fàbrega, Carsten Schmidt‐Langhorst, Dimitrios Klonidis, Hicham Zaid, Michael Enrico, Dan M. Marom, André Richter, Elias Giacoumidis, Pantea Nadimi Goki, A. Teixeira, José Manuel Rivas-Moscoso, David Moor, Marcel Destraz, Dimitris Uzunidis, Gabriel Otero, Ioannis Tomkos, David Larrabeiti, L. Potì, Konstantinos Moschopoulos, Fabio Cavaliere, Juerg Leuthold, Raül Muñoz, Francisco Rodrigues, Alberto Bianchi, Daniel Rieben
article en
3 citations

Abstract

The European FLEX-SCALE project advances disruptive research on complementary optical x-haul network technologies in support of emerging requirements for 6G cellular systems. Employing a top-down strategy, it addresses the diverse requisites across all network levels. The architecture introduces optical nodes (ONs) for efficiently aggregating traffic, strategically placed to meet ultra-low latency demands at the network edge and varied capacities in the core. Utilizing optical ultra-wideband (UWB) and space division multiplexing (SDM) multiplexed transmission links, each ON routes traffic at multiple granularities (MG), from full fiber to flexibly defined bands, down to individual wavelength channels, as needed by the traffic flows. This enables the replacement of electronic routers by all-optical switches, significantly reducing energy consumption. The support of UWB/SDM boosts the network node aggregate capacity to 10 Pb/s, meeting the envisioned year-2030 capacity targets for 6G. With enabling technologies and components like the optical digital-to-analog converter (DAC), the plasmonic transceivers, or multi-granular optical nodes, FLEXSCALE seeks to make a reality key 6G network attributes like ultra-high capacity, flexibility, scalability, cost-effectiveness, low latency, and reliability. A sophisticated control and orchestration system ensures optimal operation, energy efficiency, and service provisioning, utilizing advanced traffic engineering, cloud-native architecture, and machine learning. In summary, FLEX-SCALE represents a visionary and comprehensive approach, ushering in a transformative era for 6G connectivity.

IEEE Communications MagazineVol. 63(9)
Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna (IT), University of Patras (GR), Hebrew University of Jerusalem (IL), Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Heinrich Hertz Institute (DE), ETH Zurich (CH), Centre Tecnologic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya (ES), Polaris Sensor Technologies (United States) (US), Ericsson (Italy) (IT), Sylvana Research (US), Mercatorum University (IT), VPIphotonics (Germany) (DE), Telefonica Research and Development (ES), Polatis (United Kingdom) (GB), Ubitech (Greece) (GR), Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (ES)
Affordable and clean energy
Openalex Percentile: Top 6%
Software-Defined Networks and 5G
4.46
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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