# Results and Achievements of the ALLIANCE Project: New Network Solutions for 5G and Beyond
## 2 Network Architecture and Project's Main Achievements
### Review of Similar Projects  
Recent advancements in AI have led to a new era of ML techniques. In particular, ML applied to networks is today an established focus on the research community and generates high expectations. Several projects started in the past few years promoting the deployment of AI/ML in the network with the focus on minimising manual intervention, maximising the network use and QoS/QoE, reducing the energy footprint, facilitating the data processing, signal processing, and the integration between different network segments, etc. Among all initiatives, we consider that the following three projects present most similarities with ALLIANCE.  
DAEMON (Network intelligence for aDAptive and sEff-Learning MObile Networks, [https://h2020 daemon.eu](https://h2020 daemon.eu), accessed on 20 September 2021) is a European-funded project started in 2021. Its main argument is that AI is not the best solution for every network task but only for those hard problems requiring inferring complex relationships from massive data. Therefore, its goal is to provide a solid set of guidelines for the use of ML and design tailored AI models that respond only to the specific needs of given network functions.  
AI@EDGE (A Secure and Reusable Artificial Intelligence Platform for Edge Computing in Beyond 5G Networks, [[https://aiatedge.eu](https://aiatedge.eu)]([https://aiatedge.eu](https://aiatedge.eu)), accessed on 20 September 2021) is another example of European project started in 2021 focused on AI/ML for 5G/B5G. This project aims at building a platform and tools enabling the concept of reusable, secure, and trustworthy AI for network automation in large-scale edge and cloud compute infrastructures. In addition, it targets a solution for a converged connect-compute platform for creating and managing resilient, elastic, and secure end-to-end slices capable of supporting a diverse range of AI-enabled network applications.  
5 GZORRO (Zero-to-Ouch secuRity and tRust for ubiquitous cOmputing and connectivity in 5G networks, [https://www.5 gzorro.eu](https://www.5 gzorro.eu), accessed on 20 September 2021) is a project started in 2019, few months after ALLIANCE. The main goal of 5 GZORRO is to transform network orchestration and management into a cognitive process through which the network can self-adapt and self-react to changing conditions with minimal manual intervention. In addition, blockchain is proposed for implementing distributed security and trust across the various parties involved in the 5G service chain.  
All projects leverage on cutting-edge technologies such as SDN/NFV, edge/fog computing, enhanced mobile broadband networks, etc. Being European projects, they are clearly larger than ALLIANCE, their goals include many more aspects and objectives, and in the end each one wants to deliver and demonstrate a complete global solution. On the contrary, in ALLIANCE we have focused on proposing solutions that point to significant advances in different fields, which are mostly not addressed in the other projects. For example, we have pioneered the first application of GNN (in combination with DRL) to computer networks, allowing us to predict accurate performance metrics per flow for known networks and produce accurate estimates for unknown networks. We have demonstrated the potentiality of RINA as a viable solution for B5G, with its inherent ability to support security, programmability, virtualisation and mobility by design. The focus of most of the similar projects is on the mobile network; in ALLIANCE we have investigated new modulation formats and new design tools for both the access and the transport segments of a high-capacity and ultra-low-latency optical infrastructure. These are just three examples to differentiate ALLIANCE from similar projects; other novel achievements are reported throughout the document.