Foundations for deterministic, low-latency, and secure communication infrastructures
Project title:
DetermIneD - Designing and Configuring Deterministic Network Domains for Industry 4.0 and
Centralized 5G/6G Virtual Functions
Principal Investigator:
Konstantinos Christodoulopoulos, University of Athens, Greece
Duration:
November 2023 - November 2025
Programme:
Hellenic Foundation for Research & Innovation (HFRI)
Greece 2.0 National Recovery and Resilience Plan
"Basic Research Financing" (Horizontal support for all Sciences)
ID 16618 - Subproject 1 (MIS: 5163923)
Further information:
DETERMINED lays the foundations for deterministic, low-latency, and secure communication infrastructures, enabling time-critical IoT and 5G/6G applications through advanced networking, edge-cloud orchestration, and post-quantum security technologies.
Future IoT and 5G/6G applications demand ultra-low latency, deterministic performance, and strong security guarantees across highly distributed infrastructures. Traditional cloud-centric deployment models struggle to meet these requirements due to variable latency, limited control over jitter, and growing security threats posed by quantum computing.
At the same time, the transition toward cloud-native microservice architectures and the increasing use of near-edge and far-edge resources introduce new complexity in resource allocation, orchestration, and network control.
Modern communication infrastructures must simultaneously ensure deterministic networking, secure key distribution, and efficient placement of microservices across the edge-cloud continuum. Key challenges include:
Existing solutions often optimize from an operator-centric perspective, overlooking fine-grained application requirements.
DETERMINED addresses these challenges through an integrated framework that combines deterministic networking, secure communication, and intent-driven resource orchestration.
The project evaluates IEEE Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) mechanisms, including Credit-Based Shaper (CBS), Frame Preemption (FP), and Time-Aware Shaper (TAS), to achieve predictable latency and bounded jitter in Ethernet networks.
In parallel, DETERMINED investigates Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) architectures, such as Relayed and Switched QKD, to enable secure symmetric key distribution resilient to quantum computing attacks.
To support cloud-native IoT and 5G/6G services, the project introduces lexicographic, intent-based resource allocation mechanisms spanning near-edge, far-edge, and core cloud infrastructures. Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and NETCONF-based management are used to automate configuration and control of deterministic network functions.
DETERMINED contributes to trustworthy, low-latency, and deterministic digital infrastructures for future industrial, IoT, and mobile network deployments. Its outcomes enhance predictability for time-critical applications, improve resilience against emerging security threats, and enable flexible orchestration of distributed resources.
The project advances both scientific knowledge and practical methodologies in deterministic networking, post-quantum security, and edge-cloud resource management.
A concise overview of the DETERMINED project objectives, challenges, solutions, and expected impact is available in the project factsheet.
Download the DETERMINED Factsheet (PDF)
A concise overview of the DETERMINED project objectives, challenges, solutions, and expected impact is available in the project presentation.