The cloud is transforming, both in terms of the extent of distribution and in the diversity of compute and storage capabilities. On-premises and edge data centers (DCs) are emerging, and hardware (HW) accelerators are becoming integral components of formerly software-only services.
In order to fully support emerging use cases such as the Internet of Senses [1], cyberphysical systems and connected intelligent machines [2], the foundation of future network platforms must be built on tight integration between reliable, deterministic connectivity and scalable, affordable and efficient processing capabilities. The result of this tight integration is what we call the network compute fabric.■ The network compute fabric is one of the four key components of our vision of 6G as an innovation platform [3]. The other three are limitless connectivity, cognitive networks, and trustworthy systems, as shown in Figure 1.The network compute fabric is a fusion of connectivity and computing capabilities, acting as one unified entity, to satisfy both compute and connectivity requirements. Currently, for instance, service anchoring, routing and channel termination are governed by the mobile radio network, while placement and allocation of application tasks are governed by evolving operations support systems and local operating systems. By tightly integrating networking and compute elements, functions like radio-channel handling would operate in concordance with the allocation of related application tasks, opening up for fine-grained optimization possibilities.
Components of the network compute fabricThe left side of Figure 2 illustrates the four key components of a global, unified network compute
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