An Architecture for Autonomic Networks

We elucidate our approach to top-down design of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) for AI-enabled autonomic network slices. We start with the notion that an API design follows from the underlying software and hardware network architecture and the function and role of each architectural block. We then proceed to describe an adaptive and fully autonomic software architecture for hybrid (software and hardware) network slices, which has recently been a topic of interest for 6G networks. The architecture uses several software design and architectural patterns, which show how the architectural blocks behave and interact with each other. The knowledge of behaviour leads to required APIs. The APIs are further specified in the pattern definitions. We provide two examples of how the architecture is used to achieve network intent with self-adapting network slices.