6G-CATS is a Horizon Europe research and innovation project funded under the HORIZON-JU-SNS-2025-STREAM-B-03-02 call on Higher Speed Optical Access Networks and future end-to-end Packet Optical Network Architecture in 6G. The project aims to develop an AI-powered 6G network providing secure, energy-efficient and high-speed end-to-end communication while integrating advanced sensing and mobility capabilities.

6G-CATS will pioneer a fully integrated, modular and programmable 6G platform that brings together optical and wireless communications, sensing, artificial intelligence and security. Through AI-native control and orchestration, integrated sensing, energy-aware operation and quantum-resilient security, the project will enable intelligent resource management, predictive network maintenance and advanced mobility services.

Objectives

1. Objective 1: Design a new sustainable, scalable and AI-driven network architecture to support 6G high-impact use-cases and their requirements
2. Objective 2: High-speed and energy-efficient integrated photonic and wireless infrastructure for 6G
3. Objective 3: Implement a methodology for infrastructure-based and local optical sensing that leverages multiple sensing modes and applies them to support resiliency, security and mobility
4. Objective 4: Develop an end-to-end, quantum-resilient and AI-enhanced security framework for 6G
5. Objective 5: Design and develop an AI-assisted control plane and orchestration framework
6. Objective 6: End-to-end integration, demonstration and validation of 6G-CATS technologies across diverse use-cases relevant to 6G deployments
7. Objective 7: Impact creation towards an integrated, sustainable, secure AI-powered 6G architecture supporting sensing and mobility 

Architecture