In traditional mobile networks, trust between subscribers and their serving networks relies on a hardware root-of-trust: the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM). Conversely, trust between service and home networks is established via Trusted Third Parties (TTPs), known as Clearing Houses (CHs). The 6G environment will witness a substantial increase in subscriber numbers, driven by the mass deployment of the Internet of Everything (IoE) and improvements in network performance. Simultaneously, the performance capabilities required of TTPs to manage trustworthy operator-to-operator (O2O) interactions in 6G must align with the demands of the 6G ecosystem. This work focuses on enhancing CH intermediation capabilities to support O2O trustworthy interactions within the 6G context. Given the close connection between performance and trustworthiness, this paper explores these aspects by modeling interactions between communication parties using a Petri Net model. This model is applied to analyze the quantitative relationships among the non-functional requirements of future 6G communication scenarios, considering both traditional and blockchain-based approaches.
Read full abstract