Distributed Digital Twin as a Service (DDTaaS) for AI-Native 6G Networks

The Digital Twin (DT) are set to enable artificial-intelligence (AI)-based control, real-time optimisation, and accurate what-if analysis in the upcoming 6G era. For this, DT handles data at high volume, velocity, and heterogeneity across radio access, transport, and core network domains. However, their scalability is challenged by the strict latency, bandwidth, and reliability requirements of AI-Native 6G Networks.

At this, the distributed deployment of DT across the edge-cloud continuum of 6G is vital. This challenges the real-time operation due to required synchronisation, interoperability, and contextual alignment across Distributed DT instances. Therefore, this talk will focus on the architectural requirements for the Distributed Digital Twin as a Service (DTaaS) from a network-specific perspective. Furthermore, the discussions will highlight key performance indicators, knowledge graphs, and edge intelligence.

Berk Canberk (Senior Member, IEEE) is a Full Professor and Head of Subject (Department Chair) for Cybersecurity and System Engineering at Edinburgh Napier University, UK. His research focuses on AI-powered Digital Twins, IoT communication, and Smart Wireless Networks, spanning Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) 1 to 6. As a leading expert in Digital Twin technologies, he specializes in real-time synchronization, AI-driven orchestration, and semantic communication frameworks. He leads the Broadband Communication Research Group (www.bcrg.uk) with 5 PhD students, 1 postdoctoral researcher, 2 research associates, 1 visiting professor, and 1 visiting MSc student. He has previously supervised 7 PhD and 21 MSc graduates. His publication record includes more than 103 journal articles, 103 conference papers, and 23 patents, of which 48 journal articles, 43 conference papers, and 18 patents are specifically focused on Digital Twins.

Since 2015, he has secured over £3.6M in research funding as Principal Investigator. He serves as one of the 15 Area Editors for IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials (The journal in entire IEEE with highest Impact Factor of 46.7), Lead Editor of the IEEE ComSoc Best Readings in Digital Twins, Associate Editor in IEEE Transactions on Network Science and Engineering, and as Guest Editor in Digital Twins at the IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications. He has also served as Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, Elsevier Computer Networks, and IEEE Communications Letters, and has taken on key roles as General Chair, TPC Chair and Organizing Committee Member at several IEEE conferences. Prior to his current position, he was a Full Professor at Istanbul Technical University (ITU), where he served as Associate Professor (2016–2021) in Computer Engineering Department and Full Professor (2021–2022) in Artificial Intelligence and Data Engineering Department. He was previously a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Georgia Institute of Technology, USA. He holds a PhD in Computer Science from ITU, an MSc in Telecommunications Engineering from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, and a BSc in Electrical Engineering from ITU.