Energy-Aware Multi-Domain Orchestration Architecture for Sustainable 6G Networks

Future 6G systems must operate as intelligent, sustainable, and self-optimizing infrastructures that integrate heterogeneous communication and power domains. We present an energy-aware, multi-domain orchestration architecture for 6G networks, built on a hierarchical control model comprising an Inter-Domain Management and Orchestration (IDMO) layer, domain-level Management and Orchestration (DMO) entities, and Infrastructure Domain Managers (IDMs), interconnected through a Service-Based Management Architecture. Furthermore, the architecture incorporates Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) and an inter-domain Energy Management System (EMS) that jointly interface (physically and logically) with the network infrastructure while respecting the operational autonomy of local grids. In this model, the VPP exposes unified, virtualized interfaces for energy providers and domain-embedded sources at network elements (e.g., photovoltaics and storage) for network-level coordination without interfering with local grid control. The inter-domain Energy Management System (EMS) ingests standardized, multi-domain energy telemetry and forecasts (e.g., generation potential, carbon, and consumption intensity) and applies predictive modeling to produce localityaware reports for the IDMO. Guided by this intelligence, the IDMO coordinates cross-domain service decomposition, placement, and reconfiguration. Each DMO can locally promote IDMs whose energy mix satisfies sustainability and performance targets. We aim to validate the approach in a cross-domain proof-of-concept spanning two sites: a baseline site and a sustainable site, to demonstrate that our proposed architecture allows to balance orchestration latency and energy savings.