NeTS: Small: Exploring the Non-Standardized Polices, Operations, and Requirements for 5G Cellular Networks and Beyond: Advancing the Modeling, Tools, and Evaluation

蜂窝网络是一个全球性的基础设施，提供无缝的数据、语音和文本服务，使其成为当今互联世界的关键角色。第三代合作伙伴计划（3GPP）是一个由7个电信标准组织组成的联盟，共同致力于开发全球移动通信协议，如5G NR。然而，在实践中，许多非3GPP标准化政策、操作和要求通常根据当地监管要求或特定运营商需求部署在运营蜂窝网络和移动设备中。当设备供应商和运营商需要添加或修改协议和服务以符合这些标准时，这些非3gpp标准化元素可能会导致不可预见的有害问题。然而，非3gpp标准化元素的负面影响在很大程度上尚未得到探索。因此，该项目旨在推进识别非3gpp标准化要素的技术，并评估其对蜂窝网络整体性能和安全性的潜在负面影响。该项目的新颖之处在于利用多学科技术，全面发现非3gpp标准化元素，包括隐含的和隐藏的，对现实世界有负面影响的元素。该项目的更广泛的意义和重要性是将最先进的蜂窝网络研究扩展到一个新的前沿，研究创新的非3gpp标准化政策、操作和需求探索、分析、网络建模、数据收集、数据挖掘解决方案的原始问题，并为新的研究努力铺平道路，以实现更强大、更有弹性和更安全的蜂窝网络。此外，它还为国家的劳动力做出了贡献，学生们在移动网络、人工智能和自然语言处理方面训练有素。该项目包括三个研究重点：(1)开发识别非3gpp标准化元素的新技术。这包括SpecInsight，一个创新的3GPP技术规范分析工具，使用多学科技术高效智能地理解和搜索3GPP技术规范，以及DocIntrpr，一个使用自然语言处理技术从各种非3GPP文件中自动提取相关政策、操作和需求的工具；(2)发现隐藏的非3gpp标准化要素。并非所有非3gpp标准化元素都写在公开可用的文档中。因此，我们建议开发SpecVerifer，这是一个正式分析3GPP技术规范的模型检查工具，旨在识别所有必要但缺失的设计，因为它们要么被隐藏的非3GPP标准化元素补充，要么导致意想不到的结果；(3)开发新的测试平台open5G-Flex，以有效评估各种非3gpp标准化元素的影响，而不会受到蜂窝基础设施访问受限以及进行实验时可能出现的伦理/法律问题的困扰。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The cellular network is a global infrastructure that provides seamless data, voice, and text services, making it a key player in today’s connected world. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is a consortium of seven telecommunications standards organizations that work together to develop protocols for global mobile telecommunications, such as 5G NR. However, in practice, many non-3GPP standardized policies, operations, and requirements are often deployed in operational cellular networks and mobile devices in accordance with local regulatory requirements or specific operator needs. These non-3GPP standardized elements can lead to unforeseen and detrimental issues when device vendors and carriers need to add or revise protocols and services to comply with them. However, the negative impact of non-3GPP standardized elements is largely unexplored. Therefore, this project aims to advance the technology for identifying non-3GPP standardized elements and assessing their potential negative impact on the overall performance and security of cellular networks. The project's novelties are to comprehensively discover non-3GPP standardized elements, including implicit and hidden ones, which have a negative real-world impact, using multidisciplinary techniques. The project's broader significance and importance are to extend the state-of-the-art cellular network research to a new frontier, investigate original problems that entreat innovative non-3GPP standardized policies, operations, and requirements exploration, analysis, network modeling, data collection, data mining solutions, and pave the way for a new research endeavor to enable more robust, resilient, and secure cellular networks. Additionally, it contributes to the nation's workforce with students well-trained in mobile networks, artificial intelligence, and natural language processing.This project comprises three research thrusts: (1) developing new techniques for identifying non-3GPP standardized elements. This includes SpecInsight, an innovative 3GPP technical specification analysis tool that uses multidisciplinary techniques to comprehend and search 3GPP technical specifications efficiently and intelligently, and DocIntrpr, a tool that automatically extracts the relevant policies, operations, and requirements from various non-3GPP documents using natural language processing techniques; (2) uncovering hidden non-3GPP standardized elements. Not all non-3GPP standardized elements are written in publicly available documents. Therefore, we propose to develop SpecVerifer, a model-checking tool that analyzes 3GPP technical specifications formally, which aims to identify all necessary but missing designs since they are either complemented by hidden non-3GPP standardized elements or causing unexpected results; and (3) developing a new testing platform, open5G-Flex, to efficiently assess the impact of various non-3GPP standardized elements without suffering from the limited access to cellular infrastructure and possible ethical/legal issues when conducting experiments.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.