IEEE NetSoft, the premier International Conference on Network Softwarization, addresses advanced research challenges and opportunities raised by the overall transformation trend of network

“softwarization,” which has been revolutionizing the networking field and has accelerated its convergence with adjacent industries.

Network Softwarization refers to the transition from legacy network infrastructures and functionalities traditionally provided via hardware appliances to new ones provided via software. This technology has become feasible with the maturity of network function virtualization, software-defined networking, and service function chaining in the last 16 years. In particular, the ability to program, manage, and operate network and service infrastructures more freely makes it possible to reinvent network & cloud architectures, customize services, accelerate service deployment, and facilitate greater operational efficiency. This is even more relevant nowadays, as network infrastructures and service deployment technologies are challenged by the growing interest in distributed Artificial Intelligence (AI) and computing solutions. The need for further advances in these topics is reflected in the overall theme of NetSoft 2025: Sustainable and secure networks for distributed AI and compute.

NetSoft 2025 will feature technical paper presentations, keynotes, panels, tutorials, workshops, demos, posters and PhD symposiums from world-leading experts representing service providers, vendors, research institutes, open-source projects, and academia.

TOPICS OF INTEREST

The conference is soliciting paper submissions with significant research contributions to network softwarization. The topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

Network softwarization for …

    5G/6G
    network slicing and slice management
    Internet of Things (IoT)
    QoS and QoE
    Service Function Chaining (SFC)
    cognitive and autonomic networking
    policy-based and Intent-based networking
    eXtended Reality (AR/VR/ER and digital twins)  
    Future Internet and New IP architectures 
    new value chains and service models
    dynamic resource discovery and negotiation schemes
    cooperative multi-domain, multi-tenant SDN/NFV environments
    deterministic or dependable networking
    high-precision communications and computing      
    Internet re-engineering

or

    Security, Safety, Trust, and Privacy
    Programmable SDN and NFV: languages and architectures (P4 and others) 
    Open source
    Softwarized cloud, fog, and edge infrastructures
    Resilience, reliability, and robustness
    Assurance and Measurements
    Abstractions and virtualization of resources, services, and functions
    Sustainability, energy efficiency, and carbon emissions
    Programmable Networking Protocols  
    Deployment and transition strategies
    Experience reports from experimental testbeds and deployments
    Hardware acceleration
… in softwarized network

or

    Artificial intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) techniques
    Applications of Generative AI
    Socio-economic impact and regulations
    Development methodologies (DevOps, NetOps, Verification)
… for softwarized network