Federated Analytics for 6G Networks: Applications, Challenges, and Opportunities

Extensive research is underway to meet the hyperconnectivity demands of 6G networks, driven by applications like XR/VR and holographic communications, which generate substantial data requiring network-based processing, transmission, and analysis. However, adhering to diverse data privacy and security policies in the anticipated multi-domain, multitenancy scenarios of 6G presents a significant challenge. Federated Analytics (FA) emerges as a promising distributed computing paradigm, enabling collaborative data value generation while preserving privacy and reducing communication overhead. Using big data principles, FA can be applied to manage and secure distributed heterogeneous networks, improving performance, reliability, visibility, and security without compromising data confidentiality. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of potential FA applications, domains, and types in 6G networks, elucidating analysis methods, techniques, and queries. It explores complementary approaches to enhance privacy and security in 6G networks alongside FA and discusses the challenges and prerequisites for successful FA implementation. Additionally, distinctions between FA and Federated Learning are drawn, highlighting their synergistic potential through a network orchestration scenario.