Big news: SliceFinity’s latest innovation — Trusted AF — has secured funding from the 6G-PATH Open Call #1 as part of the Infrastructure Software Extensions track. Out of dozens of proposals across Europe, our project — “Trusted AF – Network Upgrade” — was selected for its innovative potential and practical contribution to the evolving 6G ecosystem.
At the heart of this project is a powerful ambition: to make advanced 5G and 6G capabilities truly usable by developers. While 3GPP has defined more than 45 Network APIs in Release 18 — enabling everything from device triggering to traffic steering — few developers outside the telco space have had the tools or testbeds to use them. That’s where our Trusted Application Function (AF) comes in.
Empowering developers with access to the network layer
Our software extension integrates with the 6G-PATH lab’s 5G Core, providing a secure platform that exposes network functions via SBI interfaces, NEF, and optionally NWDAF. We’re creating an open API framework that combines:
- Network APIs (e.g., event exposure, analytics, quality-of-service control)
- CAMARA service APIs (offering abstraction and ease-of-use)
- New APIs designed to enable future 6G use cases
The result? A developer-friendly environment where third-party apps can access real-time network intelligence and influence connectivity experiences — for both humans and machines.
What’s the impact?
By the end of the project, developers will be able to:
- Access dynamic network data like location, reachability, and congestion
- Influence user experience via network slicing, URSP policies, and QoS configurations
- Build and test meaningful use cases for 5G and 6G applications
- Benefit from robust documentation and a trusted testing environment
This is a big leap forward in making telecom-grade functionality accessible to the broader developer community — something that’s long been missing in the journey from 5G to 6G.
A word from our Director of R&D:
“One of the biggest gaps in telecom innovation today is not technical — it’s accessibility. With Trusted AF, we’re giving developers the tools to explore, test, and create using network capabilities that were previously off-limits. We believe this will be a real catalyst for 6G use cases.” — Rohit Sengupta, Director of R&D at SliceFinity
Why it matters
Until now, advanced network functions have been the domain of operators and equipment vendors. With the Trusted AF, we’re opening the door for innovators, researchers, and startups to experiment directly with 5G/6G APIs — much like how Android or iOS opened new markets for mobile apps.
We’re honoured to contribute to the 6G-PATH initiative, and we can’t wait to share more as the project develops. Stay tuned.
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The content of this blog reflects only the author’s views. The European Commission, the Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS JU), and the 6G-PATH consortium are not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained herein.
The Trusted AF – Network Upgrade sub-project has indirectly received funding from the Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS JU) under the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme, via the 6G-PATH – Open Call #1 issued and executed under the 6G-PATH project (Grant Agreement no. 101139172).
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