Architecture and Operational Dynamics for Enabling Symbiosis and Evolution of Network Modalities

ObjectiveThe paradigm shift toward polymorphic networks enables dynamic deployment of diverse network modalities on shared infrastructure but introduces two fundamental challenges. First, symbiosis complexity arises from the absence of formal mechanisms to orchestrate coexistence conditions, intermodal collaboration, and resource efficiency gains among heterogeneous network modalities, which results in inefficient resource use and performance degradation. Second, evolutionary uncertainty stems from the lack of lifecycle-oriented frameworks to govern triggering conditions (e.g., abrupt traffic surges), optimization objectives (service-level agreement compliance and energy efficiency), and transition paths (e.g., seamless migration from IPv6 to GEO-based modalities) during network modality evolution, which constrains adaptive responses to vertical industry demands such as vehicular networks and smart manufacturing. This study aims to establish a theoretical and architectural foundation to address these gaps by proposing a three-plane architecture that supports dynamic coexistence and evolution of polymorphic networks with deterministic service-level agreement guarantees.MethodsThe architecture decouples network operation into four domains: (1) The business domain dynamically clusters services using machine learning according to quality-of-service requirements. (2) The modal domain generates specialized network modalities through software-defined interfaces. (3) The function domain enables baseline capability pooling by atomizing network functions into reusable components. (4) The resource domain supports fine-grained resource scheduling through elementization techniques. The core innovation lies in three synergistic planes: (1) The evolutionary decision plane applies predictive analytics for adaptive selection and optimization of network modalities. (2) The intelligent generation plane orchestrates modality deployment with global resource awareness. (3) The symbiosis platform plane dynamically composes baseline capabilities to support modality coexistence.Results and DiscussionsThe proposed architecture advances beyond conventional approaches by avoiding virtualization overhead through native deployment of network modalities directly on polymorphic network elements. Resource elementization and capability pooling jointly support efficient cross-modality resource sharing. Closed-loop interactions among the decision, generation, and symbiosis planes enable autonomous network evolution that adapts to time-varying service demands under unified control objectives.ConclusionsA theoretically grounded framework is presented to support dynamic symbiosis of heterogeneous network modalities on shared infrastructure through business-driven decision mechanisms and autonomous evolution. The architecture provides a scalable foundation for future systems that integrate artificial intelligence. Future work will extend this paradigm to integrated 6G satellite-terrestrial scenarios, where spatial-temporal resource complementarity is expected to play a central role.