As wireless networks evolve toward 6G, ensuring reliability and security in challenging environments is more important than ever. Today’s networks are designed to resist disruptions such as interference or malicious attacks. But what if future networks could do something even smarter – improve their performance because of them?
This is exactly the idea explored in a new MARE publication titled “A Cross-Layer Analysis of Network Antifragility with RIS-assisted Links under Jamming Attacks”. The paper introduces an innovative concept known as network antifragility, showing how next-generation networks can not only survive hostile conditions but actually benefit from them.
From resilience to antifragility
Traditionally, network resilience means maintaining service when things go wrong. Antifragility goes a step further. Inspired by the work of statistician and risk theorist Nassim Nicholas Taleb, who originally framed the term in the context of financial systems and risk management, antifragility describes systems that gain strength from disruption, rather than merely resisting it. Taleb coined the term in his book Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder, defining it as a property of systems that improve their performance with exposure to volatility, shocks, and stressors, going beyond both robustness and resilience.
In this study, researchers apply this concept to wireless communications for the first time at a network level, demonstrating that under certain conditions, adversity (such as interference or jamming) can be turned into an advantage.
The work focuses on Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS) – programmable surfaces that can reflect and shape wireless signals. RIS technology is expected to play a key role in 6G by extending coverage, improving efficiency, and enabling smarter control of the radio environment.
When jamming helps instead of hurts
Wireless jamming attacks are usually seen as a serious threat, as they inject unwanted signals to disrupt communication. In this research, however, the team shows that, under certain conditions, jamming signals can be reused as an additional resource.
By carefully detecting, classifying, and adapting to different types of interference, RIS-assisted networks can transform harmful signals into constructive ones. In some scenarios, the network’s data throughput increased by up to five times compared to normal, jammer-free operation. This is a striking example of antifragile behavior.
Smarter networks across all layers
What makes this work particularly relevant for MARE is its cross-layer approach. Instead of focusing only on the physical signal level, the study connects low-level signal behavior with higher-level network decisions, such as routing and link selection.
This means future networks could automatically favor communication paths that perform better because of interference, leading to self-optimizing, adaptive, and more trustworthy 6G systems.
Why this matters for MARE and beyond
This publication highlights how MARE is helping redefine network security for the 6G era. Rather than treating uncertainty and attacks purely as risks, the project explores how variability can be harnessed intelligently.
The findings open up a new design philosophy for future networks - one where disruption is not just mitigated but strategically exploited to improve performance, resilience, and efficiency.
As 6G research accelerates, this work positions MARE at the forefront of building networks that don’t just withstand challenges - they grow stronger because of them.
Publication Details
A Cross-Layer Analysis of Network Antifragility with RIS-assisted Links under Jamming Attacks
Authors: M. Bensalem, T. Röthig, and A. Jukan.
MARE Partner: Technische Universität Braunschweig (TUBS)
Journal: IEEE Networking Letters, November 2025. Journal website.
Abstract: Antifragility is an economics term defined as measure of (monetary) benefits gained from the adverse events and variability of the markets. This paper integrates for the first time the antifragility into the network based on communication links with Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (RIS) affected by a jamming attack. We analyze whether antifragility can be achieved for several jamming models. Beyond the link-level gains, the results reveal how antifragile RIS-assisted links can be integrated into multi-hop systems to improve end-to-end network resilience, connectivity, and throughput under adversarial effects.
