  The advent of 5G and the design of its architecture has become possible
because of the previous individual scientific works and standardization efforts
on cloud computing and network softwarization. Software-defined Networking and
Network Function Virtualization started separately to find their convolution
into 5G network architecture. Then, the ongoing design of the future beyond 5G
(B5G) and 6G network architecture cannot overlook the pivotal inputs of
different independent standardization efforts about autonomic networking,
service-based communication systems, and multi-access edge computing. This
article provides the design and the characteristics of an agent-based,
softwarized, and intelligent architecture, which coherently condenses and
merges the independent proposed architectural works by different
standardization working groups and bodies. This novel work is a helpful means
for the design and standardization process of the futureB5G and 6G network
architecture.
