IS-WIRELESS partner presents 6G-SANDBOX at the 2nd Conference on Radiocommunications and Teleinformatics

On the 11-14th of September, the 2nd Conference on Radiocommunications and Teleinformatics took place at Poznan University of Technology, in Poland. Robert Gdowski, Innovation Manager at IS-Wireless, talked about the experience of participating in 6G projects, including 6G-SANDBOX Project.
The 6G-SANDBOX project was showcased as an example of IS-Wireless’s 5G/6G Lab/testbed deployment. It highlighted the project’s significance within the SNS JU, noting its role as one of the three key 6G testbed projects that provide support to researchers across Europe.

6G-SANDBOX 2nd OPEN CALL WINNERS

During the Open Call Period (submission deadline 28th of February), we received 33 Proposals in total.

For the OPTION 1 – New infrastructures and functionalities (extensions) we received 21 proposals, 20 were eligible and 3 were accepted (success rate 15%). For OPTION 2 – Innovative experiments, we received 12 proposals, and 9 of them were accepted (success rate 75%).

The proposals we received were from the following countries (graph 1 and 2) and from the following types of organizations (graph 3 and 4):

The accepted proposals for Experiments are from the following countries and types of organization visible in pie charts 1 and 2. Additionally, the OC 2 Winners for Extensions are depicted accordingly in pie charts 3 and 4.

Open Call 2 Innovative Experiments – Winners per Project Proposal


Experimentation: Remote mEdical Support and Communication Utility in Emergency scenarios (RESCUE)

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RESCUE project proposal aims to conduct an experimental field trial leveraging 5G connectivity where an innovative tele-assistance system is deployed and assessed with the focus to improve emergency and disaster response efforts. The tele-assistance system consists in a set of helmets (worn by the operators) that are equipped with a camera sending real-time audio/video streams of the scene of action (e.g., injured person) through the mobile network; and by a web application hosted in a server that allows doctors in an Operations Center to directly access the front view of the operators and communicate with them to assess the patient situation and guide their intervention. Thanks to the 6G-SANDBOX project, the proposed system will leverage on the attributes proposed by the 5GTN network in the Oulu testbed to integrate with the 5G network features provided by it and test its performance under different conditions.


MAGDALENA – MeAsuring 5G anD sAteLlite nEtwork iNtegrAtion

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The convergence between terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks (TN and NTN) is an important trend within 5G/6G systems, where the integration of  satellite components, either for mobile backhauling or as (part of)  the access network is being standardized by 3GPP. Still, there is a limited understanding of the performance implications of such integration and experimental results are limited.  With MAGDALENA, we aim to address this shortcoming by taking advantage of the 6G-SANDBOX Malaga platform, and in particular its integrated 5G and Starlink deployments.  We plan to perform a dedicated measurement campaign that aims to assess both the performance impact of integrating a satellite backhaul within the 5G network (compared to terrestrial backhauls) and also how the satellite-integrated 5G network compares to a satellite-only Internet connection. We plan to capture both network and application-specific KPIs, by employing different tests, including throughput and latency experiments. To gather application-specific performance, we will also execute tests employing application-specific traffic patterns, ultimately providing a holistic view of the impact of satellite integration on 5G/6G networks. in measurements and empirical analysis of 5G and satellite systems. MAGDALENA results will serve as important benchmarks for interested industries and SMEs, since they offer valid references against which they can validate their technical designs and products, as well as  a foundational resource for networking researchers, since the empirical data generated during the project  can be leveraged to develop data-driven solutions aimed at enhancing the  performance of satellite-integrated 5G/6G networks. The project will also help demonstrate the capabilities of the 6G-SANDBOX  infrastructure and its position in TN-NTN integration analysis. The project will benefit from the extensive previous experience of Karlstad University.


6G-MOBKPI: KPI measurement in 6G networks under mobility scenarios

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Τhe aim of the 6G-MOBKPI experiment is to analyse the different key performance indicators (KPIs) for mobility scenarios of 6G networks. To this end, we propose to use a mobile user equipment (UE) mounted on top of an autonomous mobile robot with accurate localization, navigation and autonomous driving capabilities. The robot will be physically placed inside the 6G-SANDBOX testbed facilities in a location with coverage from different cells. In particular we plan to use the Malaga platform for our experiment leveraging its resources.


Smart Contract-based Digital Twins for the IoT (SCDT)

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The SCDT experiments will assess the feasibility and evaluate the performance of a novel form of decentralized, transparent, auditable, interoperable, and secure digital twins for Internet of Things (IoT) devices, such as sensors and actuators. The IoT is envisioned to be an ecosystem of interconnected devices merging the cyber with the physical world, to provide a multitude of services. The IoT has been on the spotlight of many research efforts in the past few years, and it has already been used in a variety of use cases, such as smart cities, smart homes, healthcare, etc. However, there are still some IoT challenges that need to be addressed. First, IoT systems are fragmented, since there is a plethora of IoT devices from different manufacturers, using different protocols and standards. Second, securing IoT services requires complex security solutions, usually relying on advanced cryptographic techniques and algorithms, which have not been designed for the IoT, where many devices are limited in processing, memory and energy resources. We argue that digital twins, with the right design, can address both these challenges, enhancing the interoperability, auditability, and security of IoT systems.


PowerStorm – Energy-Aware Streaming Analytics Job Scheduling for 5G/6G Deployments

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The Internet of Things (IoT) is driving significant growth in data generation, and to manage this increase, Distributed Stream Processing Engines (e.g., Apache Storm) deployed on edge resources are increasingly used for scalable, low-latency IoT applications, processing data near its source. However, challenges like resource heterogeneity and varying network capabilities in 5G/6G-enabled deployments may create performance bottlenecks. Addressing these issues, advanced streaming job schedulers are optimizing task allocation and balancing performance with energy efficiency—a critical concern as the ICT sector’s energy footprint continues to rise. In response, we introduced PowerStorm (presented in CloudCom 2023), a scheduler designed for Apache Storm that introduces an energy-aware algorithmic framework for optimizing streaming analytics jobs in Apache Storm. Our collaboration between LInC lab and 6G-SANDBOX aims to validate PowerStorm’s effectiveness through experiments on Berlin’s 6G-SANDBOX testbed, utilizing 5G/6G-enabled edge devices. The results will demonstrate PowerStorm’s advantages over existing schedulers and contribute to developing energy-efficient job scheduling on 5G/6G infrastructures. Additionally, the resulting dataset from these experiments will be made publicly available.


Prosperancy

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Abstract:

The essence of our proposal is to establish a robust Performance Transparency Protocol tailored specifically for the realm of 6G and Augmented Reality (AR)/ Metaverse composite services.

Central to our vision is the recognition of the inherent challenges faced by consumers when discerning the root cause of performance issues. Is it the fault of their 6G provider, or does the onus lie
with the service developer? This ambiguity not only frustrates users but also impedes the seamless integration of transformative technologies like AR and metaverse implementations. Our proposal tackles this challenge head-on by developing a comprehensive Performance Transparency Protocol to be used in customer disputes resolution. Real-time warnings and performance transparency become the cornerstones of our approach, enabling users to identify and address issues promptly, while also providing insights for service providers to enhance their offerings. For developers we add data storage and out-of-court mediation as options for fast and reliable consumer dispute resolution.

We want to experiment in the 6G Sandbox to establish the reasonable boundries of such a Performance Transparency Protocol, when used in a realistic environment.


MR@REAM

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Pending


REPLICA – Replicable Cellular Networking Experiments using ns-3

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Wireless networking R&D depends on experimentation to make realistic evaluations of networking solutions, as simulation is inherently a simplification of the real-world. However, despite more realistic, experimentation is limited in aspects where simulation excels, such as repeatability, reproducibility, and scalability.

Real wireless experiments may be difficult to repeat under the same conditions, especially the ones considering mobile endpoints. Even if repeatable, experiments may still be difficult to reproduce. Namely, other researchers may be unable to reproduce an experiment because either the testbed is i) unavailable – offline or busy running other experiments –, ii) or inaccessible at all, when the testbed is modified (i.e. experimental conditions change due to topology and hardware changes) or decommissioned. 6G-SANDBOX testbeds may also be affected by these limitations.

What if we could easily make available the same 6G-SANDBOX RF execution conditions among the research community, thereby enabling any experimental scenario to be easily repeatable and reproducible using the ns-3 simulator?

Motivated by our hands-on experience with testbeds operating in emerging scenarios such as aerial and maritime, and with a track record of more than 10 years and multiple scientific publications on simulation-experimentation synergy, as well as a recognized position in the ns-3 community, INESC TEC has been developing a Trace-based Simulation (TS) approach that enables the recording and reproduction of past physical layer traces, such as received signal strength (RSS), on ns-3 network simulator.

Until now, this approach has been validated on Wi-Fi. 6G-SANDBOX provides, now, the perfect opportunity to run experiments and validate this innovative approach for 5G/6G through REPLICA.


6G-EARN (6G-Energy leARNing)

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EC Bessarion introduces a novel microgrid service paradigm that decouples renewable energy generation from consumption. We have developed a network application for collecting and visualizing electricity consumption and production data over Wi-Fi and fixed lines. The 6G-EARN project aims to evaluate the feasibility of using 5G as an alternative communication technology. We plan to develop and test, on the 6G-SANDBOX platform, i) a 5G-based variant of our monitoring solution for areas lacking fixed line coverage, and ii) a Federated Learning (FL) mechanism for accurate forecasting of energy consumption and production, integrating external data sources. Specifically, historical energy data and data collected from locally deployed weather stations will be utilized. The proposed FL approach will ensure that end-user data remains private. 6G-EARN will establish with the help of the 6G-SANDBOX platform a trial network composed of i) hundreds of simulated UEs generating different types of traffic, including real smart meters data, and ii) a real 5G UE running the 6G-EARN FL client (with synthetic data).

Open Call 2 Innovative Extensions – Winners per Project Proposal


NDWAF – StreamAnalyzer

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Within the scope of this project, we will enhance our commercial software product, StreamAnalyzer so that it offers certain 3GPP NWDAF functionalities to the 6G-SANDBOX project. Specifically, leveraging telemetry data from the Athens site (Open5GS, NEF and Amarisoft), we will implement and validate: (I) selected functionalities from 3GPP TS 23.288 NWDAF APIs Events Subscription, Analytics Info, Data Management & ML Model Provision and (II) the NWDAF use cases network conditions and performance, device behavior, and service experience. Furthermore, we will support the CAPIF/NEF integration framework. Our NWDAF validated functionalities shall be maintained and supported throughout the full duration of the 6G-SANDBOX project.


REACT-6G – RAN IntElligent Automation and Control via xApps Towards 6G

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Abstract:

The REACT-6G targets to integrate new infrastructures and functionalities in the 6G-SANDBOX testbeds and provide advanced experimentation capabilities. In this context, REACT-6G covers a complete closed loop for supplementing the functionalities of the current 6G-SANDBOX testbed (RAN equipment and interfaces, near RT-RIC, xApp templates and intelligent RAN control functionalities), as well as validates intelligent and energy-efficient resource allocation algorithms in real 6G network deployments.

To this end, Accelleran (ACC), a full member of 6G Smart Networks and Services Industry Association (6G-IA), aims to provide the SMO, the dRAX platform including Non-RT RIC and Near-RT RIC, as well as the CU. The dRAX will provide an intuitive SDK platform to develop AI/ML-based xApps while providing O-RAN Compliant E2 interface for telemetry and control purposes along all instances of the O-RAN framework.

Moreover, Software Radio Systems (SRS), a full member of 6G-IA aims to provide the RAN software platform for REACT-6G. The SRS RAN software is a full-stack, portable, scalable and flexible solution featuring complete and performant O-RAN DU and CU applications. The software has been validated on a wide range of processing hardware platforms. It has further been pre-integrated with a wide variety of O-RAN split 7.2 Cat A. RU devices and 5G Core Network solutions.

Finally, Four Dot Infinity (FDI), a full member of 6G-IA aims to provide an O-RAN-based and highly programmable set of intelligent services for different communication scenarios and performance metrics in the form of xApps, also mitigating any conflicts raised by contradictory xApp-oriented suggestions.

Noteworthy, the REACT-6G project will leverage the expertise of their members gathered from previous H2020 projects. The delivered functionalities possess considerable exploitation potential for future experimentation by interested stakeholders and will enrich 6G-SANDBOX’s functionalities.


FR2-RIS connectivity reinFORCEment for Malaga platform (RISFORCE)

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Taiwan is known as the central hub for semiconductor manufacturing, IC design and packaging power house. Collaboration with ITRI will add value to 6G-SANDBOX as our tile-based RIS system is an industrial-grade solution which has been designed and manufactured in Taiwan, and the RIS system has been validated with ITRI O-RAN solution and UE counterpart in a well-controlled indoor environment. ITRI will support to perform validation measurement campaign until the end of the 6G-SANDBOX project.
 
ITRI and 6G-SANDBOX have a strong interest in researching and experimenting with innovative applications and technologies. ITRI’s motivation to response the Open Call 2 is to enhance connectivity reinforcement by integrate and deploy mmWave FR2 (n257) RIS system at 6G-SANDBOX MALAGA test bed/platform at Pl. de la Constitucion Corridor in Malaga City Centre, with the new and extended network element of FR2 RIS, 6G-SANDBOX Malaga Platform can facilitate RIS extension tests in 6G-SANDBOX sites to be used in the Trial Network and offer to third parties for testing. To expand 6G-SANDBOX Malaga testbed/platform capabilities, ITRI intends to provide mmWave (n257) RIS network element at Pl. de la Constitucion Corridor in Malaga City Centre.With the deployment of ITRI FR2 RIS, the tested will be strengthened towards a more reliable and efficient wireless network, seemingly a less coverage hole and better signal quality network in the outdoor environment.

𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 (𝗝𝗖𝗦𝗗 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰)

On the 10-11th of June the 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 (𝗝𝗖𝗦𝗗 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰) was held in Cadiz, Spain! This edition was jointly organized by the University of Cádiz and the Complutense University of Madrid.
In this context Dr. Delia Rico from Universidad de Málaga, had the opportunity to present the work which has been done in the context of the 6G-SANDBOX Project: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140366423003778?via%3Dihub
The primary goal of this conference is to showcase the work currently being done by various university departments, research centers, R&D departments, and companies in the IT sector on topics related to concurrency and distributed systems (concurrent programming, real-time systems, modeling, analysis, and control of concurrent systems, blockchain, and languages and architectures, among others).

This type of event provides an excellent opportunity for establishing cooperative links between different research groups from various Spanish universities. This cooperation often translates into coordinated funding requests for joint research projects. These Conferences also serve as an excellent forum for industry and research centers to meet and exchange interests and opinions. Furthermore, such conferences provide an opportunity for early-career researchers to present their initial research work to the national community in a well-established national event.
For more info (Spanish) you can check here => https://jcsd2024.uca.es/

IEEE CAMAD 2024 – Call for Papers

In the context of IEEE CAMAD 2024, which will be held in Athens, Greece, on the 21st-23rd October 2024, 6G-SANDBOX, in collaboration with 10 other projects, organizes a Workshop entitled ‘𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝟲𝗚 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀: 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽 𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀, 𝗔𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗚𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.’ and invites researchers, practitioners, and industry experts to submit their original contributions. For more information => https://camad2024.ieee-camad.org/1st-workshop-advancements-research-infrastructures-adaptive-frameworks-and-global-architectural

4th Plenary Meeting in Brussels

The 4th Plenary Meeting, which began on May 22nd and concluded on the 24th, covered all 6 Work Packages and key aspects fostering fruitful discussions that advanced the project and led to decisions. To commemorate the event, the traditional group photo was taken, capturing the spirit of collaboration and progress. We are excited to reunite and engage in fruitful discussions about the project’s advancement!

6G-SANDBOX DEMOS in 5G FORUM 2024

The 7th edition of the 5G FORUM, titled “Where 5G Leaders Meet,” started today, 6th of May, in Sevilla, Spain. Our partners TelefónicaUniversidad de Málaga, and Nokia invite you to visit their booths and attend the demos! 👇

𝗧𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗳𝗼́𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮 will showcase a demo using Data Analytics using NWDAF combined with LLM technology for human interaction with network data. This technology will be available to Experimenters using 6G-SANDBOX platforms for running network experiments.

𝗡𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗮 will showcase the Owl, which is an immersive communication application developed by Nokia that teleports people from any place on Earth. The owl is involved within the 6GSandbox EU project activities as a eXtended Reality (XR) use case. This use case features is representative of most of the XR high requirements in terms of network connection that are dealt in 6GSandbox: bidirectional real time communication, high bandwidth, strong uplink, low end-to-end delay, multi-modal streams and even edge processing.

𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗴𝗮 will run demos to reflect the work at Victoria Network from 5G towards the future of 6G.

6G-SANDBOX in 5G FORUM 2024

The upcoming 7th edition of the 5G Forum, titled “Where 5G Leaders Meet,” is scheduled to take place in Sevilla, Spain, from May 6th to May 10th. Our partners Telefonica, University of Malaga, and NOKIA will actively participate! Be sure not to miss the chance to attend the following two presentations:

Monday, 6th of May: ‘Projectos de Future Networks Lab en Andalucia.’ David will present among other 6G-SANDBOX project

Tuesday, 7th of May:’ Red Victoria Investigacion en 5G avandazo y 6G’. Pedro will present the details of the Victoria Network, the experimentation platform for advanced 5G and 6G mobile networks.

For more information about the event: https://www.5gforum.es/en/2024-en/agenda-2024/

Stay tuned for more news!

6G-SANDBOX in the 6G SYMPOSIUM 2024, Levi, Finland

In the context of the 6G Symposium 2024, which was held in Levi, Finland on the 9th-11th of April, 6G-SANDBOX project, was present in the 6G FLAGSHIP-EU Projects stand, together with 6G-XR and SUNRISE-6G! we would like to thank University of Oulu partner and Prof. Ari Pouttu, for representing us in this event. For more information:https://www.6gworld.com/6gsymposium/

23rd IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference – Paper Presentation

On the 21st – 23rd of April the 23rd IEEE WCNC 2024, was held in Dubai, UAE. Dr. Masoud Shokrnezhad from University of Oulu partner, presented the following 3 papers:

  • C. Benzaid, F.M. Hossain, T. Taleb, P.M. Gomez, and M. Dieudonné, “A Federated Continual Learning Framework for Sustainable Network Anomaly Detection in O-RAN” in Proc. IEEE WCNC 2024, Dubai, USA, Apr. 2024 presented in section TR2-05: SECURITY
  • Z. Sasan, M. Shokrnezhad, S. Khorsandi, and T. Taleb, “Joint Network Slicing, Routing, and In-Network Computing for Energy-Efficient 6G” in Proc. IEEE WCNC 2024, Dubai, USA, Apr. 2024, presented in Section TR2-12: ENERGY EFFICIENT AND GREEN NETWORKING
  • H. Mazandarani, M. Shokrnezhad, and T. Taleb, “A Semantic-Aware Multiple Access Scheme for Distributed, Dynamic 6G-Based Applications” in Proc. IEEE WCNC 2024, Dubai, USA, Apr. 2024, presented in section TR2-07: MULTIPLE ACCESS

18th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP 2024)

On the 17-20th of March the 18th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation was held in Glasgow, Scotland. In this context, our partner Queen’s University Belfast, represented by Dmitry Zelenchuk, presented the paper ‘‘Wideband, dual-polarization, 1-bit Unit-cell Design for millimeter-wave Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface Applications’. For more information check here