Objectives
MOTIVATION AND SCOPE
At the dawn of the new era in telecommunications after the successful deployment of 5G networks, the principles of 6G networks and services are being designed, while disruptive visions regarding the 6G contribution in socioeconomic impact (well-defined as SDG by UN) are being composed. Indeed, the first signs for shaping the expectations from 6G have emerged ,where a convergence of digital, physical, and human domains is envisioned. In this revolutionary path, the contribution from technology and research experimentation facilities of emerging 6G technologies is expected to be crucial. Those facilities will function as one-stop shops which will help companies dynamically respond to the 6G digital challenges and expectations. This potential of experimentation facilities has been validated already through the 5G paradigm, where 5G pan-European facilities, such as 5GENESIS, 5G-VINNI, or 5G-EVE, supported the 5G digital transformation and the trial of innovative applications and services. However, the need of experimentation facilities is further amplified in the beyond 5G era, as depicted in multiple Standards Organisation (SDOs) and research-oriented references, due to the disruptive expectations that 6G brings, creating a direct need for trials and experimentation towards the creation of novelty. For instance, in the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA 2021-27), the need for experimentation is defined as one of the key recommended actions towards 6G, while ITU has recently established a Focus Group on Testbeds Federations for IMT-2020 and beyond. In the same context, the key objectives of SNS R&I Work Programme 2021- 2022, regarding Stream C calls, are formulated around the development of experimental infrastructures, that will validate 6G technologies and use cases. As a response to this challenge, the 6G-SANDBOX project is dedicated to providing clear and tangible contributions towards an experimentation ecosystem for 6G in Europe.
6G-SANDBOX Facility Overview
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
Objective 1
Define and release the architecture and the processes/methodology of an experimentation facility, that will be aligned with the related standardization efforts and will support network and technology evolution towards 6G, by providing modular implementation capabilities, open access, reusability of results and components, innovation at all the layers and domains of the service provisioning chain, and sustainability beyond the project lifetime.
Objective 2
Develop and integrate the 6G-SANDBOX ORAN-driven end-to-end physical connectivity infrastructure around Europe, which incorporates 6G technologies that reside at access domain, including disruptive wireless communications, transport network advancements, and core network innovations.
Objective 3
Develop and integrate the 6G-SANDBOX resource management framework that is capable to efficiently deploy trial networks and to control multi-domain vitalized resources, by following an “Infrastructure as a Code” approach where all 6G software components are openly released.
Objective 4
Develop and integrate an automated and API-based experimentation lifecycle framework for performing automated experimentation as a service on 6G-SANDBOX trial networks tailored to the 6G KPIs and KVIs, being capable to efficiently produce and release of reliable analytical results (values of those KPIs and KVIs) for evaluating 6G use cases in easily reusable common formats.
Objective 5
Create an ecosystem under the SNS JU umbrella, that will allow the adoption of innovative components from Stream B projects and also enable the hosting of 6G use cases, through open calls, during the project lifetime, and through the offering from Stream D projects, in long-term.
Objective 6
Create tangible socioeconomical impact as well as maximize technological and business potential through targeted communication, dissemination, and standardization initiatives that will set capacity building capabilities.
Metrics to evaluate the fulfilment for the 6G-SANDBOX objectives:
| Specific Objective | Metric to evaluate the fulfilment | Targeted values & other means of verification |
| Obj1: Define and release the architecture and the processes/methodology of an experimentation facility | Release and acceptance of the refence architecture that the facility implements | Early release Level 1: Acceptance at academia level, through related publications; Level 2: Acceptance by SNS JU; Level 3: Impact at standardisation level |
| Release and maintenance of the entire facility for experimentation | Early release Level 1: Adoption and usage by other projects and open calls during the project lifetime Level 2: usage from SNS Stream D projects Level 3: Integration with other facilities and creation of a sustainable ecosystem |
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| Obj2: Develop and integrate the 6G-SANDBOX ORAN-driven end-to-end physical connectivity infrastructure around Europe | Expansion and upgrade level of the source Testbeds that will define the 6G-SANDBOX sites | Documentation of the Delta from the source testbeds in the middle of the project lifetime as well as at the end of the project (as part of Deliverables fed by Task 4.4) |
| Scientific publications related to the ambitions Amb.1, Amb.2, Amb.3, Amb.4 | At least one journal and one conference publication per related Ambition | |
| Utilisation of the API framework of the facility | Usage of API framework for interaction with all the experimenters that will result from the open calls. | |
| Utilisation of the Open Repositories of the facility | Usage of results and/or development contributions from more than 4 third parties (project externals) | |
| Number of successful integrations of external physical components to the Facility | At least one integration (of project external component) completed for each 6G-SANDBOX site. | |
| Obj3: Develop and integrate the 6G-SANDBOX resource management framework | Release and acceptance of the 6G-SANDBOX management platform. | Early release Level 1: Acceptance from project developers and documentation in related deliverables; Level 2: Acceptance by other projects under the SNS JU umbrella; Level 3: Impact by enhancement or adoption by other opensource projects |
| Scientific publications related to the ambitions Amb.5, Amb.6, Amb.7, Amb.8, | At least one journal and one conference publication per related Ambition | |
| Obj4:Develop and integrate an automated and API-based experimentation lifecycle framework | KPIs/KVIs quantified through experiments on the Facility | The target is to have results for at least 2 KPI for each KPI family |
| Release and acceptance of the results (measurements | Early release Level 1: Acceptance at academia level, through related publications; Level 2: Acceptance by SNS JU; Level 3: Impact at standardisation level |
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| Number of different use cases validated in the facility | The target is to have results for at least 5 different use case from the list of those depicted in ITU FG-NET2030 | |
| Scientific publications related to the ambitions Amb.9, Amb.10 | At least one journal and one conference publication per related Ambition | |
| Obj5: Create an ecosystem under the SNS JU umbrella | Number of expansions of the 6G-SANDBOX facility from open calls | More than 6 expansions at any layer of the Facility |
| Number of contributions to related SNS JU WG activities | ≥ 3 impactful inputs to regulation and standardisation bodies ≥ 5 Contributions to 5G SNS white papers |
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| Number of Trial Network templates | ≥ 4 Templates (at least one per site) | |
| Release and acceptance of default /common templates for experimentation | Early release Level 1: Acceptance at project level for internal use cases validation Level 2: Usage by project external use cases; Level 3: Impact at SNS or standardisation level |
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| Obj6: Create tangible socioeconomical impact as well as maximize technological and business potential | Fulfilment of the measures for the defined maximizing impact | Achieve the target values for the impacts related to the Key Impact Pathways at human, economical social domains |
| Fulfilment of the measures for the defined maximizing impact | Achieve the target values for dissemination and communication activities | |
| Production of documentation with standard procedures and reference implementations | ≥2 releases of documentation for the procedures, with the first one in the middle of the project lifetime. |
Ambition beyond the state of the art
- Ambition in Experimentation Processes and Facilities
- Ambition in Disruptive wireless
- Ambition in fixed/RAN/NTN integration
- Ambition in Deterministic networking enablers
- Ambition in Interaction with Network Core
- Ambition in AI/ML network evolution
- Ambition in Security as a Service
- Ambition in Edge-cloud continuum
- Ambition in Digital twins
- Ambition in XR-Haptics
Grant Agreement
6G-SANDBOX has received funding from the Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS JU) under the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No 101096328
