6G Radio Testbeds: Requirements, Trends, and Approaches

The proof of the pudding is in the eating - that is why 6G testbeds are essential in the progress towards the next generation of wireless networks. Theoretical research towards 6G wireless networks is proposing advanced technologies to serve new applications and drastically improve the energy performance of the network. Testbeds are indispensable to validate these new technologies under more realistic conditions. This paper clarifies the requirements for 6G radio testbeds, reveals trends, and introduces approaches towards their development

Towards Emulation of Intelligent IoT Networks on EU-US Testbeds

This paper introduces our project on experimental validation of intelligent Internet of Things (IoT) networks. The project is a part of the NGIAtlantic H2020 third open call to perform experiments on EU and US wireless testbeds. The project proposes five different experiments to be performed on EU/US testbeds: (1) automatic configuration/discovery of Software Defined Networking (SDN) in wireless IoT sensor networks, (2) Machine Learning (ML) assisted control and data traffic path discovery experiments, (3) GPU and Hadoop cluster assisted experiments for ML algorithms, (4) Inter-testbed experiments, and (5) Failure recovery intercity experiments. Further, initial experimentation on EU/US testbeds is explored and presented. The results show the feasibility of performing the above experiments on the proposed testbeds

On the Road to 6G: Visions, Requirements, Key Technologies and Testbeds

Fifth generation (5G) mobile communication systems have entered the stage of commercial development, providing users with new services and improved user experiences as well as offering a host of novel opportunities to various industries. However, 5G still faces many challenges. To address these challenges, international industrial, academic, and standards organizations have commenced research on sixth generation (6G) wireless communication systems. A series of white papers and survey papers have been published, which aim to define 6G in terms of requirements, application scenarios, key technologies, etc. Although ITU-R has been working on the 6G vision and it is expected to reach a consensus on what 6G will be by mid-2023, the related global discussions are still wide open and the existing literature has identified numerous open issues. This paper first provides a comprehensive portrayal of the 6G vision, technical requirements, and application scenarios, covering the current common understanding of 6G. Then, a critical appraisal of the 6G network architecture and key technologies is presented. Furthermore, existing testbeds and advanced 6G verification platforms are detailed for the first time. In addition, future research directions and open challenges are identified for stimulating the on-going global debate. Finally, lessons learned to date concerning 6G networks are discussed