Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SUNRISE-6G (SUstainable federatioN of Research Infrastructures for Scaling-up Experimentation in 6G)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2024-01-01 al 2025-06-30
SUNRISE-6G aims to deliver a sustainable and evolvable Experimentation facility for 6G, federating Beyond-5G platforms and enablers from all over Europe under a common test, validation and vertical application deployment infrastructure. The SUNRISE-6G approach is inspired by the “Network of Networks” concept of 6G Networks, aiming to create a federation of 6G test infrastructures in a pan-European facility that will support (a) converged Testing as a Service (TaaS) workflows and tools, (b) a unified catalogue of 6G enablers publicly accessible by experimenters, and (c) cross-domain vertical application onboarding.
One of the main objectives of the SUNRISE-6G is to deliver an Open-Source federation framework for integrating (and abstracting) Network and Compute Resources, promoting sustainable infrastructure sharing and collaboration among MNOs, in line with the 6G “Network of Networks” vision. SUNRISE-6G will har-monise and deliver open-source implementations of emerging federation standards in line with ongoing efforts driven by GSMA and CAMARA initiatives, aiming to offer for the first time a federated pan-European 6G experimentation infrastructure that supports cross-testbed service deployment and enablement. SUNRISE-6G fills a critical gap delivering the first open-source implementation of the OP standards. SUNRISE-6G delivers an OP implementation tailored to the SNS community by focusing on open-source southbound platforms typically leveraged by project testbeds. SUNRISE-6G also delivers an innovative AI Federation design that streamlines AI experimentation at scale.
Another key objective of SUNRISE-6G is the delivery of an experimentation portal, which simplifies the complex experimentation workflows inherent in the execution of functional tests supported by SUNRISE-6G testbeds, allowing users to customise and execute them based on their specific needs. Central to its design is the commitment to FAIR data principles, ensuring that all data are Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. Researchers can leverage a wealth of digital resources and advanced tools for managing and analysing experimental outputs. The portal also features an open data directory, empowering users to explore and share data easily.
Finally, SUNRISE-6G delivers a multi-disciplinary 6G library that includes breakthrough RAN components (CFmMIMO, RIS, JCAS), 3D NTN technologies, and O-RAN Network Digital Twins, that are exposed to the community for remote testing. Components from previous initiatives are also integrated with the SUNRISE-6G 6G Library.
One of the main objectives of the SUNRISE-6G is to deliver an Open-Source federation framework for integrating (and abstracting) Network and Compute Resources, promoting sustainable infrastructure sharing and collaboration among MNOs, in line with the 6G “Network of Networks” vision. SUNRISE-6G will har-monise and deliver open-source implementations of emerging federation standards in line with ongoing efforts driven by GSMA and CAMARA initiatives, aiming to offer for the first time a federated pan-European 6G experimentation infrastructure that supports cross-testbed service deployment and enablement. SUNRISE-6G fills a critical gap delivering the first open-source implementation of the OP standards. SUNRISE-6G delivers an OP implementation tailored to the SNS community by focusing on open-source southbound platforms typically leveraged by project testbeds. SUNRISE-6G also delivers an innovative AI Federation design that streamlines AI experimentation at scale.
Another key objective of SUNRISE-6G is the delivery of an experimentation portal, which simplifies the complex experimentation workflows inherent in the execution of functional tests supported by SUNRISE-6G testbeds, allowing users to customise and execute them based on their specific needs. Central to its design is the commitment to FAIR data principles, ensuring that all data are Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. Researchers can leverage a wealth of digital resources and advanced tools for managing and analysing experimental outputs. The portal also features an open data directory, empowering users to explore and share data easily.
Finally, SUNRISE-6G delivers a multi-disciplinary 6G library that includes breakthrough RAN components (CFmMIMO, RIS, JCAS), 3D NTN technologies, and O-RAN Network Digital Twins, that are exposed to the community for remote testing. Components from previous initiatives are also integrated with the SUNRISE-6G 6G Library.
During the first part of the project, SUNRISE-6G has already delivered major outcomes, and created impact in several dimensions:
• The SUNRISE-6G Architecture was fully defined, addressing East/West Federation of 6G testbeds based on GSMA OPG standards, and contributing an innovative AI Federation design that streamlines AI experimentation at scale.
• The SUNRISE-6G Operator Platform (SOP) was implemented, to serve as a unified platform that enables the dynamic establishment of federations across testbeds, and exposure of testbed resources. It delivers CAMARA APIs to developers aiming to onboard their applications and interact with any southbound platform, fully abstracting its internal APIs (e.g. NEF) and technological tools (e.g. OpenShift, Native k8s, etc.). The SOP was accepted by ETSI as a new SDG (ETSI OpenOP).
• A multi-disciplinary 6G library that includes breakthrough RAN components (CFmMIMO, RIS, JCAS), 3D NTN technologies, and O-RAN Network Digital Twins was developed; the initial version of all aforementioned components was released, and many are already exposed to the community for remote testing. Components from previous initiatives are also integrated with the SUNRISE-6G 6G Library by their respective partners.
• The SUNRISE-6G Experimentation Plane, that includes the Portal and Adaptation Framework was also implemented. Its initial version is now publicly accessible by the community, and providing remote access to the 6G library of components. Thus, experimenters can trigger experiments, gain access to results, telemetry and datasets. A novel experimentation workflow termed as IDLM was also delivered, that relies on a chatbot for natural language driven experimentation.
• The SUNRISE-6G Architecture was fully defined, addressing East/West Federation of 6G testbeds based on GSMA OPG standards, and contributing an innovative AI Federation design that streamlines AI experimentation at scale.
• The SUNRISE-6G Operator Platform (SOP) was implemented, to serve as a unified platform that enables the dynamic establishment of federations across testbeds, and exposure of testbed resources. It delivers CAMARA APIs to developers aiming to onboard their applications and interact with any southbound platform, fully abstracting its internal APIs (e.g. NEF) and technological tools (e.g. OpenShift, Native k8s, etc.). The SOP was accepted by ETSI as a new SDG (ETSI OpenOP).
• A multi-disciplinary 6G library that includes breakthrough RAN components (CFmMIMO, RIS, JCAS), 3D NTN technologies, and O-RAN Network Digital Twins was developed; the initial version of all aforementioned components was released, and many are already exposed to the community for remote testing. Components from previous initiatives are also integrated with the SUNRISE-6G 6G Library by their respective partners.
• The SUNRISE-6G Experimentation Plane, that includes the Portal and Adaptation Framework was also implemented. Its initial version is now publicly accessible by the community, and providing remote access to the 6G library of components. Thus, experimenters can trigger experiments, gain access to results, telemetry and datasets. A novel experimentation workflow termed as IDLM was also delivered, that relies on a chatbot for natural language driven experimentation.
The following provides a brief summary of the progress made on the innovation areas where the project aims to create impact that is beyond state-of-the-art (SoTA):
IA1: New Service APIs for RAN exposure, cross-domain vertical deployment and Digital Twinning
o SUNRISE-6G is working on a new O-RAN Network Digital twin, which will be exposed to developers as a CAMARA-like API. Initial report on this innovation in D4.3
IA2: Native AI integration of testbeds towards Intent-Driven Lifecycle Management (IDLM) of experimentation processes
o A novel experimentation workflow termed as IDLM was also delivered, that relies on a chatbot for natural language driven experimentation, as reported in D3.2
IA3: Near-Field Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces and Intergrated Communications and Sensing
o The project has delivered Joint Communication and Sensing algorithms for (near-field) RIS, reported in D4.1
IA4: Joint Communication and Sensing in disaggregated networks
o The project has delivered forJoint Communication and Sensing for localization in CFmMIMO networks, reported in D4.1
IA5: Non‐Terrestrial 6G Network access
o The project has delivered Multi-RAT Dual Connectivity enablers, as reported in D4.3
IA1: New Service APIs for RAN exposure, cross-domain vertical deployment and Digital Twinning
o SUNRISE-6G is working on a new O-RAN Network Digital twin, which will be exposed to developers as a CAMARA-like API. Initial report on this innovation in D4.3
IA2: Native AI integration of testbeds towards Intent-Driven Lifecycle Management (IDLM) of experimentation processes
o A novel experimentation workflow termed as IDLM was also delivered, that relies on a chatbot for natural language driven experimentation, as reported in D3.2
IA3: Near-Field Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces and Intergrated Communications and Sensing
o The project has delivered Joint Communication and Sensing algorithms for (near-field) RIS, reported in D4.1
IA4: Joint Communication and Sensing in disaggregated networks
o The project has delivered forJoint Communication and Sensing for localization in CFmMIMO networks, reported in D4.1
IA5: Non‐Terrestrial 6G Network access
o The project has delivered Multi-RAT Dual Connectivity enablers, as reported in D4.3