zakihindi2026reference
Ayat Zaki-Hindi, Paola Soto, German Castellanos, Touhid Hossain Pritom, Gaetano Volpe, Iskander Zellagui, Burkhard Hensel, Julian Jimenez, Michele Marvulli, Luís Santos, Ayse Sayin, Jean-Sébastien Sottet, Wasim Ali, Ines El-Korbi, Ion Turcanu, Andrey Belogaev, André Duarte, Ultan Kelly, Sumit Kumar, Georgy Myagkov, Stephen Parker, Mario Franke, Shajjad Hossain, Rajarshi Sanyal, Nida Shafi, Christoph Sommer, Miguel Camelo Botero, Julien Baudouin, Régis Decorme, Maria Pia Fanti, Ramin Fuladi, Chris Murphy, Ana Pereira, Sidi Mohammed Senouci, Simon Pryor and Sebastién Faye, "A Reference Functional Architecture for Network Digital Twins in 6G Systems," IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society, 2026. (to appear)
Abstract
AI-native, programmable, and disaggregated 6G networks will be highly dynamic and distributed, demanding tools that can explain, predict, and safely optimize behavior across the edge–cloud continuum. Network Digital Twins (NDTs) promise this capability, yet current efforts in research and industry are fragmented and lack widely accepted formal definitions and architectural guidelines. This paper proposes a structured framework for NDTs in 6G, addressing these gaps by refining the conceptual foundations of NDTs, introducing a functional architecture, inherited from the 6G-TWIN EU consortium, and clarifying key components such as AI-driven workflows, the place of simulation, data management, and orchestration. Concrete examples illustrate how these components enable network automation, optimization, and predictive analytics. The paper proceeds by reviewing related work and standardization efforts, specifying functional and non-functional requirements, presenting the architecture and its various domains, and detailing lifecycle management across cloud to edge. We then report early implementations and evaluation results, and discuss security, privacy, and governance considerations, concluding with directions for validation and uptake. The key objective is to offer a cohesive reference model that guides the community in shaping NDT development, ensuring interoperability, scalability, adaptability, and seamless integration into AI-native 6G networks for improved intelligence and efficiency.
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Contact
- Ayat Zaki-Hindi
- Paola Soto
- German Castellanos
- Touhid Hossain Pritom
- Gaetano Volpe
- Iskander Zellagui
- Burkhard Hensel
- Julian Jimenez
- Michele Marvulli
- Luís Santos
- Ayse Sayin
- Jean-Sébastien Sottet
- Wasim Ali
- Ines El-Korbi
- Ion Turcanu
- Andrey Belogaev
- André Duarte
- Ultan Kelly
- Sumit Kumar
- Georgy Myagkov
- Stephen Parker
- Mario Franke
- Shajjad Hossain
- Rajarshi Sanyal
- Nida Shafi
- Christoph Sommer
- Miguel Camelo Botero
- Julien Baudouin
- Régis Decorme
- Maria Pia Fanti
- Ramin Fuladi
- Chris Murphy
- Ana Pereira
- Sidi Mohammed Senouci
- Simon Pryor
- Sebastién Faye
BibTeX reference
@article{zakihindi2026reference,
author = {Zaki-Hindi, Ayat and Soto, Paola and Castellanos, German and Pritom, Touhid Hossain and Volpe, Gaetano and Zellagui, Iskander and Hensel, Burkhard and Jimenez, Julian and Marvulli, Michele and Santos, Lu{\'{i}}s and Sayin, Ayse and Sottet, Jean-S{\'{e}}bastien and Ali, Wasim and El-Korbi, Ines and Turcanu, Ion and Belogaev, Andrey and Duarte, Andr{\'{e}} and Kelly, Ultan and Kumar, Sumit and Myagkov, Georgy and Parker, Stephen and Franke, Mario and Hossain, Shajjad and Sanyal, Rajarshi and Shafi, Nida and Sommer, Christoph and Camelo Botero, Miguel and Baudouin, Julien and Decorme, R{\'{e}}gis and Fanti, Maria Pia and Fuladi, Ramin and Murphy, Chris and Pereira, Ana and Senouci, Sidi Mohammed and Pryor, Simon and Faye, Sebasti{\'{e}}n},
title = {{A Reference Functional Architecture for Network Digital Twins in 6G Systems}},
journal = {IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society},
doi = {10.1109/OJCOMS.2026.3668035},
issn = {2644-125X},
note = {to appear},
publisher = {IEEE},
year = {2026},
}
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