Athens Platform

Athens_01-1210x423

Description

The Athens platform is an advanced large-scale experimental facility for 5G SA networks located in two different locations in Athens, namely the Cosmote/OTE Academy campus and the NCSR Demokritos campus, which are interconnected with a dedicated 10G dark fiber. The network at the NCSR Demokritos campus includes two radio access networks connected to different 5G cores, enabling research in inter-PLMN handover and roaming scenarios. The platform also features a satellite/NTN-emulator that allows for multi-operator and multi-access scenarios with low cost and agility. ATSSS enables efficient use of multiple RATs in a multi-connectivity scenario, and MPTCP is used to combine multiple network paths in a single TCP connection, potentially improving QoS for users with hybrid access.

The key assets in the current infrastructure
  • Automated experimentation: NCSRD has coordinated the ICT-17 5GENESIS project, which has developed the first 5G experimentation facilities across Europe that support fully automated execution of 5G Experimentation, using the Open5GENESIS experimentation framework.
  • SA/NSA 5G Infrastructure: NCSRD is offering a fully operational 5G system, coupled with different 5G Core technologies and MEC capabilities that has supported the execution of various vertical trials and experiments, such as 5G-enabled drones and first responders. Also, beyond the commercial 5G UEs that we have available, we offer a variety of 5G UEs, ranging from programmable ones to 5G CPEs with WiFi6 support.
  • 5G/B5G Network Programmability: The first 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Network Exposure Function (NEF) Emulator has been developed to support SMEs on 5G programmability. The NEF Emulator implements the standardized NEF APIs in a configurable emulated environment, where the user can define specific simulation environments. Such specifications include the number and type of user devices and the position of gNBs.
  • Network Slicing: The Network slicing capabilities are provided by KATANA network slice solution, a centralized software component that provides an interface for creating, modifying, monitoring, and deleting slices.
  • Deployment at NCSRD campus for fully controlled experimentation.
  • Deployment at COSMOTE premises for real industrial scenarios.
  • FDD and TDD bands in sub-6GHz are supported.
  • Satellite emulator can emulate a complete DVB-RCS2 – DVB-S2 system with mesh and star configuration schemes, multispot and multi-gateway topologies, and IPv4, IPv6, and Ethernet connectivity. It offers configuration and monitoring tools for evaluating emulated scenario performance and can interconnect with real equipment and applications.
  • Satellite GEO (HellasSat) and LEO (Starlink) solutions to the 5G SA.

COSMOTE Campus:

  • ATHONET for 4G/5G Core Network.
  • NOKIA and Ericsson RAN for cellular connectivity supporting sub-6 GHz for 4G LTE and 700 MHz and 3.5 GHz for 5G NR (with up to 100 MHz bandwidth), respectively.
  • GPU server with the capability to execute beyond 6G use cases such as XR/VR demos.
  • Slicing support with two different schemas (DNN, SST).

NCSRD Campus:

  • Equipment to create SIM cards.
  • AMARISOFT and Open5GS for 5G Core.
  • AMARISOFT and Ericsson RAN for 5G connectivity operating below 6GHz with up to 50 MHz bandwidth.
  • Virtualisation platforms (OpenNebula, Proxmox, Openstack).
Services currently offered by the infrastructure
  • Testing application in the devices wrt external services.
  • Testing full services with virtualization and slicing in an end-to-end 4G/5G environment.
  • Automation of experiments with local and remote access.
  • Support for multidisciplinary research, with special support for connected cars and PPDR, but open to any vertical or multidisciplinary research.
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