University of Málaga

Testbed

Victoria Network is the testbed operated by UMA. This testbed includes a wide variety of mobile networks and other technologies deployed in different physical locations in Malaga, Spain, but with a centralized control hub in the Ada Byron building on the University of Málaga (UMA) campus. Victoria Network is a multi-vendor testbed that integrates commercial 5G solutions from Nokia and more experimental solutions from providers such as IS-Wireless.

Infrastructure

The Malaga platform, represented by Victoria Network, includes several 5G deployments at different locations: the University of Málaga, the Malaga city centre, the Malaga TechPark, and the experimental farm La Mayora in Algarrobo. This project will focus on demonstrations and trials at the University Campus and at the experimental farm La Mayora. The 5G private network at the campus of the University of Málaga serves as the central location, offering both outdoor and indoor 5G radio deployments based on Nokia radio equipment operating on FR1. Outdoor coverage is achieved through four microcells in band B7 (eNodeBs), four microcells in band n78 (gNodeBs). Indoor deployment provides coverage with two FR1 picocells in band n78. Figure 10 shows the 5G deployment in the Ada Byron building (University Campus).

In the experimental farm “La Mayora”, two 5G sites provide coverage in different areas of the experimental farm. Figure 22 provides a high-level overview of the two sites. In site 1, a microcell in band 70 TDD 3700 (3300 – 4200 MHz) with a channel bandwidth of 100 MHz and a macro cell in band 40 TDD 2300 (2300 – 2400 MHz) with a channel bandwidth of 20 MHz are available. In site 2, there is a macro cell in band 40 with 20 MHz of channel bandwidth.

On both sites, three distinct end-to-end slices are configured to isolate traffic and ensure resource allocation. Resources assigned to each slice can be modified via the Slice Manager, integrated into the testbed, to configure radio parameters in the Nokia RAN. Radio and slice configuration can also be checked in the Slice Manager’s parameter viewer.

CAPIF (Common API Framework) is integrated in both sides of the testbed as part of the advanced experimentation features designed to support experimental scenarios. Extensions and experiments can use CAPIF for a secure exposure and consumption of APIs. CAPIF can be defined as a directory of APIs where API specifications are stored in CAPIF, as well as information to consume these APIs.

UMA’s testbed is endowed with the HPE Aruba Networking Private 5G Core Network (HPE 5GC) at the two 5G private deployments described. The 5GC is the 5G network component that manages functionalities like authentication, control signalling, Quality of Service (QoS) policies, mobility, and data traffic forwarding between the base station and the networks external to the 5G system.

The HPE 5GC is a fully virtualised solution, compliant with 3GPP and ETSI standards, flexible and adaptable for a large variety of verticals and use cases. It includes the following Network Functions (NFs): The Access and mobility management function (AMF), the Session Management Functions (SMF), the User Plane Function (UPF), the Unified Data Management (UDM), the Authentication Server Function (AUSF), the Unified Data Repository (UDR), the Policy Control Function (PCF), and the Network Repository Function (NRF). In addition, the HPE 5GC is endowed with an Equipment Identity Register (EIR), which provides a mechanism to restrict malicious user terminals in a mobile network.

Services

Virtualisation, Management and Orchestration

OpenNebula is the private cloud manager used for the management of the micro data centres available in the testbed. Two data centres are available in the testbed for the deployment of the services. One is located in the Ada Byron building and the other is located at the Experimental Station La Mayora. The main characteristics of these data centres are the following:

UMA Data Centre

La Mayora Data Centre

OpenNebula provides multi-hypervisor support, including KVM, VMware vCenter, and LXD containers, allowing users to choose the one that best suits their needs. OneKE (OpenNebula Kubernetes Engine) is an enterprise-grade tool, based on Rancher Kubernetes Engine (RKE), used to deploy and manage production-grade Kubernetes clusters in the Malaga platform.

Monitoring

UMA has developed monitoring agents for Android devices, managed through Test Automation Platform (TAP) plugins. TAP, a software solution by Keysight Technologies, is designed to automate testing processes and is part of Keysight’s comprehensive suite of tools for electronic testing. This platform supports various testing needs, from basic device functionality checks to complex system validations and certifications.

The Iperf Agent for Android is based on Iperf, a network testing tool that measures the bandwidth between two hosts over a network. In the context of Android, an Iperf agent is an app running on an Android device that acts as either the client or server in network performance tests. This tool is helpful for evaluating the performance of network infrastructures as experienced by the device.

Ping Agent for Android is implemented based on ping, a specialised tool designed to monitor and analyse network connectivity and performance. This tool typically sends ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) echo requests to specified network hosts (such as servers or other devices) and measures the response time. The primary use of a Ping Agent is to assess network latency and the presence of packet loss, which are critical factors in network troubleshooting and performance evaluation.

The resource monitoring agent for Android is a tool for monitoring resources in Android devices, such as radio resources, CPU, memory, and battery.

Prometheus is used for the monitoring of the usage of the virtual infrastructure and for the 5GC.

Nemo Handy drive test tool from Keysight is used for the collection of radio performance parameters the UE side.

Nemo Cloud is a centralized, web-based service for remote control and management of measurement fleets.

Security

In the HPE 5GC, Transport Layer Security (TLS) certificates protect access to all exposed APIs from unauthorised entities and prevent data breaches. TLS is a cryptographic protocol that allows server identification and authorisation. It guarantees that API calls are transferred to the intended recipient while impeding data interception.

Regarding the virtualisation platform Security Capabilities, OpenNebula implements several security characteristics to ensure the protection and integrity of cloud environments. The key security features are as follows:

Authentication and Authorisation:

Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): Provides fine-grained control over user permissions, ensuring that only authorized users can access specific resources and perform certain actions.
Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): Enhances user authentication by requiring an additional verification step.

Network Security:

Isolated Virtual Networks: Ensures that virtual networks are isolated from each other to prevent unauthorised access and data leakage.
Firewall Rules: Allows administrators to define and enforce firewall rules to control inbound and outbound traffic to virtual machines.

Data Security:

Encryption: Supports data encryption at rest and in transit, protecting sensitive information from unauthorised access.
Secure Image Management: Ensures VM disk images are stored and transferred securely.

Compliance and Auditing:

GDPR Compliance: Designed with features that help organisations comply with GDPR and other data protection regulations.
Audit Logging: Keeps detailed logs of user activities and system events for auditing and compliance purposes.

Infrastructure Security:

Secure Architecture: Follows best practices for securing the infrastructure, including minimizing the attack surface and hardening components.
VM Isolation: Ensures that virtual machines are isolated from each other to prevent lateral movement of threats.

API Security:

API Access Control: Enforces strict access control policies for API usage to ensure that only authenticated and authorised requests are processed.
Rate Limiting and Throttling: Protects APIs from abuse and denial-of-service attacks by limiting the number of requests that can be made in a given period.

Remote Access

VPN access via OpenVPN server.

Key Features and Assets

The key features and assets of the UMA Testbed are:

OpenNebula is an open-source platform designed for building and managing private, public, and hybrid cloud infrastructures. It serves as a lightweight and flexible cloud orchestration tool, offering Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) by orchestrating compute, storage, and network resources across virtualized data centres

Kubernetes is an open-source orchestration platform for managing containerised applications. It offers features such as storage orchestration, self-healing capabilities, horizontal scaling, and batch execution. Kubernetes is designed to accommodate extensions without altering its source code.

Prometheus is an open-source monitoring and alerting system that collects and stores metrics as time-series data. It features a flexible query language for a multi-dimensional data model, supports data collection via a pull model over HTTP, and does not rely on distributed storage.

Grafana is an open-source monitoring platform that allows users to query, visualise, and configure alerts for metrics, independent of their storage location. It enables the creation of dynamic and reusable dashboards.

OpenTAP is an open-source test automation framework designed to help engineers and developers build scalable and flexible test systems for a wide range of applications, especially in electronics and communications testing. It was originally developed by Keysight Technologies and released as open source to foster a broader community and ecosystem.

Testbed Extensions from Open Call #1

6GAnywhere (University of Navarra)

The 6GAnywhere extension includes the deployment of an open RAN solution based on srsRAN+Ettus B210. StarLink connection is used as the backhaul for the RAN to connect to the 5G core network. The deployment includes renewable energy solutions for both the StarLink+RAN station and CPE. Considering the latency of LEO satellites, this extension will focus on 5G sensoring.

PITANCE (Cubic Fort Consultores SL and Juno Smart Digital Solutions SL)

The PITANCE extension consists of the integration of autonomous drones for Pitahaya pollination. The key features provided by this extension are the following:

Advanced Imaging Solutions: Providing detailed plant analysis to improve the accuracy of flower detection and pollination.
Autonomous Drone Group Management and Self-Organisation: Enabling dynamic task allocation, flight path optimisation, and collaborative decision-making across drone fleets.
5G Connectivity: Facilitating low-latency, high-bandwidth communication for real-time drone coordination and monitoring.
AI-as-a-Service Platforms: Offering scalable computing resources for complex image analysis and decision-making processes, including group coordination algorithms.
Edge Computing: Processing data locally on drones and at the testbed’s edge servers to ensure immediate responses and reduced latency.
Remote Monitoring and Diagnostics: Leveraging the UMA testbed’s diagnostic tools to monitor drone performance, network reliability, and overall system health.

AgriNEXT (Xilbi Sistemas de Informacion SL)

The AgriNEXT extension introduces innovative, edge-powered solutions for precision agriculture that optimize resource use and improve operational efficiency. At the core of AgriNEXT is the integration of advanced 2D and 3D digital twin models, providing a dynamic, virtual representation of the farm environment.

Targeted Use Cases

The UMA testbed is targeting use cases that include one or more of the following topics:

AI analysis of crops, insects, pests and diseases.
5G-NTN use cases
Power consumption tracking in gNodeB and CPEs
5G location features