# Deploying 5G experiments with SLICES-RI

Nikos Makris, Damien Saucez

► To cite this version:

Nikos Makris, Damien Saucez. Deploying 5G experiments with SLICES-RI. Inaugural 2025 DIG-ITAfrica Workshop, Apr 2025, Cape Town, South Africa. hal-05477287

HAL Id: hal-05477287

https://inria.hal.science/hal-05477287v1

Submitted on 26 Jan 2026

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# Deploying 5G experiments with SLICES-RI

Nikos Makris (UTH, GR) and Damien Saucez (Inria, FR)

04/25/2025

open6GRIT – hands on session

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When to use the post-5G blueprint?

* Vertical service integration and testing (e.g., LiDAR)

* Software Defined Networking (e.g., xAPP)

* Radio/network development software (e.g., custom PHY)

* Low-level access to radio resources (e.g., THz)

* Joint use of post-5G infrastructure and HPC resources (e.g., digital twin, code generation, fuzzing)
# What will we do today?

* Deploy a fully virtual 5G network

* Compile/run your own gNB

* Deploy a O-RAN network

* Instrument 5G networks

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How?

* Demo time

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# Proposals

* Generate traffic over 5G network

* Capture control traffic to validate protocols

* Modify numerology to check its impact on uplink/downlink

* Evaluate the cost of RAN split on performance

* Track radio event with RIC

* **Put your idea here!**

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# Resources available for experimentation

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# Interactions

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# Anatomy of an experiment

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Experiment definition

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Experiment code generation

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Book resources

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Experiment execution

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Results publication
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* Portal to run experiments

• https://post-5g-web.slices-ri.eu/

• Full doc:

• https://doc.slices-ri.eu

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# Background on 5G

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slicesRI

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## 5G key principles [1]

* Separate the User Plane functions from the Control Plane functions

* Modularize the function design

* Define the set of interactions between network functions as services

* Enable direct interactions between network functions

* Minimize dependencies between the Access Network and the Core Network

* Support "stateless" NFs (i.e., compute decoupled from storage)

* Support capability exposure

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slicesRI

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General core architecture

<figure><img src="image_31.png" /><figcaption>Figure 4.2.3-2: Non-Roaming 5G System Architecture in reference point representation[1]</figcaption></figure>

AF: Application Function

AMF: Access and Mobility Management
Function

AUSF: Authentication Server Function

DN: Data Network (DN)

NSSF: Network Slice Selection Function

PCF: Policy Control Function

(R)AN: (Radio) Access Network

SMF: Session Management Function

UDM: Unified Data Management

UE: User Equipment

UPF: User Plane Function
Split-RAN

<figure><img src="image_32.png" /><figcaption>Figure 26. Split RAN hierarchy, with one CU serving multiple DUs, each of which serves multiple RUs.</figcaption></figure>
Split-RAN

<figure><img src="image_33.png" /><figcaption>Figure 25. Split RAN processing pipeline distributed across a Central Unit (CU), Distributed Unit (DU), and Radio Unit (RU).</figcaption></figure>
# Radio optimization

* High utilisation of spectrum, sub-millisecond control loop

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5QI: 5G QoS Identifier

CQI: Channel Quality Indicator

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# Fronthaul

* Transport of radio signals over a network:

* to allow for statistical multiplexing of multiple radio sites sharing common fiber links

* to share processing between radio-units and baseband units

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* cnr-vm1

* cnr-vm2

* cnr-vm3

* edge1-vm-uth-slices-gr

* edge2-vm-uth-slices-gr

* sopnode-bm100

* sopnode-bm101

* sopnode-bm102

* Sopnode-f1

* sopnode-f2

* sopnode-f3

* sopnode-w3

* standard-2-1

* standard-2-2

* standard-4-1

* standard-4-2

* slices-su-vm