# A Modular Experimentation Methodology for 5G Deployments: The 5 GENESIS Approach
## 1 Introduction  
The 5 th Generation of mobile networks (5G) enables innovative use cases and services that provide the over the top service providers (a.k.a, verticals) with unprecedented performance capabilities. Indeed, it is expected that the 5G performance will span over the three extremes of bandwidth, latency, and capacity requirements, which enable enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Ultra Reliable and Low Latency Communication (URLLC), and massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC), respectively [1]. This potential is supported by a variety of technologies, including the Software-Defined Networking (SDN), the Network Function Virtualization (NFV), the Network Slicing, and the Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC). However, the quantification of 5G performance in an end-to-end (E2E) level is still ongoing, since the high heterogeneity of the enabled use cases requires various Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and different target values [2, 3]. Irrefutable, vertical- and use case-oriented 5G testing methodologies, and experimentation processes are required, which haveto incorporate E2E aspects, far beyond the conventional component-oriented testing (which, so far, is mainly focused the radio access network [4]). In this context, huge efforts are being made worldwide by 5G standardization, research, and stakeholder communities towards the implementation of experimental testbeds, where 5G technologies and KPIs can be reliably measured and validated in heterogeneous scenarios. Such testbeds should be flexible and automatically reconfigurable, employ different technologies (from early stage standardization to commercial components), and be able to reproduce several network conditions. This would enable common procedures for a fully automated experimentation, following a Testing as a Service (TaaS) paradigm [3]. To this end, EU and US programs, such as 5G Public Private Partnership (5G-PPP) ([[https://5g-PPP.eu](https://5g-PPP.eu)]([https://5g-PPP.eu](https://5g-PPP.eu)) (accessed on 30 August 2020).) and Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research (PAWR) ([[https://advancedwireless.org](https://advancedwireless.org)]([https://advancedwireless.org](https://advancedwireless.org)) (accessed on 30 August 2020). ), are specifically focusing on the realization of 5G testing platforms, aiming at providing trustworthy environments, where eMBB, URLLC, and mMTC verticals can quantify the expected performance of their services and the corresponding KPIs. As part of the 5G-PPP initiative, the EU-funded 5 GENESIS project ([https://5 genesis.eu](https://5 genesis.eu) (accessed on 30 August 2020)) is realizing a 5G facility composed of five different testbeds in Europe, accessible for both per-component and E2E experimentation purposes [5]. A reference architecture for common and lightweight access to the 5 GENESIS testbeds has been already defined [6], along with an E2E methodology for testing and validation of 5G technologies and KPIs. More precisely, the 5 GENESIS testing methodology follows a modular approach and it includes three logical components, referring to three configuration/input information classes required for running an experiment, namely, the test cases, the scenarios, and the slices. Altogether, they identify an experiment, the definition of which is also formalized in a global template, referred to as Experiment Descriptor (ED). From the architectural point of view, the information enclosed in the ED feeds a core functional block of the 5 GENESIS reference architecture, the Experiment Life-cycle Manager (ELCM). ELCM manages the testing procedure and allows for automatic execution of experiments. Subsequently, a further architectural block, i.e., the Monitoring and Analytics (M&A) framework [7], is in charge of collecting KPI samples and complementary measurements during the experiment (Monitoring), and process them for a statistical validation of the KPI under test (Analytics).