# Connection-Aware Digital Twin for Mobile Adhoc Networks in the 5G Era
## 3 Connection-Aware DT for 5G-MANETs
### Overview  
5G-MANETs are a suitable solution to support the deployment of contextual applications, relying on the physical proximity between dynamic nodes. However, the mobility of the devices and the potential variability in the topology make communication performance critical to measure. 5G technology enables the transmission of real-time information about network events, enhancing centralized monitoring of resource consumption and QoS. Considering the capabilities of these networks, this paper introduces a DT for 5G-MANETs, providing a suitable solution to study the overall productivity and enabling a real-time virtual representation of the physical devices. Furthermore, the proposal addresses potential connectivity interruptions caused by the inherent dynamic mobility of the nodes and the wide variety of contextual scenarios. Figure 1 provides a detailed visual overview of the work, including the representation of the physical network and its virtualization in the DT.  
In Figure 1, a 5G antenna (1) provides Internet access to three different MANETs deployed in physical contexts, represented by numbers 2, 3, and 4. In the case of 2, three mobile devices are connected to the 5G network, providing real-time information about their active links, as well as contextual data such as current energy consumption, the creation of new messages, and the reception and delivery of messages. As a result, the DT is able to provide an accurate representation of the communications (2\({}^{\prime}\)). However, MANETs may be deployed in scenarios that challenge communication infrastructures, such as underground environments, represented by number 3, and remote rural areas, represented by number 4. In both cases (3 and 4), two devices form the network, but only one is able to connect to 5G. Thus, disconnected nodes provide their individual contextual data to the connected devices, which act as gateways to transmit the data to the DT (and 4\({}^{\prime}\)). Consequently, the connection-aware DT is able to maintain an accurate real-time representation of the MANETs, utilizing opportunistic routing [4].  
Based on the information captured by the DT, it is possible to achieve reliable representations of the MANETs, using virtual entities (2\({}^{\prime}\), 3\({}^{\prime}\), and 4\({}^{\prime}\) in Figure 1). These representations enable the detailed monitoring of the communications, as well as the prediction of the potential impact of changes in the network. To conduct this, the DT allows modification of contextual variables such as the number of nodes involved in the network, their Internet availability, the network traffic, and the topology. As a result, the DT makes use of simulation features such as mobility patterns and scenario customization to provide QoS analysis of the variations, enabling the study of the impact of these changes.  
Considering the proposal, the work aims to provide a solution that combines contextual communication technologies such as Bluetooth, WiFi, and 5G, while applying simulation techniques to estimate the performance of the MANETs after applying changes. To understand the integration of the different technologies, the next subsection addresses the global architecture of the proposal.