## 4 Development and Validation of the Platform
### Platform Performance Results
#### 4.2.1 Evaluation of the 5G Core
LoadCore not only generates traffic through the N1, N2, and N3 interfaces to enable accurate evaluation of the user and control planes of the 5G core network but also performs in-depth measurements and provides visual representations of the results, making it easier to analyze and understand performance metrics. This functionality is especially beneficial for identifying potential performance limits under various operational conditions. Regarding the experimental conditions, LoadCore was configured with all necessary IPs for the 5G core, as well as VLANs, and the UEs, which were also configured in the core network. Additionally, the load for each UE, the number of UPFs, and other test-specific parameters were carefully set in each test, ensuring a thorough evaluation of network performance across diverse scenarios. This level of customization allowed for precise testing of both capacity and latency, ensuring that the 5G core network could be evaluated comprehensively under realistic and high-stress conditions. In the single-UE test with downlink TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) traffic with a single UPF, the maximum downlink throughput reached 468 Mb/s. Introducing uplink traffic reduced the downlink rate to 345 Mb/s, while uplink throughput reached 364 Mb/s. To further simulate real-world scenarios where multiple IoT devices are connected, tests with 10 simulated UEs connected to a single UPF were conducted. Each UE was configured with 50 Mb/s uplink and 100 Mb/s downlink TCP traffic. The peak downlink and uplink data rates in this test were 684 Mb/s and 336 Mb/s, respectively, as shown in Figure 4.  
Latency tests were conducted to assess the 5G system's performance in low-latency scenarios, which is critical for determining the platform's suitability for IoT-Edge-Cloud applications. These tests evaluated both control-plane and user-plane latencies using UDP traffic. For the user-plane latency tests, LoadCore emulated a f  
Figure 4: A graphical representation of maximum data rates achieved for different UE and UPF configurations for both download (DL) and upload (UL) links. configured with an equal UDP traffic data rate. The results showed that 81% of downlink packets had an OWD (one-way delay) between 125 and 250 us, with 99.8% of downlink jitter below 125 us. For uplink traffic, 87.8% of packets had an OWD below 125 us, and 97% of jitter was below 125 us. Control-plane latency was evaluated by conducting tests where LoadCore emulated twenty UEs, each cycling between idle and data transmission states, completing a total of 200 cycles with UDP traffic. This setup created a highly stressful scenario to measure the core network's performance under high-stress conditions. In these tests, which involved a single UPF connected to the core, the average latency was measured at 0.3 s.  
These tests were repeated across all seven available slices at Edge Site 1. With all UPFs active, the peak uplink data rate reached 830 Mb/s, while the downlink peaked at 882 Mb/s. Latency tests showed that 69% of downlink packets had an OWD between 125 and 250 us, with 24% reaching 500 us. For the uplink, 62% of packets had an OWD between 125 and 250 us, with 24% between 250 and 500 us. Both the user- and control-plane latency tests yielded promising results, with latencies aligning well with expected values [55]. The low user-plane latencies are particularly advantageous for applications that require quick information exchange, such as Digital Twins in IoT-Edge-Cloud scenarios, where minimal delay is crucial for real-time responsiveness. While the control-plane latency might appear elevated, it is important to highlight that these tests were carried out under high-stress conditions, with twenty instances of user equipment (UEs) connected simultaneously to a single User Plane Function (UPF), continuously transmitting traffic and switching between states. This represents an extreme case that is unlikely to occur in typical real-world scenarios.