Network Digital Twin for 6G and Beyond: An End-to-End View Across Multi-Domain Network Ecosystems

Dinh-Hieu Tran; Nazar Waheed; Yuris Mulya Saputra; Xingqin Lin; Cong T. Nguyen; Tedros Salih Abdu; Van Nhan Vo; Van-Quan Pham; Madyan Alsenwi; Abuzar Babikir Mohammad Adam; Symeon Chatzinotas; Eva Lagaunas; Hung Tran; Tu Ho Dac; Nguyen Van Huynh

arXiv · 2506.01609

Network Digital Twin for 6G and Beyond: An End-to-End View Across Multi-Domain Network Ecosystems

Dinh-Hieu Tran·Nazar Waheed·Yuris Mulya Saputra·Xingqin Lin·Cong T. Nguyen·Tedros Salih Abdu·Van Nhan Vo·Van-Quan Pham·Madyan Alsenwi·Abuzar Babikir Mohammad Adam·Symeon Chatzinotas·Eva Lagaunas·Hung Tran·Tu Ho Dac·Nguyen Van Huynh

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Abstract

With the rapid development of technology, the number of smart mobile users is increasing, accompanied by growing demands from applications such as virtual/augmented reality (VR/XR), remote surgery, autonomous vehicles, and real-time holographic communications, all of which require high transmission rates and ultra-low latency in 6G and beyond networks (6G+). This poses enormous challenges in efficiently deploying large-scale networks, including network design, planning, troubleshooting, optimization, and maintenance, without affecting the user experience. Network Digital Twin (NDT) has emerged as a potential solution, enabling the creation of a virtual model that reflects the actual network, supporting the simulation of various network designs, applying diverse operating policies, and reproducing complex fault scenarios under real-world conditions. This motivate us for this study, where we provide a comprehensive survey of NDT in the context of 6G+, covering areas such as radio access networks (RAN), transport networks, 5G core networks and beyond (5GCORE+), cloud/edge computing, applications (blockchain, health system, manufacturing, security, and vehicular networks), non-terrestrial networks (NTNs), and quantum networks, from both academic and industrial perspectives. In particular, we are the first to provide an in-depth guide and usage of RAN and 5GCORE+ for NDT. Then, we provide an extensive review of foundation technologies such as transport networks, cloud/edge computing, applications, NTNs, and quantum networks in NDT. Finally, we discuss the key challenges, open issues, and future research directions for NDT in the context of 6G+.

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Dinh-Hieu Tran, Nazar Waheed, Yuris Mulya Saputra, Xingqin Lin, Cong T. Nguyen, Tedros Salih Abdu, Van Nhan Vo, Van-Quan Pham, Madyan Alsenwi, Abuzar Babikir Mohammad Adam, Symeon Chatzinotas, Eva Lagaunas, Hung Tran, Tu Ho Dac, Nguyen Van Huynh. 2025-06-02. Network Digital Twin for 6G and Beyond: An End-to-End View Across Multi-Domain Network Ecosystems. https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.01609

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