The target 6G experimental infrastructures provides the capability to support the demonstration and operational validation of the most ambitious use-case scenarios as deriving from the European 6G vision. – it includes the capability to interconnect the physical world, the digital world and the human world based on a connectivity and service platform with performance capabilities beyond current 5G and 5G Advanced platforms and IoT application scenarios. The target experimental platform: includes validation capabilities at every relevant layer of the IoT-connectivity-service provision value chain, covering typically innovative components and microelectronic capabilities, fixed/multi radio access (including NTN), backhaul, core network, and service technologies and architectures, covering disaggregated scenarios like Open architectures blurring RAN and core. End-to-end virtualisation and network slicing are key components to support multi-tenant environments, integration of private/non-public and public networks and multiple vertical use cases.

The experimental platforms will offer the capability to support disaggregated architectures enabling software and hardware implementations eventually able to support AI native 6G services including end-to-end service provisioning with advanced slicing capabilities. It is also futureproof by enabling to incorporate novel or disruptive technological approaches, and notably new spectrum and associated technologies, “AI-based service architectures”, communication and computing integration, AI-based zero-touch management and intelligence connectivity, integration of communication and sensing capabilities as typical, though not limitative capabilities.

One important target is that the experimental platform is expected to manage the development of federation capabilities to enable interoperation with existing platforms (e.g., SNS Phase 1 platforms, or platforms developed in national initiatives) with identification and development of needed tools, technologies and architectures, including Open API’s.
The objective is to potentially enable demonstration capabilities by federating multiple platforms, for advanced use cases for future phases of Stream D.