The GhostTwin: Towards Live Digital Twins via SmartNIC Network Emulation
Network Digital Twin (NDT) technology enables the replication of entire network infrastructures into fully synchronized digital replicas. This capability is especially timely for the safe integration of AI into critical networks, where model correctness and reliability are essential. In this work, we introduce GhostTwin, the first open-source framework for defining and operating high-fidelity NDTs in a self-contained environment. GhostTwin employs SmartNIC-based hardware emulation to realistically replicate programmable physical networks, capturing network performance metrics such as packet loss and residual bandwidth. The framework supports diverse telemetry sources, enabling scalable and accurate digital twin deployments in a programmable testbed.
Authors
- Fabricio Rodríguez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1165-2808)
- Chrysa Papagianni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2665-6492)
- Marcelo Caggiani Luizelli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0537-3052)
- Francisco Germano Vogt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1467-7146)
- Christian Esteve Rothenberg (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3109-4305)
- Victor H. S. Lopes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-2335-2973)
Institutions
- Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP) (BR)
- Telefonica Research and Development (ES)
- Universidade Federal do Pampa (BR)
- University of Amsterdam (NL)
Publication Details
- Published
- 2025-09-08
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1145/3744969.3748450
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Software-Defined Networks and 5G
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.97
Funders
- European Commission
- Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
- Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
- Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
- HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme