6G AI Traffic Characterization Testbed

A framework for measuring and analyzing AI/LLM service traffic patterns under various network conditions, designed to support 3GPP SA4 6G Media Study contributions.

Components

Component	Description
aitestbed/	Main testing framework for running AI traffic experiments
netemu/	Network emulation library wrapping Linux tc/netem

aitestbed

The core testing framework that orchestrates experiments across multiple AI providers and scenarios.

Features:

• 11 scenario types: Chat, agentic AI with MCP tools, image generation, multimodal, video understanding, realtime WebSocket/WebRTC
• 8 LLM providers: OpenAI, Gemini, DeepSeek, vLLM, and realtime variants
• 60+ metrics: TTFT/TTLT, latency percentiles, UL/DL ratios, token rates, agent loop factors
• Multi-layer traffic capture: L3/L4 via tcpdump, L7 via mitmproxy
• SQLite logging with structured metrics schema

cd aitestbed
pip install -r requirements.txt
python orchestrator.py --scenario chat_basic --profile 5g_urban --runs 10

netemu

A lightweight network emulation library providing a clean interface to Linux traffic control.

Features:

• Wraps tc and netem for delay, jitter, packet loss, and rate limiting
• Bidirectional shaping via IFB devices
• 27 predefined profiles including 3GPP 5QI mappings
• Context manager support for automatic cleanup

from netemu import NetworkEmulator

with NetworkEmulator(interface="eth0") as emu:
    emu.apply_profile("5g_urban")  # 20ms delay, 0.1% loss, 100 Mbps
    # Run your tests here
# Rules automatically cleared

Quick Start

# Clone and setup
cd testbed
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r aitestbed/requirements.txt

# Set API keys
export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-key"

# Run a basic experiment
python aitestbed/orchestrator.py --scenario chat_basic --profile ideal_6g --runs 5

Docker

docker build -t 6g-ai-testbed -f aitestbed/Dockerfile .
docker run --cap-add=NET_ADMIN -e OPENAI_API_KEY="..." \
  6g-ai-testbed python orchestrator.py --scenario all --runs 10

Network Profiles

Profile	Delay	Loss	Rate	Use Case
ideal_6g	1ms	0%	unlimited	Baseline
5g_urban	20ms	0.1%	100 Mbps	Urban 5G
wifi_good	30ms	0.1%	50 Mbps	Home WiFi
cell_edge	120ms	1%	5 Mbps	Poor coverage
satellite	600ms	0.5%	10 Mbps	LEO satellite

Requirements

• Python 3.10+
• Linux with iproute2 (for network emulation)
• Sudo access or Docker with NET_ADMIN capability