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

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.01609 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.01609/

## Key facts

- Cited by 5 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 2 Jun 2025.

## Built on by (most cited first, 5 of 5)

- [6G Needs Agents: Toward Agentic AI-Native Networks for Autonomous Intelligence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.01546/) (2026)
- [AI-Native Open RAN for Non-Terrestrial Networks: An Overview](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.11935/) (2025)
- [Neural Electromagnetic Fields for High-Resolution Material Parameter Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.02582/) (2026)
- [Communication-Efficient Digital-Twin Coordination for Heterogeneous LLM Embodied Agents over Computing Power Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.09330/) (2026)
- [Toward Composable Network Digital Twins: A Subgraph-Based Latency Prediction Study](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.18704/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

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+.