CLOSED-LOOP DIGITAL-TWIN MANAGEMENT FOR HYBRID 5G-NTN NETWORKS

Abstract

The integration of terrestrial 5G with Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) introduces formidable management challenges due to dynamic topologies and intermittent connectivity. This paper proposes and evaluates a closed-loop digital twin management framework for autonomous control of hybrid 5G-NTN networks. The digital twin, a real-time virtual replica, enables predictive simulation to anticipate faults and congestion. The core contribution is an explicit lifecycle control loop where these predictions automatically trigger orchestration actions—such as traffic re-routing, satellite beam re-pointing, or QoS reprofiling—to preempt service degradation. We compare this framework against a reactive, non-DT baseline, quantifying its superiority in reducing fault recovery time and minimizing Service Level Agreement (SLA) violations, thereby demonstrating a path to resilient and self-optimizing integrated communications.