Beyond 5G Network Failure Classification for Network Digital Twin Using Graph Neural Network

Abstract

Fifth-generation (5G) core networks in network digital twins (NDTs) are complex systems with numerous components, generating considerable data. Analyzing these data can be challenging due to rare failure types, leading to imbalanced classes in multiclass classification. To address this problem, we propose a novel method of integrating a graph Fourier transform (GFT) into a message-passing neural network (MPNN) designed for NDTs. This approach transforms the data into a graph using the GFT to address class imbalance, whereas the MPNN extracts features and models dependencies between network components. This combined approach identifies failure types in real and simulated NDT environments, demonstrating its potential for accurate failure classification in 5G and beyond (B5G) networks. Moreover, the MPNN is adept at learning complex local structures among neighbors in an end-to-end setting. Extensive experiments have demonstrated that the proposed approach can identify failure types in three multiclass domain datasets at multiple failure points in real networks and NDT environments. The results demonstrate that the proposed GFT-MPNN can accurately classify network failures in B5G networks, especially when employed within NDTs to detect failure types.