# VOTA: Parallelizing 6G-RAN Experimentation with Virtualized Over-The-Air Workloads

## TL;DR

VOTA is a software-based virtualization approach that enables multiple interference-sensitive 6G-RAN experiments to run simultaneously on the same testbed with high fidelity, increasing sharing efficiency.

## Contribution

VOTA introduces a novel virtualization method for 6G-RAN testbeds that enhances parallel experimentation while maintaining experimental fidelity.

## Key findings

- Achieved near-dedicated experiment results with virtualization.
- Enabled 2.67× more sharing opportunities on a 32-core host.
- Demonstrated effectiveness with interference-sensitive 6G use cases.

## Abstract

Testbed sharing, a practice in which different researchers concurrently develop independent use cases on top of the same testbed, is ubiquitous in wireless experimental research. Its key drawback is experimental inconvenience: one must delay experiments or tolerate compute and RF interference that harms experimental fidelity. In this paper, we propose \textbf{VOTA}, an open-source, software-only testbed scaling method that leverages real-time virtualization and frequency tuning to maximize parallel experiments while controlling interference. In a demonstration of two interference-sensitive 6G use cases -- \textit{MIMO iDFT/DFT Offloading} and \textit{O-RAN DoS Attack} -- running side-by-side on a 32-core host, we showcase VOTA capabilities: \textbf{dedicated-like} results while allowing \textbf{2.67$\times$} more sharing opportunities.