Digital twin networks (DTNs) serve as an emerging facilitator in the industrial networking sector, enabling the management of new classes of services, which require tailored support for improved resource utilization, low latencies and accurate data fidelity. In this paper, we explore the intersection between theoretical recommendations and practical implications of applying DTNs to industrial networked environments, sharing empirical findings and lessons learned from our ongoing work. To this end, we first provide experimental examples from selected aspects of data representations and fidelity, mixed-criticality workload support, and application-driven services. Then, we introduce an architectural framework for DTNs, exposing a more practical extension of existing standards; notably the ITU-T Y.3090 (2022) recommendation. Specifically, we explore and discuss the dual nature of DTNs, meant as a digital twin of the network and a network of digital twins, allowing the co-existence of both paradigms.

翻译：数字孪生网络（DTNs）是工业网络领域新兴的推动力，能够支持新型服务的管理，这类服务需要有针对性地优化资源利用率、降低延迟并保证数据精确性。本文探讨了将DTNs应用于工业网络环境时理论建议与实际应用之间的交集，分享了当前工作中的实证发现和经验教训。为此，我们首先从数据表示与保真度、混合关键性工作负载支持以及应用驱动型服务等特定方面提供实验案例。随后，我们提出了一种DTNs架构框架，该框架对现有标准（尤其是ITU-T Y.3090（2022）建议书）进行了更实用的扩展。具体而言，我们探讨并讨论了DTNs的双重性质——即作为网络的数字孪生与数字孪生的网络，使得这两种范式能够共存。