Inquiry about E2E Test Feasibility with DGX Spark as DU and A100 Server as RU Emulator

Accelerated Computing Aerial Forum
1

Dear NVIDIA Aerial Support Team,

We are planning to set up an E2E test environment for Aerial CUDA-Accelerated RAN version 26.1 with the following hardware configuration:

DU node: DGX Spark (GB10 GPU, CX7 NIC)

RU Emulator node: An existing A100 server (without BlueField-3 DPU)

With this mixed-architecture setup (ARM + x86), we aim to fully run E2E tests including:

Basic 4T4R single-cell scenario (DL/UL throughput test);

Higher-performance 64T64R massive MIMO scenario.

Before committing further resources, we would like to seek your official clarification on the following:

Can the configuration of DGX Spark as DU and A100 server as RU Emulator fully run E2E tests on Aerial 26.1? Has NVIDIA officially validated any similar configuration?

If basic 4T4R tests can pass, can 64T64R E2E tests also be fully executed, or is 64T64R testing strictly dependent on the Grace Hopper platform and BF3 NIC?

If there are known compatibility issues or performance bottlenecks with the above configuration, could you please specify the root causes (e.g., A100 EOL status, lack of BF3 NIC leading to synchronization/fronthaul issues, driver compatibility problems in ARM/x86 hybrid environment)?

Has any developer successfully run complete E2E tests with a similar configuration (DGX Spark + A100 server)? If yes, could you share relevant configuration details and test results?

We understand that A100 has been marked as EOL for version 26.1, and that an BF3 NIC is typically recommended for the RU Emulator. However, we would like to perform initial tests based on our existing hardware resources, so we greatly appreciate your clear guidance on feasibility and potential risks.

Thank you very much for your support. We look forward to your reply.

Best regards,

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Hi @fltang

For the RU-emulator, a GPU is not required, meaning the A100 provides no impact. Instead, you will need a BF3 or a ConnectX-7 (CX7) card. For our cuBB end-to-end (E2E) testing, we utilize Dell R750 and Dell R760 servers equipped with BF3 or CX7 cards as the RU-emulator.
As you mentioned that the Gigabyte server with a ConnectX-6 Dx (CX6DX) card—which you might use as a DU or gNB previously is EOL It is incompatible with the ACAR 26-1 cuphycontroller, and we have not validated it for use as an RU-emulator.
You can try it out for RU-emulator by adding CUDA_VISIBLE-DEVICES=“” in the execution command to see if it works, For example:
sudo -E CUDA_VISIBLE-DEVICES=“” ./ru_emulator F08 ${NUM_CELLS}C 59c

Thanks!

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Thank you!
Based on your previous response, I understand the following:

RU emulator does not require a GPU, but it does require a BF3 or CX7 NIC.

A server with a CX6DX NIC is EOL and incompatible with ACAR 26-1.

Our current hardware configuration is as follows:

DU node: DGX Spark (ARM architecture, GB10 GPU, CX7 NIC)

RU Emulator node: An A100 server (x86 architecture) equipped with a BF3 NIC

Given this configuration, I would like to ask the following questions:

On Aerial 26-1, can the configuration of DGX Spark as DU and the BF3-equipped A100 server as RU emulator fully run E2E tests? Specifically:

Basic 4T4R single-cell scenario (DL/UL throughput test)?

64T64R massive MIMO scenario E2E test?

On Aerial 25-3, can the same hardware configuration fully run E2E tests? Does 25-3 still support the A100 GPU?

If 26-1 cannot fully run 64T64R tests, what is the primary bottleneck?

Is it the GPU compute power / memory limitation of DGX Spark?

Or is it the software compatibility issue due to A100 GPU being EOL?

Or are there other factors?

Does NVIDIA recommend that we prioritize testing on version 26-1, or is it safer to fall back to version 25-3?

We would like to conduct testing based on our existing hardware as much as possible, so we greatly appreciate your clear guidance on version selection and feasibility.

Thank you for your support. I look forward to your reply.

Best regards,