At the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, a cooperative endeavor called the AI-RAN Alliance was presented with the goal of advancing radio access network (RAN) and mobile network technology by integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into cellular technology.
The GSM Association (GSMA), a trade association that represents mobile network operators globally, hosts the GSMA Mobile World Congress (MWC), an annual trade exhibition and conference. Showcasing the newest products, technologies, and innovations in mobile communications, it’s one of the biggest events for the mobile industry.
The Alliance for AI-RAN
The alliance’s founding members, which include a variety of tech, business, and academic organizations, are Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), Arm, DeepSig Inc. (DeepSig), Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (Ericsson), Microsoft Corporation (Microsoft), Nokia, Northeastern University, NVIDIA, Samsung Electronics, SoftBank Corp. (SoftBank), and T-Mobile USA, Inc. (T-Mobile).
By integrating AI with 5G and 6G technologies, they hope to improve mobile network efficiency, lower power consumption, and retrofit current infrastructure, which could lead to new business opportunities for telecoms firms.
Network operators in the alliance will be in charge of testing and deploying these cutting-edge technologies created by teamwork in research.
Vice President of AWS Jan Hofmeyr highlighted how using AI-driven insights obtained from data gathered at different layers of the stack can optimize RAN operations and revolutionize the customer experience.
“With the software transformation of radio access networks (RAN) using cloud computing, there is a tremendous opportunity for mobile operators to collect all kinds of data at various layers of the stack,” Hofmeyr said in a press release.
“This data acting as the fuel for AI, offers to the telecom industry a tremendous opportunity to not only optimize operations of RAN deployments but also revolutionize the way consumers, enterprises and industries interact with mobile networks,” he stated.
The importance of AI in maximizing RAN infrastructure and expanding the role of RAN to deliver new AI-based services for contemporary mobile applications was emphasized by Jason Hogg, General Manager of Azure for Operators at Microsoft.
“At Microsoft, we think that the technology that defines our era is artificial intelligence (AI). In order to apply AI to help operators maximize their RAN infrastructure and to expand the role of the RAN to deliver new AI-based services that support the needs of contemporary mobile applications, we are happy to be a part of the AI-RAN Alliance,” Hogg stated.
Three Domains for AI-RAN Research and Innovation
Three main areas of research and innovation are the alliance’s primary focus:
AI for RAN: This initiative aims to improve RAN capabilities by utilizing AI to increase spectral efficiency.
2. AI and RAN – this involves combining AI and RAN procedures to make the most of infrastructure use and develop fresh revenue streams powered by AI.
The third approach, known as AI on RAN, focuses on introducing new services to mobile users and increasing operational efficiency by implementing AI services at the network edge via RAN.
All things considered, the AI-RAN Alliance is an attempt by major players in the industry to investigate how AI can be incorporated into cellular technology, which could change the way mobile networks operate and open the door to more creativity and efficiency.
