Enhancing the Performance of 6G Open RAN Integrating Edge Computing and Network Slicing

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Funder: National Foundation for Science and Technology Development (NAFOSTED)
Period: 08/2024 - 07/2026
Amount: ~$50k
Acknowledgment: We would like to thank NAFOSTED for supporting our research on this very exciting project
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Brief Description of the Project Concept

The project focuses on advancing Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) systems by integrating cutting-edge technologies such as edge computing (EC), network slicing (NS), and artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML). This enables distributed intelligence in wireless networks, transforming them into low-power, high-efficiency computing systems capable of reasoning, inference, and near-zero latency decision-making. The project addresses challenges in handling exponential data traffic growth, tactile Internet requirements, and dynamic resource optimization.

Specific Objectives of the Project

This project will lay a novel theoretical framework for leveraging synergies between communication and computation resources to yield resilient, sustainable and secure resource management schemes, in the presence of uncertainty of users’ demands and edge nodes’ failures. Specifically, the project aims to:

1) formalize a detailed framework and methodologies for joint computation and communication strategies within resilience-aware edge computing for O-RAN;

2) create advanced AI/ML algorithms specifically designed for large-scale O-RAN systems to enhance their adaptability and efficiency;

3) design dynamic and scalable resource optimization techniques for network slicing, ensuring flexibility, efficiency, and scalability while addressing the shared O-RAN infrastructure challenges.

Impacts

This project will revolutionize wireless networks by enabling resilient, low-latency, and intelligent O-RAN systems to meet the demands of 6G and beyond. Technologically, it will enhance network adaptability and efficiency, enabling seamless performance under diverse conditions while supporting applications like the tactile Internet and smart traffic systems. Distributed intelligence will transform networks into powerful computational platforms, providing near-instantaneous decision-making capabilities.