Northeastern University’s Institute for the Wireless Internet of Things Showcases Innovative AI-based O-RAN Solutions at Mobile World Congress Los Angeles
Leading research institute on wireless 5G and 6G networks will attend MWC LA with a first-of-its-kind demo combining artificial intelligence, O-RAN, and cloud-native virtualized wireless networks.
Boston, MA – October 26, 2021. The Institute for the Wireless Internet of Things is pleased to announce a first-of-its kind demonstration on real-time control of an Open RAN cloud-native cellular network based on artificial intelligence.
At Mobile World Congress Americas in Los Angeles from October 26-28, WIoT will provide the first demonstration of orchestrated O-RAN xApps executing Deep Reinforcement Learning algorithms on a RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) to optimize RAN slicing and radio resource management in a fully programmable and virtualized network at scale.
In the demo, a cloud-native standard-compliant cellular network is controlled through data-driven algorithms that autonomously select scheduling and slicing policies for a diverse set of applications. xApps are deployed through an intelligent orchestrator. Intent-based optimization algorithms developed by the team translate network operator requirements into an optimized allocation of network intelligence at various nodes of the O-RAN network.
The O-RAN-compliant network runs on Colosseum – the world’s largest RF network emulator – that enables large-scale experimentation with virtualized wireless systems at scale, including collecting large-scale datasets and performing experiments in a wide range of wireless scenarios. Colosseum is supported by the National Science Foundation.
“Our team used software components compliant with the O-RAN specifications, including the O-RAN Software Community near-real-time RIC platform, to develop a demo that combines artificial intelligence and O-RAN based control on a cloud-based virtualized cellular network. Thanks to open interfaces and reusable software components, we are extending our framework to address other key problems, including spectrum sharing and interference management. We can train our algorithms and experiment on Colosseum and on other open wireless testbeds, including those developed through the NSF Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research”, says Prof. Tommaso Melodia, Director of Northeastern University’s Institute for the Wireless Internet of Things, and Director of Research for the PAWR Project Office,
The WIoT MWC demo is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaglAZlL5oM
The demo is also part of the O-RAN Virtual Exhibition. WIoT is an academic member of the O-RAN Alliance, and has been leading research projects with several industrial partners in the area. The research on fully programmable, open, and virtualized wireless networks at WIoT has been supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Office of Naval Research.
For more information on the Institute for the Wireless Internet of Things, please visit us at MWC LA (booth 1444, October 26-28) or contact us through [email protected] to setup a meeting.
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About the Institute for the Wireless Internet of Things at Northeastern University. The Institute for the Wireless Internet of Things (or WIoT) is home to world-leading expertise, facilities, and technologies dedicated to making 5G and 6G wireless communications faster, more energy efficient, and more secure. WIoT areas of focus include 5G and 6G, artificial intelligence, open, cloud-native programmable networks, terahertz and mmWave networks. WIoT is home to the Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research (PAWR) Project Office, which is co-led by nonprofit US Ignite and Northeastern University.
