Intelligent control for the next generation of cellular networks

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A virtual reality (VR) game crashes. A robot rolls dangerously close to the edge of a cliff. An autonomous vehicle speeds toward a pedestrian. Without intelligent control happening every millisecond, accidents can occur. This control can mean applying the brake of an autonomous vehicle to save a life or creating a more user-friendly augmented reality experience.

Two professors in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University are working to enhance and advance the future of mobile networks. Principal investigator Dr. Srinivas Shakkottai and co-principal investigator Dr. Dileep Kalathil recently received a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to research EdgeRIC: Real-time radio access network intelligent control for the next generation of cellular networks. 

“This project is about the next generation of cellular communication, 6G and beyond,” Shakkottai said. “In the cellular world now, many networks are not very adaptable. As time has progressed, networks are becoming much more programmable in that you can change various things such as prioritizing certain users, procuring resources people need or acquiring lower latency for various applications.” 

An important aspect of this work involves wireless communication, offloading computers and wires from intelligent systems while maintaining connectivity. For example, a robot cannot move easily with weighty equipment strapped to its back, nor can a VR headset fit comfortably on a person’s head with the proportions of an oversized football helmet. 

Their project, EdgeRIC, relates to the idea that computing can be in three places simultaneously: on certain devices or mobile, at the base station and in the cloud. 

“If you want to take the computing equipment out and put it somewhere else on the edge of the system, you need connectivity because you can’t drag a wire with you wherever you go,” Shakkottai said. “Essentially, we’re saying there are intelligent systems that need the intelligence but don’t want it on board. That’s where these kinds of networks come into play.”

In their lab, Shakkottai and Kalathil are conducting experiments to show how EdgeRIC operates and the significance of real-time control happening every millisecond. Using laptops to simulate cell phones with 5G restrictions, they revealed that if this control were even happening every 50 milliseconds or 0.05 seconds, large amounts of throughput would be lost. Throughput is how much information the communication network can process at one time.