A new alliance has been formed to integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into cellular technology to further advance radio access network (RAN) technology and mobile networks.
Launched at GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the AI-RAN Alliance bringing together technology, industry and academic institutions. Founding members include Amazon Web Services, Arm, DeepSig, Ericsson, Microsoft, Nokia, Northeastern University, NVIDIA, Samsung Electronics, SoftBank, and T-Mobile.
Its mission is to enhance mobile network efficiency, reduce power consumption, and retrofit existing infrastructure. This will unlock new economic opportunities for telcos with AI, facilitated by 5G and 6G.
Alliance members will leverage their technology expertise and collective leadership to focus on advancing RAN capabilities through AI to improve spectral efficiency; integrating AI and RAN processes to utilise infrastructure more effectively and generate new AI-driven revenue opportunities; and deploying AI services at the network edge through RAN to increase operational efficiency and offer new services to mobile users.
Network operators in the alliance will spearhead the testing and implementation of these advanced technologies developed through the collective research efforts of the member companies and universities.
“AI will fundamentally change the way wireless services are deployed and enable broad innovation and operational efficiency across the telco sector. The AI-RAN Alliance brings together industry-shaping companies with expertise from silicon through software to deliver on the promise of ubiquitous AI and 6G,” said Mohamed Awad, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Infrastructure Line of Business at Arm.
“The AI-RAN Alliance marks a critical step toward a future in which the full power of AI and digital twins can be harnessed for mobile networks and the transformation of the telecom industry. The alliance’s work will help accelerate the pace of AI innovation, driving unprecedented levels of efficiency across the industry,” said Ronnie Vasishta, Senior Vice President of Telecom at NVIDIA.
Alex Sinclair, Chief Technology Officer of GSMA, welcomes the AI-RAN Alliance’s shared ambitions to create new, open platforms that can help democratise the use of AI in mobile industry.
“AI has the potential to deliver huge societal benefits and accelerate technology innovation. However, it’s critical it’s democratised, so all parts of the connectivity industry and their customers, wherever they are in the world, can benefit,” he said.
Photo: Mobile World Congress
Entelechy Asia 