AtlanTTic’s Arise project uses AI to control ultra-dense networks and future IoT networks

The AriSe project is now coming to an end. The project was coordinated by the atlanTTic Centre, a member of the CIGUS Network, an initiative launched by the regional government (Xunta de Galicia) that groups together centres of accredited scientific excellence. With funding of 122,452 euros, it is coordinated from Vigo University’s atlanTTic research centre by Professor Francisco Javier González, director of the Information Technologies Group (GTI by its Spanish initials) and Professor Juan José Alcaraz from Cartagena Polytechnic University The AriSe Project emerged as a response to the need for the large-scale deployment of artificial intelligence solutions for the control and management of networks, their functionalities, and their services.

Wireless communication networks are expected to experience an unprecedented increase in traffic due to new high-bandwidth applications, such as 3D multimedia, augmented reality, and virtual reality. Additionally, miniaturisation and economies of scale will allow the integration of sensor and actuator devices into smart city infrastructures and everyday objects. As a result, each square kilometre of an urban Internet of Things (IoT) area will generate tens of terabits of data per second. To support this demand, ultra-dense communication networks will be deployed, introducing a new paradigm that also incorporates nano-communications.

This rapidly developing scenario will inevitably require the large-scale deployment of artificial intelligence solutions. In order to advance in this field, the AriSe Project: Cell-free ultra-dense networks, future IoT networks, and nanonetworks was launched three years ago, and was selected to form part of Spain’s Knowledge Generation programme. The project is now nearing conclusion.  

Also involved in the project are Felipe Gil Castiñeira, a professor in the Department of Telematics Engineering, and Antonio Javier García Sánchez, a professor working in the same field at Cartagena Polytechnic University, as well as all the senior researchers of atlanTTic’s GTI group: Juan Carlos Burguillo, Enrique Costa, Cristina López Bravo, Pedro Rodríguez Hernández, Pablo Fondo, Silvia García Méndez, and Francisco de Arriba, as well as trainee researcher David Candal. Spain’s major telecom operators and two multinationals are also supporting the project.  

According to the atlanTTic researchers, progress in the large-scale deployment of artificial intelligence solutions for network control and management—already implemented to varying degrees in 5G—will lay the groundwork for post-5G or 6G technologies. As González Castaño explained, “For the first time in history, network capacity will exceed any current or foreseeable communication needs, approaching the combined capacity of the human senses. The limiting factor will no longer be the networks but computational capacity. AI is essential for managing these networks, as without it, it will not be possible to permanently maintain the most appropriate links for each service without affecting user sessions, given the characteristics of the frequency bands used.”