The project hopes to enable a new generation of intelligent, energy-aware networks with the capacity to learn and adapt in real time.
Researchers from Trinity College Dublin and the Adapt Research Ireland Centre for AI-Driven Digital Content Technology will lead a newly funded project that will explore how artificial intelligence (AI) is integrated into mobile and wireless communication systems.
Naira (Native AI for Energy Efficient and Sustainable Radio Access Networks), is a three-year project funded to the tune of €2.5m through Call 7 of the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund (DTIF). It works to embed AI within radio access network (RAN) architecture, allowing agentic AI to make local and collective decisions across the network.
Reportedly, this will allow Naira to enable networks that can autonomously reconfigure and optimise, while balancing energy efficiency, service quality and operational costs, creating a “new generation of intelligent, energy-aware networks capable of learning, adapting and optimising themselves in real time”.
The project will be coordinated by Prof Marco Ruffini from Trinity’s School of Computer Science and Statistics and ADAPT, and his co-principal investigator, Dr Merim Dzaferagic. There will also be involvement from several industry partners, including Dell Technologies, Red Hat, Intel Research and Development Ireland, Software Research Systems and Tyndall National Institute.
Commenting on the project, Ruffini said: “Naira responds to the rapidly growing energy consumption of communication infrastructures, which is one of the most pressing global challenges, both from a logistical and sustainability perspective.
“As data traffic continues to rise and connectivity becomes ubiquitous, mobile networks have emerged as a major source of energy demand within the ICT sector. Naira will address this issue by combining the latest innovations in AI, distributed intelligence and Open RAN architectures to deliver a sustainable, high-performance framework for the networks of the future.”
There has been a recent surge of investment in the integration of AI into the communications sector. Earlier this week chip manufacturer Nvidia announced it would be investing $1bn into Nokia as part of a plan to advance the use of artificial intelligence in telecommunications technology. As part of the partnership, Nvidia and Nokia will work to power 5G and 6G networks with AI by adding Nvidia’s AI-RAN products to Nokia’s portfolio.
Justin Hotard, the president and CEO of Nokia previously commented on the announcement, stating: “The next leap in telecom isn’t just from 5G to 6G, it’s a fundamental redesign of the network to deliver AI-powered connectivity, capable of processing intelligence from the data centre all the way to the edge. Our partnership with Nvidia and their investment in Nokia, will accelerate AI-RAN innovation to put an AI data centre into everyone’s pocket.”
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