The international H2020 AI@EDGE project, launched last February, is going live. During the recent European Conference on Networks and Communications, the international work group that TIM was in, presented the objectives of the initiative: to create reusable, safe and reliable Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions for automating innovative networks that will follow 5G.
The use of Edge Computing, which provides for the "combined" placement of computing and transmission resources "at the edge of the network", will allow for an increase in system response times and, therefore, better performance. The convergence between the development of connectivity and of processing capacity will also make it possible to reduce the time-to-market for the new functions and services to be developed. The sectors that will benefit the most will be the automotive sector, industrial networks, critical infrastructure surveillance and in-flight entertainment.
TIM is already experimenting with artificial intelligence applications, addressing issues such as the construction of models for predicting mobile traffic and optimising mobile network capacity and coverage. Another area ofresearch and innovation is integrating the automation of future networks into systems, which guarantees the end-to-end monitoring, quality and reliability of these solutions.
The possibility of adopting artificial intelligence methods, together with those of Machine Learning, to manage the mobile networks of the future is at the heart of European technological research, and the combination with Edge Computing is proving particularly promising because allows for essential requirements to be met, such as reactivity and dynamism, optimisation of data management, guaranteeing security and protection of privacy in a multi-stakeholder context.
Like any technological advance, 5G and the exponential growth of connected devices also represent a challenge, in this case for an efficient and reliable distribution and management of network and computing resources. Added to this is the complexity of managing increasingly advanced services such as those related to industry 4.0 and smart mobility. The AI@ EDGE project aims to meet these needs in a timely manner, leveraging the skills of some of the best European IT companies.