Intelligent 5G: When Cellular Networks Meet Artificial Intelligence

TLDR

5G cellular networks are poised to be the ICT industry’s key enabler, offering diverse services, but rapid standardization and growing complexity mean that without full AI capabilities they remain insufficient. The paper aims to examine the design philosophy of 5G candidate techniques and introduce AI concepts to explore their relationship with these technologies. The authors highlight the emergence of initial intelligence across key network functions, introduce AI fundamentals, and demonstrate how AI can manage and orchestrate resources to realize intelligent 5G networks. They show that AI can effectively manage and orchestrate network resources, and envision AI‑empowered 5G networks as a realisation of the ICT industry’s promised capabilities.

Abstract

5G cellular networks are assumed to be the key enabler and infrastructure provider in the ICT industry, by offering a variety of services with diverse requirements. The standardization of 5G cellular networks is being expedited, which also implies more of the candidate technologies will be adopted. Therefore, it is worthwhile to provide insight into the candidate techniques as a whole and examine the design philosophy behind them. In this article, we try to highlight one of the most fundamental features among the revolutionary techniques in the 5G era, i.e., there emerges initial intelligence in nearly every important aspect of cellular networks, including radio resource management, mobility management, service provisioning management, and so on. However, faced with ever-increasingly complicated configuration issues and blossoming new service requirements, it is still insufficient for 5G cellular networks if it lacks complete AI functionalities. Hence, we further introduce fundamental concepts in AI and discuss the relationship between AI and the candidate techniques in 5G cellular networks. Specifically, we highlight the opportunities and challenges to exploit AI to achieve intelligent 5G networks, and demonstrate the effectiveness of AI to manage and orchestrate cellular network resources. We envision that AI-empowered 5G cellular networks will make the acclaimed ICT enabler a reality.