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O-RAN specifications reshape RANs with function disaggregation and open interfaces, driven by RAN Intelligent Controllers. This enables data-driven management through AI/ML but poses trust challenges due to human operators' limited understanding of AI/ML decision-making. Balancing resource provisioning and avoiding overprovisioning and underprovisioning is critical, especially among the multiple virtualized base station(vBS) instances. Thus, we propose a novel Federated Machine Reasoning (FLMR) framework, a neurosymbolic method for federated reasoning, learning, and querying. FLMR optimizes CPU demand prediction based on contextual information and vBS configuration using local monitoring data from virtual base stations (vBS) on a shared O-Cloud platform.This optimization is critical, as insufficient computing resources can result in synchronization loss and significantly reduce network throughput. In the telecom domain, particularly in the virtual Radio Access Network (vRAN) sector, predicting and managing the CPU load of vBSs poses a significant challenge for network operators. Our proposed FLMR framework ensures transparency and human understanding in AI/ML decisions and addresses the evolving demands of the 6G O-RAN landscape, where reliability and performance are paramount. Furthermore, we performed a comparative analysis using \textit{DeepCog} as the baseline method. The outcomes highlight how our proposed approach outperforms the baseline and strikes a better balance between resource overprovisioning and underprovisioning. Our method notably lowers both provisioning relative to the baseline by a factor of 6., Comment: 6 Figures, 6 pages

Sixth-generation (6G) networks anticipate intelligently supporting a wide range of smart services and innovative applications. Such a context urges a heavy usage of Machine Learning (ML) techniques, particularly Deep Learning (DL), to foster innovation and ease the deployment of intelligent network functions/operations, which are able to fulfill the various requirements of the envisioned 6G services. Specifically, collaborative ML/DL consists of deploying a set of distributed agents that collaboratively train learning models without sharing their data, thus improving data privacy and reducing the time/communication overhead. This work provides a comprehensive study on how collaborative learning can be effectively deployed over 6G wireless networks. In particular, our study focuses on Split Federated Learning (SFL), a technique recently emerged promising better performance compared with existing collaborative learning approaches. We first provide an overview of three emerging collaborative learning paradigms, including federated learning, split learning, and split federated learning, as well as of 6G networks along with their main vision and timeline of key developments. We then highlight the need for split federated learning towards the upcoming 6G networks in every aspect, including 6G technologies (e.g., intelligent physical layer, intelligent edge computing, zero-touch network management, intelligent resource management) and 6G use cases (e.g., smart grid 2.0, Industry 5.0, connected and autonomous systems). Furthermore, we review existing datasets along with frameworks that can help in implementing SFL for 6G networks. We finally identify key technical challenges, open issues, and future research directions related to SFL-enabled 6G networks.

The recent O-RAN specifications promote the evolution of RAN architecture by function disaggregation, adoption of open interfaces, and instantiation of a hierarchical closed-loop control architecture managed by RAN Intelligent Controllers (RICs) entities. This paves the road to novel data-driven network management approaches based on programmable logic. Aided by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), novel solutions targeting traditionally unsolved RAN management issues can be devised. Nevertheless, the adoption of such smart and autonomous systems is limited by the current inability of human operators to understand the decision process of such AI/ML solutions, affecting their trust in such novel tools. eXplainable AI (XAI) aims at solving this issue, enabling human users to better understand and effectively manage the emerging generation of artificially intelligent schemes, reducing the human-to-machine barrier. In this survey, we provide a summary of the XAI methods and metrics before studying their deployment over the O-RAN Alliance RAN architecture along with its main building blocks. We then present various use cases and discuss the automation of XAI pipelines for O-RAN as well as the underlying security aspects. We also review some projects/standards that tackle this area. Finally, we identify different challenges and research directions that may arise from the heavy adoption of AI/ML decision entities in this context, focusing on how XAI can help to interpret, understand, and improve trust in O-RAN operational networks., Comment: Accepted in IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials, 38 pages, 14 figures

Through network slicing, different requirements of different applications and services can be met. These requirements can be in terms of latency, bandwidth, mobility support, defining service area, as well as security. Through fine and dynamic tuning of network slices, services can have their delivery platforms constantly customized according to their changing needs. In this article, we present our implementation of an E2E network slice orchestration platform, evaluate its performance in terms of dynamic deployment of network slices in an E2E fashion, and discuss how its functionality can be enhanced to better customize the network slices according to the needs of their respective services.

The trend towards the cloudification of the 3GPP LTE mobile network architecture and the emergence of federated cloud infrastructures call for alternative service delivery strategies for improved user experience and efficient resource utilization. We propose Follow-Me Cloud (FMC), a design tailored to this environment, but with a broader applicability, which allows mobile users to always be connected via the optimal data anchor and mobility gateways, while cloud-based services follow them and are delivered via the optimal service point inside the cloud infrastructure. FMC applies a Markov-Decision-Process-based algorithm for cost-effective, performance-optimized service migration decisions, while two alternative schemes to ensure service continuity and disruption-free operation are proposed, based on either Software Defined Networking technologies or the Locator/Identifier Separation Protocol. Numerical results from our analytic model for FMC, as well as testbed experiments with the two alternative FMC implementations we have developed, demonstrate quantitatively and qualitatively the advantages it can bring about.

We present an architecture for the provision of video Content Delivery Network (CDN) functionality as a service over a multi-domain cloud. We introduce the concept of a CDN slice, that is, a CDN service instance which is created upon a content provider's request, is autonomously managed, and spans multiple potentially heterogeneous edge cloud infrastructures. Our design is tailored to a 5G mobile network context, building on its inherent programmability, management flexibility, and the availability of cloud resources at the mobile edge level, thus close to end users. We exploit Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) and Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) technologies, proposing a system which is aligned with the recent NFV and MEC standards. To deliver a Quality-of-Experience (QoE) optimized video service, we derive empirical models of video QoE as a function of service workload, which, coupled with multi-level service monitoring, drive our slice resource allocation and elastic management mechanisms. These management schemes feature autonomic compute resource scaling, and on-the-fly transcoding to adapt video bit-rate to the current network conditions. Their effectiveness is demonstrated via testbed experiments.

The virtualization of radio access networks (RANs) is emerging as a key component of future wireless systems, as it brings agility to the RAN architecture and offers degrees of design freedom. In this paper, we investigate and characterize the computational and memory requirements of virtual RANs. To this end, we build a virtual RAN test-bed leveraging the srsRAN open-source mobile communication platform and general-purpose processor-based servers. Through extensive experiments, we profile the consumption of computing and memory resources, and we assess the system performance. Further, we build regression models to predict the system behavior as the number of connected users increases, under diverse radio transmission settings. In so doing, we develop a methodology and prediction models that can help designing and optimizing virtual RANs.

The future 5G transport networks are envisioned to support a variety of vertical services through network slicing and efficient orchestration over multiple administrative domains. In this paper, we propose an orchestrator architecture to support vertical services to meet their diverse resource and service requirements. We then present a system model for resource orchestration of transport networks as well as low-complexity algorithms that aim at minimizing service deployment cost and/or service latency. Importantly, the proposed model can work with any level of abstractions exposed by the underlying network or the federated domains depending on their representation of resources.