We are excited to invite you to the 5th O-RAN nGRG 6G workshop, taking place on February 22nd, 2024, in Athens, Greece. This all-day event will concentrate on the architecture evolution, digital twin, and the merging of communications and computing, with over 20 distinguished speakers and panelists from both academia and industry, offering their insights on the latest 6G advancements.
The workshop will encompass a variety of key 6G subjects, such as 6G architecture enablers and design concepts, digital twin network tools and applications, AI/ML in digital twin networks, and integrated computing and communication networks, among others. Two keynote speeches will present the latest updates from the Europe 6G Flagship Hexa-X-II project and the Smart Networks and Services Research and Innovations in the EU.
This hybrid workshop is open to all, so don't hesitate to join us online! The registration link can be found below, along with the detailed program. We look forward to having you participate in this informative and captivating workshop!
Organized by: O-RAN ALLIANCE’s Next Generation Research Group (nGRG)
Date: February 22, 2024
Location:
Admission: Interested public is free to attend on-site or remotely. Registration is mandatory prior to the event
(Athens local time)
8:30 – 8:40 Welcome and opening
Dr. Chih-Lin I, TSC co-chair, O-RAN ALLIANCE e.V., China Mobile, China
8:40 – 9:10 Morning Keynotes: Overview of the 6G Architecture Enablers and Design
Mårten Ericson (Hexa-2 Project), Ericsson, Sweden,
9:10 – 9:35 6G Architecture: Bringing the Power of Software & AI to Networks
Manish Mangal, CEO -Communication, Tech Mahindra, USA
9:35 – 10:00 Unveiling the Future: Exploring 6G Development through ICDT Integrated Networks
Dr. Sen Wang, China Mobile, China
10:00 – 10:15 Coffee break
10:15 – 10:40 6G and Sustainability
Dr. Havish Koorapaty, Ericsson, USA
10:40 – 11:05 Cell-free Massive MIMO and Open RAN
Prof. Alister Burr, University of York, UK
11:05 – 11:35 Toward Digital Twin Networks: Tools and Early Results
Dr. Sebastian Cammerer, Nvidia, Germany
11:35 – 12:00 Architecting the Future: NSTC's B5G/6G Vision in Taiwan, Open-Source Collaboration, and Innovation at OSC Taiwan Lab
Prof. Ray-Guang Cheng, NTUST, Taiwan
12:00 – 12:25 Building a Connected World with Network Digital Twins – Opportunities and Challenges
Poonkuzhali Elango, Dr. Parisa Foroughi, Nokia Standards, Strategy & Technology
12:20 – 13:10 Lunch break
13:10 – 13:40 Afternoon Keynotes: Fostering next generation Smart Networks and Services Research & Innovation in the EU
Dr. Odysseas Pyrovolakis, Smart Networks and ServicesJoint Undertaking
13:40 - 14:05 O-RAN and MEC Enabled Architecture for “Network-as-a-Sensor” System
Dr. Venki Ramaswamy, MITRE, USA
14:05 – 14:30 AI Based Digital Twins for Multi-intent 6G Networks – an Architectural Perspective
Rajagopalan Rajappa, CTO, Tata Elxsi, USA
14:30 – 14:45 Coffee break
14:45 – 15:10 Digital Twin for Network Planning and Management
Dr. Geetha Rajendran, Qualcomm, USA
15:10 – 15:35 Accelerating End-to-End AI/ML Design for Open RAN with Colosseum as a Digital Twin
Prof. Michele Polese, Northeastern University, USA
15:35 – 16:00 A View on Wireless Technology Evolution towards 6G Cellular Systems
Dr. Younghan Nam, Samsung, USA
16:00 – 16:15 Coffee break
16:15 – 16:40 O-RAN for Real-Time Cyber-Physical Systems: Architecture, Algorithms, and Open Source, Real-World Testing and Integration
Prof. Hongwei Zhang, Iowa State University
16:40 – 17:05 ATIS NGA Work on the convergence of compute and communications
Stephen Hayes, vice-chair, Tech WG, NG Alliance; Ericsson, USA
17:05 – 17:30 HW Anchored Platform Security for 6G Infrastructure
Raghu Kondapalli, CTO, Axiado, USA
17:30 – 18:30 Panel discussion on 6G architecture, digital twin and convergence of communications and computing
Moderator: Dr. Chih-Lin I, China Mobile China
Panelists: Prof. Alister Burr, University of York, UK
Dr. Havish Koorapaty, Ericsson, USA
Dr. Christian Mannweiler, Nokia, Germany
Dr. Younghan Nam, Samsung, USA
Dr. Geetha Rajendran, Qualcomm, USA
Dr. Venki Ramaswamy, MITRE, USA
Ravi Sinha, Reliance Jio, USA
Prof. Hongwei Zhang, Iowa State University
18:30– 18:35 Wrap up
Mårten Ericson, Ericsson
The Hexa-X-II project is a flagship initiative bringing together key stakeholders in Europe for 6G research, continuing the Hexa-X flagship project work. Hexa-X-II includes the key industry players in telecom as well as new value chain for future connectivity solutions and major research institutes.
This presentation focus on the results from “6G architecture design” work package.
This presentation will present the main areas of the 6G architecture design, namely, how to develop a data-driven architecture, a more modular network, new access and flexible topologies, new beyond communication services such as sensing and compute, and finally, the cloud transformation.
Bio:
Mårten Ericson(marten.ericson@ericsson.com) is a Master Researcher at Ericsson, Sweden. He was leading the 6G architecture work in Hexa-X and is now currently leading the6G architecture design work package in Hexa-X-II.
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Dr. Odysseas Pyrovolakis, Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking
Future communication systems and networks will be the foundation of our society and economy. They provide high performance, smart infrastructures for enabling future services in the era of the Internet of Senses. The European Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS JU) aims to facilitate and develop industrial leadership in Europe in next generation networks and services. The SNS JU funds projects that shape a solid research and innovation (R&I) roadmap and deployment agenda by engaging a critical mass of European stakeholders and facilitating international cooperation.
In this talk, we will present the role of the SNS JU and the state of play in the EU R&I for the smart networks and services and highlight the challenges and the opportunities for the years to come. We will also address the role of “openness” as innovation accelerator for the future communication networks and services.
Dr. Odysseas Pyrovolakis has over 25 years of professional experience in research and deployment projects on network, cloud and software technologies. Odysseas has served in various position as computer engineer, business consultant and project manager in the industry, the public sector, and the European Commission. In the last 12 years, he has been involved in the preparation of various policy initiatives and research programmes in the areas of Cloud Computing, Telecommunications & Networks and Software Technologies. He was strongly involved in several standardisation and opensource initiatives (Liaison officer for the European Commission in ISO/IEC JTC1SC38 on Cloud Computing and Distributed Platforms, ISO/IEC JTC 1 AG 3 on Open Source Software and ETSI Open Source Software Board).
Odysseas holds a PhD in Programmable Networks from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece and a MEng in Computer Engineering from the University of Patras, Greece and he has received several academic excellence awards. He enjoys a lot passing the knowledge to the new generations and he has served several years as a professor in many academic institutions in Greece.
He currently works as a Programme Officer at the Smart Network and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS JU),a public-private partnership that supports research, innovation, demonstration, and deployment activities of advanced 5G and 6G technologies in Europe where he is also responsible for initiatives related to open networks, networks cloudification and softwarisation. He is passionate about helping Europe excel in Smart Networks and Services and he really enjoys working with the scientific community and the industry.
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Mr. Manish Mangal, CEO – Communication, Tech Mahindra,USA
Bio:
Mr. Manish Mangal Accomplished telecom industry veteran with 20+ years of professional experience. Held various leadership roles in Fortune 100 companies leading technology initiatives from incubation to operationalization that transformed businesses and increased enterprise value. Driven corporate-wide technology initiatives through cross functional leadership, robust planning and astute execution. Expert in leading large and global teams, developing end to end technology solutions, and creating / managing strategic partnerships that directly improve enterprise value. Excellent leadership and management abilities, acknowledged and awarded to deliver superior results in the midst of fast moving changes. Skilled in analysing industry trends, assessing threats & opportunities and developing fact-based actionable plans targeted towards business owners and CEOs to increase enterprise value and fulfil company's business missions. Inventor of60 patents issued by the US patent office.
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Dr. Sen Wang, China Mobile, China
The 5G era marked the seamless integration of information and communication technology (ICT), paving the way for the next generation – 6G. The evolution towards 6G envisions the seamless integration of ICT with big data and artificial intelligence, giving rise to the paradigm of ICDT (Information, Communication, Big Data Technology) integration. This talk delves into the technical insights surrounding the development of 6G wireless communications from the perspective of an ICDT-integrated network. ICDT-integrated 6G is an end-to-end information processing and service system, incorporating a mobile information network characterized by robust connectivity, powerful computing capabilities, advanced intelligence, and heightened security measures. Our exploration of ICDT-integrated 6G consists of three categories of potential technologies. First, we discuss new research trends such as semantic communications and AI big models. Second, we investigate enhanced radio technologies, exemplified by integrated sensing and communications (ISAC), innovative MIMO transmission schemes, and more. Lastly, we introduce new network architectures, such as the service wireless network, digital twin network, and other new concepts. Throughout the discussion, the conceptual framework, application scenarios, and associated challenges are presented. Our analysis is complemented by system-level technical insights regarding the potential of the ICDT-integrated network paradigm.
Bio:
Sen WANG is a Chief Researcher of Wireless Technologies at China Mobile Research Institute. He joined CMCC after receiving his Ph.D. in communication and information system from BUPT in 2013.He is leading CMRI’s 6G wireless transmission technologies research team and serves as the vice chair of the Semantic Communications TG of the IMT-2030 PG in China. Dr. Wang’s research interest centers around wireless system optimization theory, as well as key technologies and standards for 5G/6G air interface. He holds over 100 patents, and has published over 30 journal and conference papers in these areas.
Dr. Havish Koorapaty, Ericsson, USA
The importance of sustainability to the welfare of humanity and the planet has become increasingly clear in recent years. Mobile wireless technologies have evolved to the extent that they are now considered critical infrastructure on which society depends world-wide. The evolution of these technologies towards 6Gprovides new challenges and opportunities to address the sustainability of 6Gand the ability of 6G to enhance sustainability in other sectors of the economy. A key to improved sustainability is to minimize the overhead in terms of energy consumed as well as materials used in enabling the use cases that 6Gwill serve. This requires flexibility during operation enabled by good design during standardization and product development, as well as smart network management during operation. Open RAN will play a role in all these aspects. This talk will address sustainability in the context of 6G and discuss these aspects.
Bio:
Havish Koorapaty has B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Engineering from North Carolina State University. He has more than 25 years of experience with Ericsson, where he has worked in the general area of wireless communications systems including cellular and satellite systems. His work spans a wide range of topics including error control coding, location determination and tracking, mobile phone systems engineering, 4G and 5G broadband wireless system design, wireless backhaul solutions, energy efficiency, spectrum sharing and small cells. He has over 250technical papers and patents in these areas and was the recipient of the Ericsson Inventor of the Year award in 2016.
Havish has represented Ericsson in standardization efforts in the 3GPP, TIA, IEEE and ETSI standardization bodies. He has been involved in standardization efforts in 3GPPfor 5G NR and LTE including serving as the rapporteur for the licensed-assisted access study and work items. He was the recipient of the 3GPP Excellence Award in 2015. Havish served as a vice-chairman in 3GPP RAN1 from November 2017 to November 2021 and as a founding co-chair for the O-RAN next Generation Research Group (nGRG) from July 2022 to October 2023. He currently works on 6G systems, serving as the technical coordinator for Ericsson’s contributions to the ATIS Next Gen Alliance as well as monitoring 6G initiatives globally.
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Prof. Alister Burr, University of York, UK
In this talk we present the advantages of scalable Cell-free Massive MIMO (CFmMIMO) as a potential 6G technology. We describe the fundamental concept and the practical requirements for scalability, including the relationship of the concept to the existing 3GPPstandards. We then discuss the relationship of the concept with Open RAN, including O-RAN Alliance specifications, and introduce a scalable CFmMIMO concept that is highly compatible with O-RAN. We also introduce the UK Government funded projects YO-RAN, DU-Volution and REACH, focussing on the work on CFmMIMO included in these projects.
Bio:
Alister Burr is Professor of Communications at the University of York, UK, where he currently leads the GBP 7.8m project YO-RAN (Yorkshire Open RAN), funded by the UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). He has more than 35 years of experience in wireless communication research, focussing initially on physical layer aspects but more recently including RAN architectures. He is currently chair of WG2 of the COST INTERACT programme on wireless communications towards6G, and has served on the organising/editorial committees of several IEEE conferences and journals.
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Dr. Sebastian Cammere, Nvidia, Germany
Digital Twin Networks (DTNs) are digital replicas of physical wireless networks. They allow for the design and operation of future wireless networks, such as 6G. Their applications range from use as “gyms” for training of environment specific communication schemes over network monitoring and control to “what-if” analyses. In this talk, we discuss the required steps and tools to create physically accurate and environmentally specific DTNs. We show how scene geometries can be accurately captured and how ray tracing allows to model radio propagation. Further, we propose differentiable ray tracing as a method to automatically learn electromagnetic material properties from channel measurements. Finally, demonstrate the benefits of training neural receivers for a specific environment and conclude the talk by a discussion of open challenges in the field of DTNs.
Bio
Dr. Sebastian Cammerer is a Senior Research Scientist at NVIDIA working on the intersection of wireless communications and machine learning. Before joining NVIDIA, he received his PhD in electrical engineering and information technology from the University of Stuttgart, Germany, in 2021. He is one of the maintainers and core developers of the Sionna open-source link-level simulator. His main research topics are machine learning for wireless communications and error control coding. He is recipient of several awards such as the VDE ITG Dissertationspreis 2022, the IEEE SPS Young Author Best Paper Award 2019, the Best Paper Award of the University of Stuttgart 2018 & 2021, and third prize winner of the Nokia Bell Labs Prize2019.
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Prof. Ray-Guang Cheng, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taiwan
⬛ Title: Architecting the Future: NSTC's B5G/6G Vision in Taiwan, Open Source Collaboration, and Innovation at OSC Taiwan Lab
In this dynamic era of technological evolution, the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) in Taiwan is spearheading transformative projects in B5G and 6G communication technologies. This presentation unveils NSTC's visionary initiatives within the dynamic landscape of communication technologies for 6G. We will briefly summarize NSTC's ongoingB5G/6G projects and emphasize the pivotal role of open-source collaboration in partnership with the O-RAN Software Community (OSC) and OpenAirInterface (OAI).Research activities in the OSC Taiwan Lab are then elaborated.
Bio
Ray-Guang Cheng received the B.E., M.E., and Ph.D. degrees in communication engineering from the National Chiao-Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, in 1991, 1993, and 1996, respectively. He led the 3G Protocol Project Computer and Communication Laboratories, Advanced Technology Center, Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), Hsinchu, from 1997 to 2000; and join BenQ Mobile System Inc., Hsinchu as the Senior Manager from 2000 to 2003. He is currently a Director of the Computer Center and a Distinguished Professor at the Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST),Taipei, Taiwan. He holds 18 U.S. patents; and has published more than 30IEEE/3GPP standard contributions. He has been the Head of the Joint NTUST-EURECOM Open5G Lab since 2019 and the Head of the OSC Taiwan Lab since 2022.
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Poonkuzhali Elango, Nokia, India
Dr. Parisa Foroughi, Nokia, France
A Digital Twin is the digital representation of a physical object, system or process, which runs alongside the real world counterpart and provides a linkage between the physical , digital, and human worlds. Digital Twin technology has been adoptedly various industries to model complex dynamic systems with the aim to increase efficiency, productivity, quality, safety and to optimize costs. A Network Digital Twin (NDT) is the twin of a communications network, or some part of one. Today, communication services have become an essential part of modern societies, and are expected to become even more heterogenous to meet thneeds of emerging, highly dynamic use cases with stringent requirements. A Network Digital Twin can serve as a key enabler of effective management of today’s and future communication networks and its services. An NDT’s dynamicbehavioral modelling and situation awareness capabilities allow for realistic real-time testing of network changes, without jeopardizing the physical network. This presentation outlines NDT principles, capabilities and interworking with the Digital Twins of vertical industries to build a connected world (e.g. metaverse), illustrated with tangible examples from Nokia. It also discusses the opportunities and challenges in leveraging NDTs to build a connected world.
Bio:
Poonkuzhali Elango is a telecom technology leader with over 25+ years of professional experience in Nokia. During 12 years in R&D, Poonkuzhali played key role sin leading large telecom software development projects, like HLR, RNC, Network Optimization, across geographically distributed teams. Next in Market Service India her focus was on bringing innovative solutions to cope with the various challenges India market has in Network planning, deployment and Optimization. She worked to define architecture framework, dimensioning& innovative network & optimization solutions - using tools based on AI, and in close cooperation with global customer team. Currently she plays a key role in the research and standardization of zero touch network and service management concepts, architecture and enablers Closed Loop automation, AI enablers, Intent driven autonomous networks, Network Digital Twin, CI/CD. She is driven by 4 "P's": Professional, Personal, Passion for Innovation and Purposeful .
Dr. Parisa Foroughi is a senior research engineer at Nokia standards with a Ph.D. in computer science and networking from Institute Polytechnique de Paris. She obtained her bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and her master’s diploma in computer and IP networks. During her 4years of R&D experience at Cisco Systems, Parisa tackled hands-on problem sand challenges related to applying AI and data-driven solutions for networks. She worked specifically on routers using telemetry data and researched topics such as model generalization, explain ability through semantics, and evaluation frameworks. She has also researched topics such as edge computing, network slicing, software-defined networks, and network function virtualization. At Nokia, Parisa's focus is on enablers for network automation with a specialization in network digital twins, modern data management, and AI/ML.
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Dr. Venki Ramaswamy, MITRE, USA
Integrating sensing functionality into communication infrastructure enables distributed sensing capability that is required for accurately and reliably predicting a radio environment. This capability is very critical in a variety of applications, not least in spectrum sharing use-cases (e.g., CBRS systems). This feature eliminates the need for an external dedicated sensing capability that could put additional restrictions on transmissions and operations thereby improving efficiency and performance. In this talk, we propose a new architecture that relies on programmable switches, multi-access edge computing (MEC) and the O-RAN RIC to enable a very dynamic and intelligent spectrum sensing capability. This approach can embed a sophisticated distributed sensing capability to existing cellular infrastructure that can natively do sensing for critical applications. Finally, we discuss some challenges and future research directions.
Bio:
Dr. Venkatesh Ramaswamy is Chief Technologist at MITRE Labs in Bedford, Massachusetts where he currently leads technical innovation and R&D activities in 5G/xG technologies. He has more than 20 years of experience in the telecommunications industry and has held technical leadership positions at top technology companies, startups, and research labs. Currently he serves as one of the active industry members of the ATIS/Next G Alliance Research Council working on the development of a comprehensive North American 6G strategy. He also an industry researcher at the NSF Edge AI Institute looking at synergies between networking and AI. He has published more than 50 peer-reviewed publications and patents, served as a TPC member for various conferences, and participated in several technical panels. He received his PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Mississippi.
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Rajagopalan Rajappa, CTO - Communication Technologies and Platforms, Tata Elxi
Bio:
RajaGopalan Rajappa (RajaG) is currently serving as CTO – Communication Technologies and Platforms in Tata Elxsi. He drives the Open systems and open source based solutioning for Telco and automotive industries in the areas of Softwarization, Orchestration, Digital Twin, Connected Vehicles & Edge solutions. He has Extensive experience in designing RAN systems, scheduler algorithms through building software stacks for small cells & broadband wireless communication systems for tactical and utility networks. RajaG is associated with Tata Elxsi for more than 25 years and holds EU & NA patents in Connected CAR and V2X areas.
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Geetha Rajendran, Qualcomm, USA
Geetha Rajendran is working in Qualcomm Research group in Wireless R&D division. In her current role she participates as Qualcomm delegate in O-RAN WG3 which is responsible for Near-RT RIC and ORAN nGRG group handling next generation research topics. She also participates as Qualcomm delegate in 3GPP RAN3 forum which is responsible for standardization of Network interfaces. In her previous roles she has worked on different projects like NR and LTE RAN standardization, System engineering and development, Femto cellsand gateway, Network Operation and Management in different companies like Nokia, Reliance Jio, Telstra etc. She has 17+ years of experience in Mobile Networks. She holds Masters in Telecommunication from University of Melbourne, Bachelors in Electronics and Communication from Anna University.
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Prof. Michele Polese, Research Assistant Professor, Northeastern University
In this talk, I will discuss how openness, programmability, and intelligence (key components of the Open Radio Access Network, or Open RAN, vision) can restart the innovation cycle in mobile networks. I will focus specifically on how we can address one of the major challenges in the design of intelligent Open RAN systems, i.e., the design of artificial intelligence and machine learning solutions that are effective, scalable, and can generalize well across deployment scenarios and conditions. I will discuss how we leveraged Colosseum– the world’s largest wireless network emulator with hardware in the loop – as a digital twin for Open RAN systems, to (i) collect large-scale datasets in a variety of representative scenarios; (ii) test and profile agile and AI-driven RAN control in a safe environment with the OpenRAN Gym framework; (iii) how we developed and tested explainable AI solutions (EXPLORA) for Open RAN in Colosseum; and (iv) how we used Colosseum to evaluate solutions for real-time control of the RAN (dApps).
Bio:
Michele Polese is a Research Assistant Professor at the Institute for the Wireless Internet of Things, Northeastern University, Boston, since October 2023. He received his Ph.D. at the Department of Information Engineering of the University of Padova in 2020. He then joined Northeastern University as a research scientist and part-time lecturer in 2020. During his Ph.D., he visited New York University (NYU), AT&T Labs in Bedminster, NJ, and Northeastern University.
His research interests are in the design and testing of next-generation wireless networks, 5G/6G, and Open RAN, in open, intelligent, and programmable end-to-end network architectures, and in open-source networking software and experimental wireless testbeds. He has contributed to O-RAN technical specifications and submitted responses to multiple FCC and NTIA notices of inquiry and requests for comments, and is a member of the Committee on Radio Frequency Allocations of the American Meteorological Society. He is PI and co-PI in research projects on 6G funded by the O-RAN ALLIANCE and the U.S. NSF,OUSD, and NTIA, and was awarded with several best paper awards and the 2022Mario Gerla Award for Research in Computer Science. Michele served as TPC co-chair for WONS 2024, ACM WiNTECH 2023, WNS3 2021-2022, as an Associate Technical Editor for the IEEE Communications Magazine, as a Guest Editor in an IEEE JSAC Special Issue on Open RAN, and has organized the Open 5G Forum in Fall 2021 and the NextGenRAN workshop at Globecom 2022.
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Dr. Younghan Nam, Samsung, USA
Building on the insights gained from our 5Gsystem deployments, this presentation aims to explore potential research areas for 6G cellular systems. We will delve into new spectrum opportunities, key attributes, and usage scenarios pertinent to the evolution of 6G. Following this, we will provide an in-depth analysis of several important 6Gtechnologies, offering an overview of the next generation in cellular communication.
Bio:
Younghan Nam currently serves as the Senior Director at the Standards and Mobility Innovation Team in Samsung Research America (SRA), where he leads 6G cellular communication system research. Before assuming this role, he held the position of Associate Vice President at Mavenir, overseeing ORAN product R&D within the system engineering team until 2022. His career at SRA also includes a tenure as a principal engineer until 2018, during which he led research and made contributions to the 3GPP RAN1 standards, focusing on areas such as mmWave, massive MIMO, and 5G channel modeling. His academic credentials include a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Ohio State University obtained in 2008, and MS and BS degrees in Electrical Engineering from Seoul National University, awarded in 2002 and 1998, respectively.
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Prof. Hongwei Zhang, Iowa State University, USA
This talk will present real-time wireless networking for cyber-physical systems (e.g., URLLC for control and XR), as well as its real-world prototyping in various testbed development and community building efforts (e.g., ARAPAWR testbed, ARA OTIC, and OPERA open-source ecosystem effort). We will also share our early-stage exploration in O-RAN, focusing on nG research, open-source software systems, as well as testing and evaluation in support of nG research and open-source/software systems.
Bio:
Hongwei Zhang is the Richardson Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Director of the Center for Wireless, Communities and Innovation at Iowa State University. His research investigates modelling, algorithmic, and systems issues in wireless sensing and control networks (e.g., those in 5G and beyond)as well as their applications in connected and automated vehicles, XR, smart agriculture, and cyber-physical-human systems in general. He has led the development of open-innovation infrastructures for precision agriculture, connected and automated transportation, cellular networks, and IoT networks which have been used by researchers worldwide. For instance, he currently leads the $16M project ARA (www.arawireless.org) on rural broadband research, and he leads the ARAOTIC for O-RAN testing and integration (https://wici.iastate.edu/otic).
His research results and system software have served as foundational elements of the DARPA sensor network systems “A Line in the Sand” and “ExScal” which, with its 200-node wireless mesh network and 1,200-node sensor network, was the world’s largest wireless mesh network and wireless sensor network deployed at its time. He is a recipient of the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, and Best Paper Awards from the 2023 ACM Workshop on Wireless Network Testbeds, Experimental evaluation and CHaracterization (WiNTECH) and 2021 IEEE International Conference on Network Softwarization (NetSoft). He currently serves as an Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, and he served as an editor for IEEE Internet of Things Journal in 2020 and 2021. He was the Co-Chair of 2022 ACM WiNTECH and the Program Co-Chair of the 2019 IEEE Vehicular Networking Conference (VNC). He has also served on the program and/or organizing committees of conferences such as INFOCOM, ICCPS, IPSN, and ICC. More information about his work can be found from his website at http://www.ece.iastate.edu/~hongwei.
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Stephen Hayes, vice-chair, Tech WG, NG Alliance; Ericsson, USA
ATIS NGA has analyzed key research directions for the 6G Wide area cloud evolution. Areas addressed included architectural impacts, convergence of mobile and cloud models, evolution of MEC, expanding the cloud boundary to devices, types of computing, etc. An overview of the report will be presented.
Bio:
Stephen Hayes is the Vice President of Standards for Ericsson for the Americas. He has worked on various cellular issues over the last 30 years and been heavily involved in the evolution of the 3GPP family of technologies. His current focus includes the ATIS committees and 3GPP. Particular areas of interest include UAVs and Robotics. He is also involved in several US advisory groups such as the FCC TAC (Technical Advisory Council) and the FCC CSRIC (Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council).
Stephen received the 2021 3GPPLifetime Achievement Award has held many 3GPP leadership positions (Vice-chair of 3GPP TSG-RAN, Chair of 3GPP TSG-SA, Chair of 3GPP TSG-CT). Stephen currently chairs the 3GPP Working Procedures group that defines the processes 3GPP uses in its work. Stephen is currently the vice-chair of the ATIS Next-G Technology Working Group.
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Raghu Kondapalli, CTO, Axiado, USA
Bio:
Raghu Kondapalli has worked in the infrastructure solutions industry for 30 years. He worked on wireless2.5G to 5G base station, gateways and core infrastructure products in addition to data center/enterprise switches/routers. He has 40+ granted patents and several in progress. He is passionate about customers, innovation and product development. He held technology leadership roles at several infrastructure companies like Nokia, Nortel, Marvell and Intel. He currently holds a position as a Chief Technology Officer at Axiado - a AI/ML security infrastructure solutions company.
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Dr. Christian Mannweiler, Nokia, Germany (Panellist)
Dr. Christian Mannweiler is Department Head of Network Architecture Research at Nokia Standards, Strategy & Technology. He leads a team of senior researchers and 3GPP standardization delegates that develop innovative solutions for 5G-Advanced and the 6G era in the fields of mobile network architecture, end-to-end system design, cloud-native & AI-native networks, novel communication protocols, energy efficiency, and edge networking. He joined Nokia in2015, where he has worked in the area of SON for 5G, cognitive network management, and the evolution of the 5G RAN, core, and system architecture. Christian has filled leadership positions in several nationally and EU-funded projects, contributing to the development of cellular and industrial communication systems and the integration of 3GPP 5G networks with IEEE 802.1Time-Sensitive Networking. He is co-author of more than 50 patent applications/ granted patents and of numerous peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and papers on wireless communication technologies and architectures for future mobile networks. He represents Nokia in O-RAN nGRG since 2023 and serves as co-lead of the “Architecture” stream. Christian received his M.Sc and Ph.D degrees in Electrical Engineering from University of Kaiserslautern in 2008 and 2014, respectively.
Ravi Sinha, Reliance Jio, USA (Panellist)
Ravi Sinha is working with world’s fastest growing telco brand Reliance Jio as Vice President 5G/ 6G Technology and Product Development.
He is a versatile R&D Executive serving leadership roles in wireless industry with expertise in product development and technology strategy, business analysis, M&A assessments, Strategy planning that enables Jio to achieve its long-term objectives. He brings over two decades of experience and working with some of the world’s largest telecom companies and service providers. In his previous role, he spearheaded efforts to innovate cutting edge projects around small cell solutions and Cloud Native Infra assets for Telco Consumptions.
Ravi Sinha is leading global SDOs in Open-Source Paradigm. He is the Co Chairman of O-RAN Next Generation Research Group (6G and beyond) as well as the Chairman of Small Cell Forum (SCF) Emerging Technology Group. He is leading multiple teams from Telco and Service verticals in 6G, 5G and High Compute Edge Fabric related to Use cases, Architecture, Advance Radios, Native AI Automation and Native Security.
