Ericsson and IIT Kharagpur: A Partnership for AI Research

Ericsson, a leading global provider of communication and information technology solutions, and Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT Kharagpur), one of the premier engineering institutes in India, have partnered for a joint research in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), compute and radio technologies. The aim of this partnership is to develop novel AI and distributed compute solutions for the future 6G networks, which are expected to offer unprecedented levels of performance, reliability and security.

As part of this collaboration, two milestone agreements were signed between both the organizations, which will enable researchers from both sides to work together on developing innovative AI and distributed compute technologies for 6G research. A symposium on Radio and Network research was also organized at GS Sanyal School of Telecommunications (GSSST) where leaders from Ericsson Research and IIT Kharagpur participated to discuss the developments and advancements for the future of networks and communication.

AI and compute research are vital to Ericsson’s 6G networks as the compute offload needs to be managed dynamically at the edge and the policies would be primarily driven by AI. These themes of research are well aligned with IIT Kharagpur’s expertise and vision. Both organizations view this partnership as a way to push the boundaries of fundamental and applied research in the radio domain.

Virendra Kumar Tewari, Director of IIT Kharagpur, says: “In the commitment towards Digital India and making India the hub of technological innovation, this collaboration with Ericsson will be effective for next-generation technology significantly. 6G networks integrated with artificial intelligence will enable AI-powered applications to run faster and more efficiently. In the 6G era, IIT Kharagpur aims to contribute to Radio Access Technology and Network, Core Network, RF & Device Technologies, VLSI Design, Neuromorphic Signal Processing, Services and Applications. The institute also looks forward to participate in Telecommunications Standardization Process, Developing Test Beds, Prototype Development and Commercialization along with training and manpower development. This collaborative research partnership in fundamental areas as well as translational research will be transformational for our Future Network Platforms.”

Magnus Frodigh, Head of Ericsson Research, says: “This collaboration strengthens our R&D commitments in India and is pivotal to Radio, Compute and AI research. We are excited to partner with IIT Kharagpur and look forward to collaborative research in fundamental areas as well as translational research for our Future Network Platforms”. Dr Frodigh also presented Ericsson’s vision on 6G which aims to blend the physical and digital worlds enabling us to improve the quality of life by incorporating widespread Sensor-based communications between humans and machines through digital twins.

Some of the key initiatives finalized by both the organizations include:

• Compute offload and Resource Optimization at edge compute: The project aims to explore resource optimization, dynamic observability and sustainable distributed and Edge computing technologies.
• Causal AI methods for joint communication-sensing: The project aims to explore causal AI methods to jointly optimize communication and sensing technologies.