Professors Receive Funding from Samsung to Develop Intelligent 5G Cell-Planning Technologies

KU EECS Assistant Professor Taejoon Kim is leading an effort funded by Samsung to eliminate cost concerns that threaten the deployment of 5G millimeter wave (mmWave) cellular communications.

Wireless providers facing challenges with the expensive deployment and maintenance of small-cell base stations (BSs), which has been catalyzed by the proliferation of smartphones and other mobile devices and the explosion of data-intensive 5G use cases. The increase in demand may soon cause significant financial strain on wireless operators as they upgrade urban and rural wireless infrastructure. “It is a very big and important problem faced by the wireless industry,” said Kim, who is the principal investigator (PI) of the KU effort.

The KU and Samsung research teams are tackling this problem by introducing cognitive and intelligent cell planning technologies. The KU researchers have recently created a small-scale version of just such an intelligent cell planning tool by using the GPU-cluster (graphics processing unit) capabilities housed at KU’s Information and Telecommunication Technology Center (ITTC). The KU team is also investigating on-line machine learning applications with the aim of innovating current cell-design practices by bringing the benefits of real-time decision making to adaptively reconfigure 5G small-cells. This includes techniques for cognitive radio planning, reinforcement learning and array antenna parameter tuning. This research collaboration will demonstrate a pathway for the adoption of new 5G frameworks in industry and academia. EECS Professor Erik Perrins is a co-investigator on this project.