CONVERGE: A Multi-Agent Vision-Radio Architecture for xApps

Telecommunications and computer vision have evolved independently. With the emergence of high-frequency wireless links operating mostly in line-of-sight, visual data can help predict the channel dynamics by detecting obstacles and help overcoming them through beamforming or handover techniques. This paper proposes a novel architecture for delivering real-time radio and video sensing information to O-RAN xApps through a multi-agent approach, and introduces a new video function capable of generating blockage information for xApps, enabling Integrated Sensing and Communications. Experimental results show that the delay of sensing information remains under 1\,ms and that an xApp can successfully use radio and video sensing information to control the 5G/6G RAN in real-time.

Vision-Radio Experimental Infrastructure Architecture Towards 6G

Telecommunications and computer vision have evolved separately so far. Yet, with the shift to sub-terahertz (sub-THz) and terahertz (THz) radio communications, there is an opportunity to explore computer vision technologies together with radio communications, considering the dependency of both technologies on Line of Sight. The combination of radio sensing and computer vision can address challenges such as obstructions and poor lighting. Also, machine learning algorithms, capable of processing multimodal data, play a crucial role in deriving insights from raw and low-level sensing data, offering a new level of abstraction that can enhance various applications and use cases such as beamforming and terminal handovers. This paper introduces CONVERGE, a pioneering vision-radio paradigm that bridges this gap by leveraging Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC) to facilitate a dual "View-to-Communicate, Communicate-to-View" approach. CONVERGE offers tools that merge wireless communications and computer vision, establishing a novel Research Infrastructure (RI) that will be open to the scientific community and capable of providing open datasets. This new infrastructure will support future research in 6G and beyond concerning multiple verticals, such as telecommunications, automotive, manufacturing, media, and health.