Towards a Dynamic Future with Adaptable Computing and Network Convergence (ACNC)

In the context of advancing 6G, a substantial paradigm shift is anticipated, highlighting comprehensive everything-to-everything interactions characterized by numerous connections and stringent adherence to Quality of Service/Experience (QoS/E) prerequisites. The imminent challenge stems from resource scarcity, prompting a deliberate transition to Computing-Network Convergence (CNC) as an auspicious approach for joint resource orchestration. While CNC-based mechanisms have garnered attention, their effectiveness in realizing future services, particularly in use cases like the Metaverse, may encounter limitations due to the continually changing nature of users, services, and resources. Hence, this paper presents the concept of Adaptable CNC (ACNC) as an autonomous Machine Learning (ML)-aided mechanism crafted for the joint orchestration of computing and network resources, catering to dynamic and voluminous user requests with stringent requirements. ACNC encompasses two primary functionalities: state recognition and context detection. Given the intricate nature of the user-service-computing-network space, the paper employs dimension reduction to generate live, holistic, abstract system states in a hierarchical structure. To address the challenges posed by dynamic changes, Continual Learning (CL) is employed, classifying the system state into contexts controlled by dedicated ML agents, enabling them to operate efficiently. These two functionalities are intricately linked within a closed loop overseen by the End-to-End (E2E) orchestrator to allocate resources. The paper introduces the components of ACNC, proposes a Metaverse scenario to exemplify ACNC's role in resource provisioning with Segment Routing v6 (SRv6), outlines ACNC's workflow, details a numerical analysis for efficiency assessment, and concludes with discussions on relevant challenges and potential avenues for future research.

ORIENT: A Priority-Aware Energy-Efficient Approach for Latency-Sensitive Applications in 6G

Anticipation for 6G's arrival comes with growing concerns about increased energy consumption in computing and networking. The expected surge in connected devices and resource-demanding applications presents unprecedented challenges for energy resources. While sustainable resource allocation strategies have been discussed in the past, these efforts have primarily focused on single-domain orchestration or ignored the unique requirements posed by 6G. To address this gap, we investigate the joint problem of service instance placement and assignment, path selection, and request prioritization, dubbed PIRA. The objective function is to maximize the system's overall profit as a function of the number of concurrently supported requests while simultaneously minimizing energy consumption over an extended period of time. In addition, end-to-end latency requirements and resource capacity constraints are considered for computing and networking resources, where queuing theory is utilized to estimate the Age of Information (AoI) for requests. After formulating the problem in a non-linear fashion, we prove its NP-hardness and propose a method, denoted ORIENT. This method is based on the Double Dueling Deep Q-Learning (D3QL) mechanism and leverages Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) for state encoding. Extensive numerical simulations demonstrate that ORIENT yields near-optimal solutions for varying system sizes and request counts.

A Semantic-Aware Multiple Access Scheme for Distributed, Dynamic 6G-Based Applications

The emergence of the semantic-aware paradigm presents opportunities for innovative services, especially in the context of 6G-based applications. Although significant progress has been made in semantic extraction techniques, the incorporation of semantic information into resource allocation decision-making is still in its early stages, lacking consideration of the requirements and characteristics of future systems. In response, this paper introduces a novel formulation for the problem of multiple access to the wireless spectrum. It aims to optimize the utilization-fairness trade-off, using the $\alpha$-fairness metric, while accounting for user data correlation by introducing the concepts of self- and assisted throughputs. Initially, the problem is analyzed to identify its optimal solution. Subsequently, a Semantic-Aware Multi-Agent Double and Dueling Deep Q-Learning (SAMA-D3QL) technique is proposed. This method is grounded in Model-free Multi-Agent Deep Reinforcement Learning (MADRL), enabling the user equipment to autonomously make decisions regarding wireless spectrum access based solely on their local individual observations. The efficiency of the proposed technique is evaluated through two scenarios: single-channel and multi-channel. The findings illustrate that, across a spectrum of $\alpha$ values, association matrices, and channels, SAMA-D3QL consistently outperforms alternative approaches. This establishes it as a promising candidate for facilitating the realization of future federated, dynamically evolving applications.

QoS-Aware Service Prediction and Orchestration in Cloud-Network Integrated Beyond 5G

Novel applications such as the Metaverse have highlighted the potential of beyond 5G networks, which necessitate ultra-low latency communications and massive broadband connections. Moreover, the burgeoning demand for such services with ever-fluctuating users has engendered a need for heightened service continuity consideration in B5G. To enable these services, the edge-cloud paradigm is a potential solution to harness cloud capacity and effectively manage users in real time as they move across the network. However, edge-cloud networks confront a multitude of limitations, including networking and computing resources that must be collectively managed to unlock their full potential. This paper addresses the joint problem of service placement and resource allocation in a network-cloud integrated environment while considering capacity constraints, dynamic users, and end-to-end delays. We present a non-linear programming model that formulates the optimization problem with the aiming objective of minimizing overall cost while enhancing latency. Next, to address the problem, we introduce a DDQL-based technique using RNNs to predict user behavior, empowered by a water-filling-based algorithm for service placement. The proposed framework adeptly accommodates the dynamic nature of users, the placement of services that mandate ultra-low latency in B5G, and service continuity when users migrate from one location to another. Simulation results show that our solution provides timely responses that optimize the network's potential, offering a scalable and efficient placement.

Double Deep Q-Learning-based Path Selection and Service Placement for Latency-Sensitive Beyond 5G Applications

Nowadays, as the need for capacity continues to grow, entirely novel services are emerging. A solid cloud-network integrated infrastructure is necessary to supply these services in a real-time responsive, and scalable way. Due to their diverse characteristics and limited capacity, communication and computing resources must be collaboratively managed to unleash their full potential. Although several innovative methods have been proposed to orchestrate the resources, most ignored network resources or relaxed the network as a simple graph, focusing only on cloud resources. This paper fills the gap by studying the joint problem of communication and computing resource allocation, dubbed CCRA, including function placement and assignment, traffic prioritization, and path selection considering capacity constraints and quality requirements, to minimize total cost. We formulate the problem as a non-linear programming model and propose two approaches, dubbed B\&B-CCRA and WF-CCRA, based on the Branch \& Bound and Water-Filling algorithms to solve it when the system is fully known. Then, for partially known systems, a Double Deep Q-Learning (DDQL) architecture is designed. Numerical simulations show that B\&B-CCRA optimally solves the problem, whereas WF-CCRA delivers near-optimal solutions in a substantially shorter time. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that DDQL-CCRA obtains near-optimal solutions in the absence of request-specific information.

Self-Sustaining Multiple Access with Continual Deep Reinforcement Learning for Dynamic Metaverse Applications

The Metaverse is a new paradigm that aims to create a virtual environment consisting of numerous worlds, each of which will offer a different set of services. To deal with such a dynamic and complex scenario, considering the stringent quality of service requirements aimed at the 6th generation of communication systems (6G), one potential approach is to adopt self-sustaining strategies, which can be realized by employing Adaptive Artificial Intelligence (Adaptive AI) where models are continually re-trained with new data and conditions. One aspect of self-sustainability is the management of multiple access to the frequency spectrum. Although several innovative methods have been proposed to address this challenge, mostly using Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL), the problem of adapting agents to a non-stationary environment has not yet been precisely addressed. This paper fills in the gap in the current literature by investigating the problem of multiple access in multi-channel environments to maximize the throughput of the intelligent agent when the number of active User Equipments (UEs) may fluctuate over time. To solve the problem, a Double Deep Q-Learning (DDQL) technique empowered by Continual Learning (CL) is proposed to overcome the non-stationary situation, while the environment is unknown. Numerical simulations demonstrate that, compared to other well-known methods, the CL-DDQL algorithm achieves significantly higher throughputs with a considerably shorter convergence time in highly dynamic scenarios.