CCRI: Planning: Collaborative Proposal: Tools and Research Priority Analyses for Development of Open-Source AI-Enabled Control and Testing Framework for 6G Cellular Research

5G（第五代）无线被称为无线网络灵活性的革命。5G和6G以后可能会以利用智能来利用灵活性而闻名。无线研究活动在各个领域都利用了人工智能（AI），但基于人工智能的算法在无线网络中的实际实现相对较少。该规划项目分析了研究重点、工具箱和接口的适用性，以开发实验性的人工智能支持的6G和测试框架，以刺激美国和全球的研究。这项规划工作的目标是分析和规划软件基础设施的设计和架构基础，以促进6G无线网络的实验研究、开发和教育。规划项目开展了两项独特的调查：(1)社区：了解社区平台应支持的高优先级研究需求，考虑来自学术界、工业界和政府的研究人员、从业人员和教育工作者的投入；(2)工具：评估现有的AI算法、工具箱，以及如何将它们与蜂窝架构和协议栈进行接口；因此，提出一个强大的设计，以便后续开发一个实用的开源人工智能控制和测试框架，用于6G蜂窝研究，可以在社区测试平台上运行。该规划奖将对6G研究平台的需求和潜力进行初步评估，该平台将用于密西西比州立大学、弗吉尼亚理工大学和其他地方的教育，目的是通过实践学习机会和可复制的实验案例研究来增强教育材料。该团队将通过多种方式与行业接触，包括机构的行业联盟成员/赞助商、先进无线研究平台（PAWR）行业联盟和无线创新论坛。该团队计划与标准化机构和监管机构联系，让他们了解这项研究的成果、设想的研究平台和潜在的用例，这些用例可以帮助支持与6G无线接入网络相关的重要标准化和监管决策。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

5G (5th Generation) wireless is known for a revolution in flexibility in wireless networks. Beyond 5G and 6G will likely be known for using intelligence to capitalize on flexibility. Wireless research activities have made use of artificial intelligence (AI) in various areas, but practical implementations of AI-based algorithms in wireless networks are relatively rare. This planning project analyzes the suitability of research priorities, toolboxes, and interfaces for the development of an experimental AI-enabled 6G and testing framework to spur US and global research. The goal of this planning effort is to analyze and lay out the design and architectural foundations of a software infrastructure that would spur experimental research, development and education on 6G wireless networks.The planning project develops two unique surveys: (1) Community: to understand the high-priority research needs that the community platform should support, considering inputs from researchers, practitioners and educators in academia, industry, and government; (2) Tools: to assess existing AI algorithms, toolboxes, and how to interface them with the cellular architecture and protocol stack; and thus, propose a robust design to enable the subsequent development of a practical open-source AI enabled control and testing framework for 6G cellular research that can run on community testbeds. This planning award will provide an initial assessment of the need and potentials of a 6G research platform for use in education at Mississippi State University, Virginia Tech, and elsewhere with the goal of enhancing educational material with hands-on learning opportunities and reproducible experimental case studies. The team will reach out to industry through several means, including institutions' industry affiliation members/sponsors, the PAWR (Platform for Advanced Wireless Research) industry consortium, and the Wireless Innovation Forum. The team plans to reach out to standardization bodies and regulators to make them aware of the outcomes of this study, the envisaged research platform and potential use cases that can help support important standardization and regulatory decisions related to 6G radio access networks.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.