GOALI: CNS: Medium: Communication-Computation Co-Design for Rural Connectivtiy and Intelligence under Nonuniformity: Modeling, Analysis, and Implementation

世界各地的城市社会已经开始依赖于可靠和高速的无线接入，以及它们可以提供给最终用户的智能数据驱动服务。然而，农村地区人口密度低，基础设施稀疏，这使得它们对网络连接投资的吸引力降低。第五代（5G）对垂直行业融合的支持进一步放大了城乡宽带接入的不平等。已经提出的提供农村宽带接入的技术并不是为了解决在这些环境中发现的通信和计算资源需求的不均匀性而设计的；例如，许多自动化农业服务将在白天的短时间内有严格的延迟要求，而住宅区则表现出传统的昼夜模式。本项目旨在通过建立一套核心方法，将农村连通性和计算设计协同起来，从而应对这一挑战。新兴的大规模多输入多输出（MIMO）技术与农村基础设施的分层数据处理架构设计相结合，以适应空间和时间需求变化。根据工业合作伙伴提供的大规模MIMO平台和无线设备设备进行了广泛的评估。该项目通过组建整合各院校本科生和研究生的研究团队，促进农村宽带和智能领域多元化劳动力队伍的发展。项目研究活动分为三个重点。推力1开发了非统一农村环境下的敏捷通信技术，解决了大规模MIMO基础设施的多用户管理和资源分配需求。这包括开发具有调度策略的新型网络控制算法，这些策略是为异构农村连接需求定制的。通过位置辅助信道表示技术降低了调度开销，进一步增强了算法的性能。推力2研究了农村非均匀性下计算任务的编排，重点是利用推力1提供的宽带连接建立智能农村数据处理架构。通过设备对设备通信和任务效用指标的联合优化，开发了旨在快速执行协作任务的农村设备集群之间分布数据处理的技术。数据处理和智能同步步骤在农村网络层次上的编排也被认为是根据任务需求的变化而调整的。推力3包括对推力1和推力2中方法的概念验证实现和测试。该系统采用了由工业合作伙伴设计的商业级混合大规模MIMO基站系统开发的测试平台。该项目由CNS和促进竞争研究的既定计划（EPSCoR）共同资助。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。

Urban societies throughout the world have come to depend on access to reliable and high-speed wireless, as well as the intelligent data-driven services they can deliver to end users. Low population densities and sparse infrastructure in rural areas, however, make them less attractive for investment in network connectivity. Fifth generation (5G)’s support for vertical industry integration has further magnified the broadband access inequalities between urban and rural environments. Technologies that have been proposed to provide rural broadband access are not designed to address the non-uniformity in demand for communication and computation resources that are found throughout these environments; for example, many automated farming services will have stringent delay requirements for short periods during the day while residential areas exhibit traditional diurnal patterns. This project aims to address this challenge by establishing a core set of methodologies that synergize the design of rural connectivity and computing. Emerging massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology is integrated with the design of hierarchical data processing architectures across the rural infrastructure to adapt based on spatial and temporal demand variations. Extensive evaluations are conducted based on a massive MIMO platform and wireless device equipment available from the industrial partner. The project contributes to the development of a diverse workforce in rural broadband and intelligence through the formation of research teams integrating undergraduate and graduate students across institutions.Project research activities are organized into three thrusts. Thrust 1 develops agile communication techniques under non-uniform rural settings, addressing the needs for multi-user management and resource allocation for massive MIMO infrastructure. This includes the development of novel network control algorithms with scheduling policies that are customized for heterogeneous rural connectivity needs. The developed algorithms are further enhanced by reducing scheduling overhead through position-aided channel representation techniques. Thrust 2 investigates the orchestration of computation tasks under rural non-uniformity, focusing on establishing intelligent rural data processing architectures leveraging the broadband connectivity provided by Thrust 1. Techniques for distributing data processing among clusters of rural devices aiming to execute collaborative tasks rapidly are developed via joint optimization of device-to-device communications and task utility metrics. The orchestration of data processing and intelligence synchronization steps along the rural network hierarchy is also considered to adapt based on task demand variations. Thrust 3 consists of proof-of-concept implementation and testing of the methodologies in Thrust 1&2. This employs a testbed developed leveraging a commercial-grade hybrid massive MIMO base station system engineered by the industrial partner. This project is jointly funded by CNS and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).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.