Panel
AI-enhanced 6G: Hype or Reality?
Abstract: As we move towards the next generation of mobile networks, the integration of AI into 6G promises to revolutionize the way we connect, communicate, and interact with technology. AI is expected to play a pivotal role in enhancing network capabilities, from intelligent resource management and automated network optimization to the creation of new, AI-driven services that were previously unimaginable. However, with great potential comes great complexity, and the path to AI-enhanced 6G has many technical, ethical, and operational challenges. This panel brings together experts from leading organizations to explore whether the promise of AI in 6G is truly achievable or if it remains largely aspirational. Together, they will discuss the role of AI in shaping 6G, the hurdles that must be overcome, and what it will take to turn the hype into reality.
Moderator
Dragan Samardzija
(Nokia Bell Labs, USA)
Bio: Dragan Samardzija received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering and computer science in 1996 from the University of Novi Sad, Serbia, and the M.S and Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from Wireless Information Network Laboratory (WINLAB), Rutgers University, USA, in 2000 and 2004, respectively. Since 2000 he has been with Bell Labs, working on the next generation wireless systems. His research interests include analysis, design, and experimental evaluation of radio access solutions. He has been focusing on 5G and 6G software and hardware implementation platforms (ASICs, SoCs, CPUs and GPUs) and Cloud RAN. Digital and mixed-signal compute platforms for Extreme Massive MIMO and AI are of his recent interest, Dragan is currently managing research work at four international Nokia Bell Labs locations. He received the Bell Labs Fellow award in 2017. He taught a number of courses, including at Columbia University, and held numerous technical workshops around the world. He authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications and numerous patents granted and pending.
Panelists
Jean-Claude Belfiore
(Huawei France Research Center, France)
Bio: Jean-Claude Belfiore is the director of the Advanced Wireless Technology Lab at Huawei France Research Center. Jean-Claude received the Engineering degree from Supelec, the PhD from Telecom Paris and the Habilitation from University Pierre et Marie Curie. He was first enrolled in Alcatel and then at Telecom Paris where he became a full Professor, before joining the Huawei France Research Center in 2015.
As a professor, he has carried out research in the fields of wireless communications, coding for wireless networks, space-time coding and coding for physical layer security. In Huawei, he participated to the standardization of polar codes for 5G and is now working on 6G, especially on Native AI and semantics.
Jean-Claude Belfiore has made pioneering contributions on signal design for wireless communication systems, space-time coding, cooperative and multi-user communications. He is the co-inventor of the celebrated Golden Code and got the 2007 Blondel medal. He is author or co-author of more than 200 technical papers and communications and he has served as advisor for more than 30 Ph D. thesis.
Eric Hardouin
(Orange Innovation, France)
Bio: Eric Hardouin the Orange research on Networks and Infrastructures, which investigates future access and core networks, infrastructures and their information systems, to provide ambient connectivity and distributed computing power that are cost effective, inclusive, sustainable and source of value for the society. Eric received his Ph.D. degree in signal processing and telecommunications from Telecom Bretagne and the University of Rennes 1, France, in 2004. Since 2004, he has been with Orange, where he conducted research on interference mitigation for mobile networks. Between 2008 and 2013 he represented Orange in the physical layer standardization group of 3GPP (RAN WG1) for HSPA, LTE and LTE-Advanced. From 2012 to 2015, Eric coordinated the research on wireless networks in Orange. From 2016 to 2022, Eric led the Orange research on future access and transport networks and technologies, as well as related business models.
Eric had a leading role in the NGMN 5G White Paper, as co-lead of the work on 5G requirements. Eric is the author of the book “LTE et les réseaux 4G” (in French).
Jakob Hoydis
(Principal Research Scientist at NVIDIA, France )
Bio: Jakob Hoydis is a Principal Research Scientist at NVIDIA working on the intersection of machine learning and wireless communications. Prior to this, he was Head of a research department at Nokia Bell Labs, France, and co-founder of the social network SPRAED. He obtained the diploma degree in electrical engineering from RWTH Aachen University, Germany, and the Ph.D. degree from Supéléc, France. From 2019-2021, he was chair of the IEEE COMSOC Emerging Technology Initiative on Machine Learning as well as Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications. Since 2019, he is Area Editor of the IEEE JSAC Series on Machine Learning in Communications and Networks.
He is recipient of the 2019 VTG IDE Johann-Philipp-Reis Prize, the 2019 IEEE SEE Glavieux Prize, the 2018 IEEE Marconi Prize Paper Award, the 2015 IEEE Leonard G. Abraham Prize, the IEEE WCNC 2014 Best Paper Award, the 2013 VDE ITG Förderpreis Award, and the 2012 Publication Prize of the Supéléc Foundation. He has received the 2018 Nokia AI Innovation Award, as well as the 2018 and 2019 Nokia France Top Inventor Awards. He is a co-author of the textbook “Massive MIMO Networks: Spectral, Energy, and Hardware Efficiency” (2017). He is a 2023 Distinguished Industry Speaker of the IEEE Signal Processing Society as well as an IEEE Fellow.He is one of the maintainers and core developers of Sionna, a GPU-accelerated open-source link-level simulator for next-generation communication systems.
Stefano Secci
(CNAM, France)
Bio: Stefano Secci is currently a Full professor at Cnam Paris, France, responsible of the teaching and research activities in networking, as Leader of Networks and IoT team. Previously, he has been an Associate Professor with the University Pierre and Marie Curie (Paris VI, Sorbonne University). He has also been a postdoc at George Mason University and a Research Fellow NTNU, Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, and Politecnico di Milano. Stefano holds a dual Ph.D. degree in computer networks from Politecnico di Milano, Italy and Telecom ParisTech, France. Before his PhD, he was a Network Engineer with Fastweb Italia and CNIT, Italy. He initially got a telecommunication engineering degree from Politecnico di Milano, Italy.
Stefano has been the Chair of the Internet Technical Committee, joint between the IEEE Communication Society and the Internet Society.
Alvaro Valcarce Rial
(Nokia Bell Labs, France)
Bio: Alvaro Valcarce is Head on Wireless AI Research at Nokia Bell Labs, France, where he focuses on the application of reinforcement learning to L2 and L3 problems for the development of beyond 5G technologies. He was previously a system engineer with Node-H GmbH, where he developed Self Organising Networks (SON) algorithms for LTE small-cells. He received his PhD in 2010 from the University of Bedfordshire and his background is on cellular networks, optimization algorithms, computational electromagnetics, and satcom.