Efficient resource management is critical for Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTNs) to provide consistent, high-quality service in remote and under-served regions. While traditional single-point prediction methods, such as Long-Short Term Memory (LSTM), have been used in terrestrial networks, they often fall short in NTNs due to the complexity of satellite dynamics, signal latency and coverage variability. Probabilistic forecasting, which quantifies the uncertainties of the predictions, is a robust alternative. In this paper, we evaluate the application of probabilistic forecasting techniques, in particular SFF, to NTN resource allocation scenarios. Our results show their effectiveness in predicting bandwidth and capacity requirements in different NTN segments of probabilistic forecasting compared to single-point prediction techniques such as LSTM. The results show the potential of black probabilistic forecasting models to provide accurate and reliable predictions and to quantify their uncertainty, making them indispensable for optimizing NTN resource allocation. At the end of the paper, we also present application scenarios and a standardization roadmap for the use of probabilistic forecasting in integrated Terrestrial Network (TN)-NTN environments.

--Environment sensing and fusion via onboard sensors are envisioned to be widely applied in future autonomous driving networks. This paper considers a vehicular system with multiple self-driving vehicles that is assisted by multi-access edge computing (MEC), where image data collected by the sensors is offloaded from cellular vehicles to the MEC server using vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) links. Sensory data can also be shared among surrounding vehicles via vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication links. T o improve spectrum utilization, the V2V links may reuse the same frequency spectrum with V2I links, which may cause severe interference. T o tackle this issue, we leverage reconfigurable intelligent computational surfaces (RICSs) to jointly enable V2I reflective links and mitigate interference appearing at the V2V links. Considering the limitations of traditional algorithms in addressing this problem, such as the assumption for quasi-static channel state information, which restricts their ability to adapt to dynamic environmental changes and leads to poor performance under frequently varying channel conditions, in this paper, we formulate the problem at hand as a Markov game. Our novel formulation is applied to time-varying channels subject to multi-user interference and introduces a collaborative learning mechanism among users. The considered optimization problem is solved via a driving safety-enabled multi-agent deep reinforcement learning (DS-MADRL) approach that capitalizes on the RICS presence. Our extensive numerical investigations showcase that the proposed reinforcement learning approach achieves faster convergence and significant enhancements in both data rate and driving safety, as compared to various state-of-the-art benchmarks. NTRODUCTION X. Zhang and B. Y ang are with the School of Computer Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710129, China (email: yang bo@nwpu.edu.cn, Z. Y u is with the School of Computer Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710129, China, and Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, Heilongjiang, 150001, China (email: zhiwenyu@nwpu.edu.cn). X. Cao is with the School of Cyber Engineering, Xidian University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710071, China (email: caoxuelin@xidian.edu.cn). G. C. Alexandropoulos is with the Department of Informatics and Telecommunications, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 16122 Athens, Greece (email: alexandg@di.uoa.gr). Zhang is with the Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, 0316 Oslo, Norway (email: anzhang@ieee.org).

5G mobile networks introduce a new dimension for connecting and operating mobile robots in outdoor environments, leveraging cloud-native and offloading features of 5G networks to enable fully flexible and collaborative cloud robot operations. However, the limited battery life of robots remains a significant obstacle to their effective adoption in real-world exploration scenarios. This paper explores, via field experiments, the potential energy-saving gains of OROS, a joint orchestration of 5G and Robot Operating System (ROS) that coordinates multiple 5G-connected robots both in terms of navigation and sensing, as well as optimizes their cloud-native service resource utilization while minimizing total resource and energy consumption on the robots based on real-time feedback. We designed, implemented and evaluated our proposed OROS in an experimental testbed composed of commercial off-the-shelf robots and a local 5G infrastructure deployed on a campus. The experimental results demonstrated that OROS significantly outperforms state-of-the-art approaches in terms of energy savings by offloading demanding computational tasks to the 5G edge infrastructure and dynamic energy management of on-board sensors (e.g., switching them off when they are not needed). This strategy achieves approximately 15% energy savings on the robots, thereby extending battery life, which in turn allows for longer operating times and better resource utilization.

Autonomous vehicle (AV) control systems increasingly rely on ML models for tasks such as perception and planning. Current practice is to run these models on the car's local hardware due to real-time latency constraints and reliability concerns, which limits model size and thus accuracy. Prior work has observed that we could augment current systems by running larger models in the cloud, relying on faster cloud runtimes to offset the cellular network latency. However, prior work does not account for an important practical constraint: limited cellular bandwidth. We show that, for typical bandwidth levels, proposed techniques for cloud-augmented AV models take too long to transfer data, thus mostly falling back to the on-car models and resulting in no accuracy improvement. In this work, we show that realizing cloud-augmented AV models requires intelligent use of this scarce bandwidth, i.e. carefully allocating bandwidth across tasks and providing multiple data compression and model options. We formulate this as a resource allocation problem to maximize car utility, and present our system \sysname which achieves an increase in average model accuracy by up to 15 percentage points on driving scenarios from the Waymo Open Dataset.

Reinforcement learning in non-stationary environments is challenging due to abrupt and unpredictable changes in dynamics, often causing traditional algorithms to fail to converge. However, in many real-world cases, non-stationarity has some structure that can be exploited to develop algorithms and facilitate theoretical analysis. We introduce one such structure, Switching Non-Stationary Markov Decision Processes (SNS-MDP), where environments switch over time-based on an underlying Markov chain. Under a fixed policy, the value function of an SNS-MDP admits a closed-form solution determined by the Markov chain's statistical properties, and despite the inherent non-stationarity, Temporal Difference (TD) learning methods still converge to the correct value function. Furthermore, policy improvement can be performed, and it is shown that policy iteration converges to the optimal policy. Moreover, since Q-learning converges to the optimal Q-function, it likewise yields the corresponding optimal policy. To illustrate the practical advantages of SNS-MDPs, we present an example in communication networks where channel noise follows a Markovian pattern, demonstrating how this framework can effectively guide decision-making in complex, time-varying contexts.

Onsite bandwidth reservation requests often face challenges such as price fluctuations and fairness issues due to unpredictable bandwidth availability and stringent latency requirements. Requesting bandwidth in advance can mitigate the impact of these fluctuations and ensure timely access to critical resources. In a multi-Mobile Network Operator (MNO) environment, vehicles need to select cost-effective and reliable resources for their safety-critical applications. This research aims to minimize resource costs by finding the best price among multiple MNOs. It formulates multi-operator scenarios as a Markov Decision Process (MDP), utilizing a Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) algorithm, specifically Dueling Deep Q-Learning. For efficient and stable learning, we propose a novel area-wise approach and an adaptive MDP synthetic close to the real environment. The Temporal Fusion Transformer (TFT) is used to handle time-dependent data and model training. Furthermore, the research leverages Amazon spot price data and adopts a multi-phase training approach, involving initial training on synthetic data, followed by real-world data. These phases enable the DRL agent to make informed decisions using insights from historical data and real-time observations. The results show that our model leads to significant cost reductions, up to 40%, compared to scenarios without a policy model in such a complex environment.

The existing segment routing (SR) methods need to determine the routing first and then use path segmentation approaches to select swap nodes to form a segment routing path (SRP). They require re-segmentation of the path when the routing changes. Furthermore, they do not consider the flow table issuance time, which cannot maximize the speed of issuance flow table. To address these issues, this paper establishes an optimization model that can simultaneously form routing strategies and path segmentation strategies for selecting the appropriate swap nodes to reduce flow table issuance time. It also designs an intelligent segment routing algorithm based on deep reinforcement learning (DRL-SR) to solve the proposed model. First, a traffic matrix is designed as the state space for the deep reinforcement learning agent; this matrix includes multiple QoS performance indicators, flow table issuance time overhead and SR label stack depth. Second, the action selection strategy and corresponding reward function are designed, where the agent selects the next node considering the routing; in addition, the action selection strategy whether the newly added node is selected as the swap node and the corresponding reward function are designed considering the time cost factor for the controller to issue the flow table to the swap node. Finally, a series of experiments and their results show that, compared with the existing methods, the designed segmented route optimization model and the intelligent solution algorithm (DRL-SR) can reduce the time overhead required to complete the segmented route establishment task while optimizing performance metrics such as throughput, delays and packet losses.

Because of sanctions that will prevent Huawei's latest foldable from going on sale in the US, many folks who are interested in the handset will never lay eyes on it in person. Still, you might want to get a load of this oddity. The Pura X should maybe have a "wide load" warning that pops up on the back once it's opened up. Per CNBC, the 6.3-inch display has a 16:10 aspect ratio. That means it's wider and more tablet-like than most other phones.

SoftBank Group has agreed to acquire semiconductor designer Ampere Computing in a move that further broadens the Japanese investment firm's push into artificial intelligence infrastructure. SoftBank is buying Ampere in an all-cash transaction that values the Santa Clara, California-based firm at 6.5 billion, according to a statement. The deal for Ampere, whose early backers included Oracle and private equity firm Carlyle Group, adds to a wave of chip companies looking to capitalize on a spending boom in AI.

Computer networks are the foundation of modern digital infrastructure, facilitating global communication and data exchange. As demand for reliable high-bandwidth connectivity grows, advanced network modeling techniques become increasingly essential to optimize performance and predict network behavior. Traditional modeling methods, such as packet-level simulators and queueing theory, have notable limitations --either being computationally expensive or relying on restrictive assumptions that reduce accuracy. In this context, the deep learning-based RouteNet family of models has recently redefined network modeling by showing an unprecedented cost-performance trade-off. In this work, we revisit RouteNet's sophisticated design and uncover its hidden connection to Topological Deep Learning (TDL), an emerging field that models higher-order interactions beyond standard graph-based methods. We demonstrate that, although originally formulated as a heterogeneous Graph Neural Network, RouteNet serves as the first instantiation of a new form of TDL. More specifically, this paper presents OrdGCCN, a novel TDL framework that introduces the notion of ordered neighbors in arbitrary discrete topological spaces, and shows that RouteNet's architecture can be naturally described as an ordered topological neural network. To the best of our knowledge, this marks the first successful real-world application of state-of-the-art TDL principles --which we confirm through extensive testbed experiments--, laying the foundation for the next generation of ordered TDL-driven applications.