Enabling Industrial Automation via Intelligent 5G System

Ericsson Research
Ericsson Researchis the central research organization
within the Ericsson group. We are about 600 researchers
in many countries with the central site in Kista, Stockholm.
Our mission is to provide Ericsson with system concepts,
technology, and methodology, to secure long term
competitive product provisioning. World-class innovation
is achieved through cooperation within Ericsson and with
partners, customers, universities, and research institutes.

For more information, see

https://www.ericsson.com/en/tech-innovation/research.

Background
The fourth industry revolution (Industry 4.0) depends on
the incorporation of cyber physical systems, Internet of
Things, cloud computing, and cognitive computing. A main pillar of realizing full industrial automation is
thewireless connectivity among industrial robots and nodes.Industrial automation, including factory
automation, is considered as the main driver for time sensitive networks (TSN).Determinismis one of the main
characteristics of TSN traffic. Deterministic traffic is service-centric that aims at optimizing service parameters,
zero congestion loss, bounded latency and in-time delivery, that are ensured by appropriate resources
allocation. However, traditional traffic is network-centric with the aim to optimize network utilization, maximum
throughput, and acceptedmean delay.Hence, deterministic periodic TSN traffic can be considered as a
predictable type of traffic requiring ultra-reliable and low-latency communication (URLLC) solutions.The
realization of industrial radio connectivity requires the ability to support the operation of mixed traffics
incorporating TSN, mobile broadband (MBB) and traffic generated by industrial sensors. It is expected that the
URLLC requirement can be met[1], however when mixing it with MBB traffic several spectral efficiency and
latency issues appear. Therefore, optimization of prioritization rules, scheduling, and grant configurations are
essential for such mixed operation. That is, meeting the latency/reliability requirement of URLLC portion of the
traffic while enhancing the spectral efficiency of the MBB portion of the traffic is an important challenge. Such
optimization requires the wireless network to be aware of traffic attributes, e.g. latency bound, periodicity and
pattern of arrival, max/min jitter tolerance, etc. This can be done via exchange of informationamong different
layers and entities or deploying an intelligent agent at the network side to predict such traffic characteristics.

Purpose
The aim of this thesis is to investigate 1) different flexible grants possibilities and its configurations, 2)Impact of
new QoS attributes and a way of exchanging such attributes, and 3) ways to mitigatejitter/miss-alignment
impact, to support the mixed services in industrial scenario.The tasks of this thesis include:
1. Studyinghow to assign a suitable grant(configured/dynamic), while consideringthe associate QoS
attributesof the TSN traffic.
2. Investigating such procedures in a radio simulator.
3. Propose a more flexible grant to accommodate mixed services and solve conflicting issues.
4. Evaluate the performance of such grantsagainst conventional grant in the specification.
5. (optional) If the above steps are successfully achieved, the student will investigate the possibility of
employing an intelligent agent at the gNB to predict the UE traffic pattern without having to signal such
pattern and evaluate the system performance.
Tasks and formal aspects
The project will be done at Ericsson Research in close cooperation with KTH in Kista. At Ericsson Research, the
student will have the chance to interact with top of the field researchers. The student is responsible for the
detailed problem and project descriptions and the thesis proposal documents. The research will focus on
system level simulations using a Java based simulator tool, the theoretical aspects of the work will mainly rely
on open sources, 3GPP specifications, and studies of published research papers (e.g. X. Jiang, "Low-Latency
Networking: Where Latency Lurks and How to Tame It",Proceedings of the IEEE, August 2018.)

The MSc thesis will be examined at KTH, by Gabor Fodor at The Royal Institute of Technology, School of
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS). The project corresponds to full time work of 20 weeks. The
examination is based on a written report, oral presentation and how the project is managed by the student. A
master thesis proposal seminar is scheduled after 6-8 weeks after the project commences.

Required background:
- Wireless networks or equivalent;
- Good background in Java.
- Course requirements must have been fulfilled for the degree project.

- Interest in or knowledge on business models.

- Good spoken and written English.

- Ability to perform studies and reports.

- Ability to do innovation.

- The candidate should be self-driven and able to initiate action.

- Ability to work independently, as well as collaborating in teams.

- Good presentation and communication skills.

Application
Applications should be submitted online in [2] or in Ericsson’s website.Applications should include a brief
personal statement, CV, and a list of grades. In the application, make sure to mention previous activities or
other projects that you consider relevant for the position. Suitable applicants will be interviewed as applications
are received.

Contacts
For more information, please contact Abdulrahman Alabbasi:abdulrahman.alabbasi@ericsson.com, Jonas
Kronander:jonas.kronander@ericsson.com.

References
[1]R1-1806443 - IMT-2020 self evaluation - Reliability in NR
[2] https://career2.successfactors.eu/sfcareer/jobreqcareer?jobId=260456&company=Ericsson&username