Newsletter #4 (12/2024)
Partner News
Augmenta
Smart Agriculture Testbed: Real-World Deployment and Data Collection Kick Off!
We are thrilled to share that our Smart Agriculture testbed has made substantial strides in recent months. Following the successful completion of the initial phase in February, where we achieved a significant milestone with our drone prototype and established a robust communication link with the tractor in a simulated environment, we have now entered the crucial second phase.
Real-World Deployment Begins
As part of this pivotal stage, we have begun deploying the two-node system in real-world scenarios. Extensive testing in the field is currently happening, with our primary emphasis on establishing real-time communication between the drone and the tractor. This phase is essential for gathering the necessary data to train our MLSysOps models effectively.
Data Collection and Analysis
Data collection is at the heart of this phase, enabling us to fine-tune our models for optimal performance. The real-time data gathered from the field is invaluable in enhancing the precision and efficiency of our agricultural operations. This step not only marks a substantial leap for our testbed but also sets the stage for the project’s concluding year, where we aim to fully engage MLSysOps for real-time application optimization.
Preparing for the Final Phase
With the successful deployment and ongoing data collection, we are laying a solid foundation for the upcoming third and final phase. The insights gained from this real-world testing will be instrumental in ensuring that our system operates seamlessly and effectively in live agricultural environments.
The advancements made thus far are a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team, and we are excited about the possibilities that lie ahead.
Stay tuned for more updates!
IBM Next Generation Systems and Cloud Group visits UCD
As part of our ongoing collaboration, the IBM Next Generation Systems and Cloud research group visited UCD on the 11th of November where we discussed the MLSysOps project and potential for collaboration. The team from IBM also gave a guest lecture on the cloud computing module.
Events
MLSysOps at Smart City Expo World Congress 2024, in Barcelona
From the 5th to the 7th of November, Ubiwhere was at the Smart City Expo World Congress 2024 (SCEWC’24) with a stand at Hall P2 – Stand C-121, where the MLSysOps project was showcased as a key project to implement AI at the Edge. SCEWC’24 had over 25.000 attendees, from Public Entities like municipalities, startups, SMEs, established companies, researchers, academia and students. Ubiwhere showcased several computer vision use cases, such as the one that is being used in MLSysOps. It was highlighted to the attendees that some of the technology showcased is being developed in MLSysOps, giving emphasis to the project.
MLSysOps was at Open Innovation Week 2024
On October 14th, during the Open Innovation Week organized by NTT DATA Italia, the MLSysOps project was showcased in a presentation focused on the potential of 5G Standalone (SA) technology adoption in the enterprise market.
The event brought together representatives from leading companies, including Mediaset, Fastweb, Sky Italia, ACEA, IP Gruppo api, BNL BNP Paribas, and Crédit Agricole Bank Polska. Attendees also included a prominent mobile telecommunications operator in Italy, one of the country’s primary tower operators, a major international biomedical laser company, and a key player in the Aerospace, Defense, and Security sectors.
Additionally, members of the academic community, such as those from Università del Salento, were present, fostering dialogue between industry and academia on the transformative role of 5G technology.
MLSysOps was at ISM 2024
From 20 to 22 November, NTT DATA Italia participated in the 6th International Conference on Industry 4.0 and Smart Manufacturing (ISM) in Prague, Czech Republic. At the conference, NTT DATA Italia presented a paper titled “Optimizing 5G Networks for Low-Latency Communication: A Reinforcement Learning-Based Approach“, detailing the initial results of their joint research with the University of Calabria related to MLSysOps project.
The study focused on applying reinforcement learning (RL) algorithms to minimize latency in 5G networks, with a particular emphasis on edge selection in urban areas. Recognizing the critical role of latency reduction in enhancing network efficiency, the research leveraged real-time data processing and optimization strategies. The paper evaluated several RL algorithms to determine the most effective approach for latency optimization. The results indicated that the Deep Q-Network algorithm achieved superior performance with stable convergence, underscoring the importance of algorithmic selection and hyperparameter tuning in complex network optimization tasks. Therefore, the study highlighted the potential for future research to explore alternative configurations aimed at further optimizing 5G network performance and promoting sustainability.
The conference provided a valuable platform for NTT DATA Italia to share its innovative work furthering the development of next-generation network technologies for MLSysOps.
NTT Data was at AECC meeting in Berlin
On October the 23rd, NTT DATA Italia participated in the Demo session at the Automotive Edge Computing Consortium (AECC) meeting in Berlin, hosted by Toyota Motor Corporation, Toyota Motor Europe, and GSMA. NTT DATA Italia presented the vision for leveraging the GSMA Open Gateway to enhance vehicle mobility, focusing particularly on roaming and future applications of Federation among Communication Service Providers (CSPs) and Telematics Service Providers (TSPs). This approach facilitates seamless access to the best-matching Edge/MEC resources to meet the specific application needs of automotive OEMs.
The solution also emphasized the role of AI and ML technologies, which NTT DATA Italia is actively exploring within the MLSysOps Project as part of the EU Horizon projects. This innovative approach generated strong interest from external participants, including members of the 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) attending the AECC meeting.
SuperScienceMe 2024
EU Researcher Night at the University of Calabria
We were present at the “EU Corner” of the SuperScienceMe 2024 (27 Sept 2024) an event organized at the University of Calabria within the framework of European Researcher’s Night initiative! The ambition of the EU Researchers’ Night (an event running on the same time in dozens of European universities on the last Friday of September each year) is to bring the researchers closer to the general public, to increase the interest of young people in science and research career and to show how researchers’ work affects our daily lives, giving substance to the concept of citizen science.
During the day, Raffaele Gravina presented the objectives, ongoing activities, and current results of our project to the many interested attendees stopping by the project’s poster.
Demo of MLSysOps Far-Edge deployment mechanisms at EWSN 2024
Fraunhofer Portugal AICOS demonstrated its deployment mechanisms for the Far Edge at the 2024 International Conference on Embedded Wireless Systems and Networks (EWSN) in Abu Dhabi. During the demo session, Fraunhofer Portugal AICOS contextualized the developed framework and highlighted its capabilities and future steps, as well as its role in the scope of the MLSysOps project. The demo booth attracted several researchers with diverse backgrounds interested in understanding how we have addressed the various challenges of integrating Far-Edge devices into Kubernetes.
Invited talk at AIoTwin Summer School
Spyros Lalis (UTH) gave a talk about “Elevating Drones as first-class citizens in the Cloud-edge-IoT continuum” at the 2nd AIoTwin Summer School, which took place on the 16th and 17th of September in Dubrovnik. The talk presented some of the work done at UTH on drone-based systems and how drones can become part of computer-based system infrastructures to support various sensing/actuation applications. The talk included a short presentation of MLSysOps and the smart agriculture use case where a drone is used in tandem with a tractor to improve weed detection and reduce the usage of pesticides.
4th MLSysOps Plenary Meeting
The 4th MLSysOps Plenary meeting took place at Ubiwhere’s headquarters in Aveiro, Portugal on October 24-25, 2024. Two days of sharing information about the project, its technological advances, and the following steps to be taken.
Publications
- Joana Tirana, Spyros Lalis, Dimitris Chatzopoulos, “MP-SL: Multihop Parallel Split Learning”, January 2024.
- G. Polychronis, M. Koutsoubelias and S. Lalis, “Should I Stay or Should I Go: A Learning Approach for Drone-based Sensing Applications”, 6th International Workshop on Wireless Sensors and Drones in the Internet of Things (Wi-DroIT) co-located with the 20th International Conference on Distributed Computing in Smart Systems and the Internet of Things (DCOSS-IoT), Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, April 29-May 1, 2024, pp. 339-346.
- F. Mangione, V. Barbuto, C. Savaglio, G. Fortino, “A Generative AI-Driven Architecture for Intelligent Transportation Systems”, The 10th IEEE World Forum on Internet of Things (WFIoT2024), 10–13 November 2024, Ottawa, Canada.
- Andrea Pazienza, Ludovico Bozzolo, Domenico Mancuso, Massimiliano Rossi, Gianluca Aloi, Raffaele Gravina. “Optimizing 5G Networks for Low-Latency Communication: A Reinforcement Learning-Based Approach”, 6th International Conference on Industry 4.0 and Smart Manufacturing (ISM 2024), November 20-22, 2024, Prague, Czech Republic.
- Carlos Resende, João Oliveira, Filipe Sousa, Waldir Junior, Luis Almeida, “Demo: Managing Far-Edge Devices using Kubernetes“, 2024 International Conference on Embedded Wireless Systems and Networks (EWSN 2024), December 10-13, 2024, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
- Ildi Alla, Selma Yahia, Valeria Loscri, Hossien Eldeeb. Robust Device Authentication in Multi-Node Networks: ML-Assisted Hybrid PLA Exploiting Hardware Impairments. Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC), December 2024, Waikiki, Hawaii, USA.
Consortium
The “MLSysOps” Project is funded by the European Community’s Horizon Europe Programme under Grant Agreement #101092912.
Copyright © 2024, MLSysOps EU Project, All rights reserved.