Keynotes
In addition to scientific papers, the MSWiM 2025 program includes distinguished Keynote Speakers.
Title: Agentic AI for Mobile Connected Systems - Leveraging Small and Large Language Models (SLMs and LLMs) for Disrupting the Telecoms Ecosystem
Prof. Xavier Costa,
NEC Lab, Barcelona
Abstract: This keynote presents a bold, transformative vision for the future of mobile connected systems based on Agentic AI. We will delve into our research on leveraging Small and Large Language Models (SLMs and LLMs) to create a new generation of intelligent, autonomous mobile networks. As a foundational proof-of-concept, we will introduce "TelecomRAG," a novel framework using Retrieval-Augmented Generation that enables LLMs to understand and reason over complex telecommunication standards with high precision and verifiability. Building on this, the talk will explore how to unlock the disruptive potential of Agentic AI to fundamentally reshape the design, deployment, and evolution of future connected systems.
Short Bio: Xavier Costa-Pérez is an ICREA Research Professor and Scientific Director at the i2cat Research Center, concurrently leading 6G R&D at NEC Laboratories Europe. His research spearheads the digital transformation of society through the convergence of Mobile Networks and Artificial Intelligence. His team consistently delivers impactful research, evidenced by publications in top-tier scientific venues and numerous awards for successful technology transfers. He actively secures funding through internal and external competitive R&D programs and contributed significantly to standardization bodies, including 3GPP, O-RAN, ETSI, and IETF. Notably, his innovations have been integrated into commercial mobile phones, base stations, and network management systems, and have spurred the creation of multiple start-ups. Dr. Costa-Pérez has held various leadership roles across industry and research, including Deputy General Manager, Chief Researcher, and member of Technology and Scientific Advisory Boards. He is a recognized contributor to multiple standard specifications who actively participated in bodies such as IEEE 802.11, 802.16, WiFi Alliance, and 3GPP. He has also served on organizing committees for prominent conferences (e.g., ACM MOBICOM, IEEE INFOCOM) and as an Editor for leading journals like IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing (TMC), IEEE Transactions on Communications (TCOM), as well as Elsevier Computer Communications (COMCOM). Dr. Costa-Pérez holds M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Telecommunications from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), receiving a national award for his doctoral thesis. He has authored approximately 200 research publications and holds 100 granted patents.
Title: Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) Virtualization with Shared Heterogeneous Computing
Prof. Albert Banchs,
University Carlos III of Madrid and Director ov IMDEA Networks Research Institute
Abstract: Open and virtualized Radio Access Networks (vRANs) are breeding a new market with unprecedented opportunities. However, carrier-grade vRANs today are expensive and energy-hungry, as they rely on hardware accelerators (HAs) that are dedicated to individual distributed units (DUs). In this talk, we advocate for a paradigm shift in the design of vRANs, where we share pools of heterogeneous processors among DUs. This enables cost savings resulting from resource pooling, in addition to reducing operating costs by efficiently scheduling different tasks across different processors. The talk will address the challenges involved in deploying such a paradigm, involving the coordination between DUs and heterogeneous computing infrastructure as well as the design of compute-aware radio scheduling leveraging AI techniques. Performance evaluation results will be discussed for different processor platforms ranging from GPUs, CPUs and Quantum computing. Finally, a discussion on future work will include the seamless combination of in-line and look-aside HAs in a common platform.
Short Bio: Dr. Albert Banchs received his Telecommunications Engineering degree from UPC BarcelonaTech, Spain, in 1997, and the PhD degree from the same university in 2002. He was a visitor researcher at ICSI, Berkeley, CA, in 1997, worked for Telefonica I+D, Spain, in 1998, and for the Network Laboratories of NEC Europe Ltd., Germany, from 1998 to 2003. Since 2003, he is with Univeristy Carlos III of Madrid. Since 2009, he also has a double affiliation with the IMDEA Networks research institute, where he is currently the institute's director. He was Academic Guest at ETHZ in 2012, a Visiting Professor at EPFL in 2013, 2015 and 2018, and a Fulbright scholar at University of Texas at Austin in 2019. Dr. Banchs authors more than 150 conference and journal papers, has been editor for IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking, IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications (2014-2019), the Green Networking and Communication Series of IEEE JSAC (2015-2016), Computer Communications (2010-2014) and IEEE Communications Letters (2005-2012) and has served in many conference TPCs. Prof. Albert Banchs has been a key contributor to many EU projects. He was the coordintor of two projects (FP7 ICT CARMEN and FP7 ICT iJOIN), the Technical manager of the H2020 5G-MoNArch project, Deputy Technical Manager of the H2020 5G-TOURS project and is currently Deputy Technical Manager of the H2020 SUSTAIN-6G project. Dr. Banchs has also been the principal investigator of many industry contracts with major manufacturers, network operators and SMEs. He is the inventor of 9 patents and authors a number of standardization proposals at the IETF and the IEEE. He was an IEEE Distinguished Lecturer in 2016-2017.