The radio access network (RAN) is all the RF part of a mobile network: towers, base stations, the signals between our phones and the towers, phone-to-satellite comms (non-terrestrial network or NTN).

AI-RAN uses AI/ML for adaptive behaviors and optimizations in all these links.

For example, fine-grained RF and modulation details, called the channel state information (CSI), is constantly being exchanged between a phone and a base station. The volume of information creates transmission latencies. Using autoencoder models, this information can be semantically compressed to reduce its volume and decoded with high fidelity on the other side.

That's just one example. In the upcoming 6G, RAN will be "AI-native", using AI/ML everywhere. The standards may require AI accelerator chips in most base stations, NTN satellites, phones, and other elements.

AI-RAN is the strategic play here because it's unknown (outside of research lab NDAs ?) what potential real-time physical AI/ML implementation will have on the future of edge processing like organizing the low-layer 6G spectrum contention mechanisms. It's a near certainty that custom AI accelerators are a part of every radio base station in the near future so this is not cash investment but a new product line Joint Venture similar to the Intel story.

It's the name given to an initiative by telco vendors like Nokia and Ericson to explore using NVIDIA GPUs to supply the core compute needs of next generation Radio Access Networks (RAN).

It's a potential 6G architecture.

Honestly, I feel like this is what Nokia always was, and why they fell behind in consumer tech

Nokia never executed on a touch screen OS. If i remember their final attempt with a Linux based OS was considered "good", but it was too little, too late. It was already over when they were scooped up by Microsoft, who were desperate themselves.

Pretty sure Nokia was glad to offload the handset business so they could feed money into markets they were still competitive in.

Microsoft did no such thing. Nokia is very directly responsible for its own cell phone failings.

This line of thought really needs to die.

The Nokia board hired Elop from Microsoft because they wanted to bet the company on the Microsoft phone, full stop.

If you want to assign blame, then its on Nokia for wanting to pursue that strategy.

NOKIA IS NOT PHONE COMPANY. Never have been. They produce ayt of telecom stuff. Nokia was never ruined.

Nokia's market cap is over $40B, so $1B is not really Microsoft level coup. At least yet.

Nokia has been teetering on the edge for a period, so they would welcome such an investment.

To be fair Nokia, like Blackberry, was effed the moment iPhone launched. Elop hastened the decline but it was coming regardless.

MSFT accelerated the invetiable.

There was just no way Nokia could match Apple on the OS who spent years prior to the idea of a smartphone making it a good match for the hardware of the time. And MSFT deservedly got punished for not investing in creating a better OS and Apple deservedly rewarded for doing so.