NSF CAREER Award Funds AI-Driven Wireless Network Research at UNL

Assistant Professor Qiang Liu from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln's School of Computing has been granted a prestigious $750,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award. This significant funding will support his research into developing safer and more reliable AI-native solutions for next-generation mobile networks. The core objective of Liu's initiative is to achieve "network autonomy," which refers to the ability of mobile networks to manage and optimize themselves in real-time through the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning methods. Despite the promising potential of AI to enhance network performance by improving throughput, latency, robustness, and efficiency, particularly in large and complex networks, the telecommunications industry remains hesitant to fully adopt AI-assisted network automation. This skepticism largely stems from concerns about algorithms failing to adapt safely to unpredictable and evolving network dynamics. Liu's project will tackle this by focusing on three key areas: developing digital network twins for accurate testing, designing deep learning methods for safe resource allocation automation, and building explanation-guided AI frameworks to provide engineers with insights into system decisions. This research is crucial for fostering trust in AI-based networking tools and bridging the digital divide by enhancing network access and infrastructure in underserved areas.