Machine Learning-Driven Optimization in 6G Telecommunications: The Role of Intelligent Wireless and Semiconductor Innovation

Despite the heterogeneity of 6G techniques, machine learning will play a paramount optimization role to spare the customarily manually optimized process.To optimally exploit the optimization capabilities of ML-driven approaches, development and transfers of proper network conditions, reduction of training data needs and algorithmic complexity, and accountability and correctness of the ML-driven approaches are fundamental challenges that need to be addressed.In this chapter, we concisely survey the state-of-the-art of ML-driven optimization and the related challenges in 6G telecommunications.The general communication system model is first presented to introduce ML related concepts such as supervised and unsupervised learning.The most promising ML-driven optimization techniques and formulations are surveyed to offer comprehension of the state-ofthe-art.Both model-driven and data-driven approaches are reviewed with the aim to provide an overall perspective to the reader on the state-of-the-art.Then, we outline ML challenges such as the need for training data, accountability, and explainability, and we show how these challenges are especially relevant in a 6G context.We then highlight the ongoing research efforts conducted to face these challenges tailored for a 6G context.We conclude this chapter by outlining open research problems in the 6G context.This chapter is targeted to audiences who are interested in ML-driven approaches for telecommunications systems in the upcoming 6G era.We focus on the use of machine learning (ML) to devise optimization solutions for future 6G systems.Within the proposed taxonomy, we then survey the state-of-the-art in ML-driven optimization which is composed of both model-driven (where a system model is required) and data-driven (for which a model is neither available nor necessary) approaches.Then, we discuss central ML challenges such as the necessity of supervised data, explainability, and accountability, focused in a 6G context with perspectives highlighted both from an academic and industry viewpoint.Lastly, we conclude with open problems with the aim of sparking interest in the academic community.