Wipro and IIT-Kharagpur team up for research on 5G and AI

Software services exporter Wipro Ltd and the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT-Kharagpur) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate on research in 5G (fifth generation of cellular mobile communications) and artificial intelligence (Al).

Wipro said that it will leverage the partnership to develop better solutions for customers, while IIT-Kharagpur will benefit from the commercialisation of insights from the joint research as well as the software services exporter’s expertise.

The partnership will take up research related to design, planning, cognitive information processing and 5G network operations, Wipro said in a release. In terms of AI, the research will cover healthcare, education and retail sectors as well as pressing issues such as climate change and cybersecurity. Subject-matter experts from Wipro will also conduct guest lectures, workshops and seminars on 5G and AI, the release said.

Currently, with regard to 5G, IIT-Kharagpur is working on, among other things, front-haul and back-haul optical networks, ad hoc networks for vehicles, optimised resource allocation, Multiple Input, Multiple Output (MIMO) and millimetre wave communications. The release also stated that student groups were working on basic research in AI algorithms, formal methods, machine learning, deep learning, game theory and mechanism design, among other things.

Wipro already has a suite of solutions in the 5G domain. Some of their applicable areas include smart cities, media and entertainment, manufacturing, energy and utilities and network service providers.

The 5G offerings handle all network layers, covering radio access, back-haul, transmission and core networks, orchestrator, edge and public cloud application ecosystems.  

In AI, Wipro has the Wipro Holmes AI platform. The company said that Holmes has helped companies in their digital journey while bettering cognitive computing, infrastructure management and a host of other business processes.  

Additionally, Wipro’s Data Discovery platform, which has analytics and Al at its core, is working on cloud-based Insights-as-a-Service for businesses.

"Wipro is delighted to partner with IIT-Kharagpur and strengthen ties with the academic research community in India. Al and 5G are critical technologies poised to create opportunities that will significantly boost customer experiences across industry verticals,” said K R Sanjiv, chief technology officer, Wipro.

P P Chakrabarti, director, IIT-Kharagpur, said that the partnership has come at an opportune time and holds good potential for co-innovation as 5G is expected to provide seamless connectivity for diverse applications.

He pointed out that some of the applications were in the areas of automotive communications, remote control with haptic-style feedback (using AI), large video downloads, automation of enterprise functions and low data-rate applications.

Chakrabarti stated, “For instance, cars of the future will speak to each other to help avoid accidents and share information about the road conditions ahead. With the advent of 5G, Internet of Things (loT) will be extensively used in our day-to-day life, across industry sectors as well as in smart cities.”