{"id":"https://openalex.org/W3173151636","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tcomm.2021.3090423","title":"Intelligent Radio Access Network Slicing for Service Provisioning in 6G: A Hierarchical Deep Reinforcement Learning Approach","display_name":"Intelligent Radio Access Network Slicing for Service Provisioning in 6G: A Hierarchical Deep Reinforcement Learning Approach","publication_year":2021,"publication_date":"2021-06-18","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W3173151636","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tcomm.2021.3090423","mag":"3173151636"},"language":"en","primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.1109/tcomm.2021.3090423","is_oa":false,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tcomm.2021.3090423","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S196647941","display_name":"IEEE Transactions on Communications","issn_l":"0090-6778","issn":["0090-6778","1558-0857"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310316002","host_organization_name":"IEEE Communications Society","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310316002","https://openalex.org/P4310319808"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["IEEE Communications Society","Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers"],"type":"journal"},"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"IEEE Transactions on Communications","raw_type":"journal-article"},"type":"article","indexed_in":["crossref"],"open_access":{"is_oa":false,"oa_status":"closed","oa_url":null,"any_repository_has_fulltext":false},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5005471471","display_name":"Jie Mei","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2834-8346"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I125749732","display_name":"Western University","ror":"https://ror.org/02grkyz14","country_code":"CA","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I125749732"]}],"countries":["CA"],"is_corresponding":true,"raw_author_name":"Jie Mei","raw_affiliation_strings":["Western University, London, ON, Canada"],"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Western University, London, ON, Canada","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I125749732"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5100733413","display_name":"Xianbin Wang","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4890-0748"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I125749732","display_name":"Western University","ror":"https://ror.org/02grkyz14","country_code":"CA","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I125749732"]}],"countries":["CA"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Xianbin Wang","raw_affiliation_strings":["Western University, London, ON, Canada"],"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Western University, London, ON, Canada","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I125749732"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5100412656","display_name":"Kan Zheng","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8531-6762"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I139759216","display_name":"Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications","ror":"https://ror.org/04w9fbh59","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I139759216"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Kan Zheng","raw_affiliation_strings":["Intelligent Computing and Communication (IC2) Laboratory, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (BUPT), Beijing, China"],"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Intelligent Computing and Communication (IC2) Laboratory, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (BUPT), Beijing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I139759216"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5037720618","display_name":"Gary Boudreau","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3539-9624"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I4210094041","display_name":"Ericsson (Canada)","ror":"https://ror.org/00nas2c56","country_code":"CA","type":"company","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I1306339040","https://openalex.org/I4210094041"]}],"countries":["CA"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Gary Boudreau","raw_affiliation_strings":["Ericsson Canada Inc., Ottawa, ON, Canada"],"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Ericsson Canada Inc., Ottawa, ON, Canada","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I4210094041"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5074645771","display_name":"Akram Bin Sediq","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1260-2853"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I4210094041","display_name":"Ericsson (Canada)","ror":"https://ror.org/00nas2c56","country_code":"CA","type":"company","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I1306339040","https://openalex.org/I4210094041"]}],"countries":["CA"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Akram Bin Sediq","raw_affiliation_strings":["Ericsson Canada Inc., Ottawa, ON, Canada"],"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Ericsson Canada Inc., Ottawa, ON, Canada","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I4210094041"]}]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5027792197","display_name":"Hatem Abou-Zeid","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4720-5794"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I4210094041","display_name":"Ericsson (Canada)","ror":"https://ror.org/00nas2c56","country_code":"CA","type":"company","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I1306339040","https://openalex.org/I4210094041"]}],"countries":["CA"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Hatem Abou-Zeid","raw_affiliation_strings":["Ericsson Canada Inc., Ottawa, ON, Canada"],"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Ericsson Canada Inc., Ottawa, ON, Canada","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I4210094041"]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":2,"institutions_distinct_count":6,"corresponding_author_ids":["https://openalex.org/A5005471471"],"corresponding_institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I125749732"],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":17.4408,"has_fulltext":false,"cited_by_count":148,"citation_normalized_percentile":{"value":0.99513288,"is_in_top_1_percent":true,"is_in_top_10_percent":true},"cited_by_percentile_year":{"min":97,"max":100},"biblio":{"volume":"69","issue":"9","first_page":"6063","last_page":"6078"},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10714","display_name":"Software-Defined Networks and 5G","score":0.9998999834060669,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1705","display_name":"Computer Networks and Communications"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10714","display_name":"Software-Defined Networks and 5G","score":0.9998999834060669,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1705","display_name":"Computer Networks and Communications"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T12791","display_name":"Full-Duplex Wireless Communications","score":0.9987999796867371,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/2208","display_name":"Electrical and Electronic Engineering"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/22","display_name":"Engineering"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10796","display_name":"Cooperative Communication and Network Coding","score":0.9923999905586243,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1705","display_name":"Computer Networks and Communications"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/reinforcement-learning","display_name":"Reinforcement learning","score":0.8296211957931519},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/computer-science","display_name":"Computer science","score":0.7746155261993408},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/quality-of-service","display_name":"Quality of service","score":0.6411011815071106},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/distributed-computing","display_name":"Distributed computing","score":0.5956698656082153},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/slicing","display_name":"Slicing","score":0.524928629398346},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/scheduling","display_name":"Scheduling (production processes)","score":0.502987802028656},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/provisioning","display_name":"Provisioning","score":0.48359769582748413},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/computer-network","display_name":"Computer network","score":0.3574187755584717},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/mathematical-optimization","display_name":"Mathematical optimization","score":0.2679632306098938},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/artificial-intelligence","display_name":"Artificial intelligence","score":0.20903870463371277}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C97541855","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q830687","display_name":"Reinforcement learning","level":2,"score":0.8296211957931519},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.7746155261993408},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C5119721","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q220501","display_name":"Quality of service","level":2,"score":0.6411011815071106},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C120314980","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q180634","display_name":"Distributed computing","level":1,"score":0.5956698656082153},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2776190703","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q488148","display_name":"Slicing","level":2,"score":0.524928629398346},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C206729178","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2271896","display_name":"Scheduling (production processes)","level":2,"score":0.502987802028656},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C172191483","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1071806","display_name":"Provisioning","level":2,"score":0.48359769582748413},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C31258907","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1301371","display_name":"Computer network","level":1,"score":0.3574187755584717},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C126255220","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q141495","display_name":"Mathematical optimization","level":1,"score":0.2679632306098938},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C154945302","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11660","display_name":"Artificial intelligence","level":1,"score":0.20903870463371277},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C33923547","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q395","display_name":"Mathematics","level":0,"score":0.0},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C136764020","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q466","display_name":"World Wide Web","level":1,"score":0.0}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":1,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.1109/tcomm.2021.3090423","is_oa":false,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tcomm.2021.3090423","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S196647941","display_name":"IEEE Transactions on Communications","issn_l":"0090-6778","issn":["0090-6778","1558-0857"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310316002","host_organization_name":"IEEE Communications Society","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310316002","https://openalex.org/P4310319808"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["IEEE Communications Society","Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers"],"type":"journal"},"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"IEEE Transactions on Communications","raw_type":"journal-article"}],"best_oa_location":null,"sustainable_development_goals":[],"awards":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/G7069725611","display_name":null,"funder_award_id":"RGPIN2018-06254","funder_id":"https://openalex.org/F4320334593","funder_display_name":"Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada"}],"funders":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320320994","display_name":"Canada Research Chairs","ror":"https://ror.org/0517h6h17"},{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320334593","display_name":"Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada","ror":"https://ror.org/01h531d29"}],"has_content":{"pdf":false,"grobid_xml":false},"content_urls":null,"referenced_works_count":37,"referenced_works":["https://openalex.org/W2121111990","https://openalex.org/W2173248099","https://openalex.org/W2781839613","https://openalex.org/W2783072796","https://openalex.org/W2793519446","https://openalex.org/W2888872201","https://openalex.org/W2891148312","https://openalex.org/W2900804979","https://openalex.org/W2912556931","https://openalex.org/W2913775178","https://openalex.org/W2945252872","https://openalex.org/W2950926719","https://openalex.org/W2955338161","https://openalex.org/W2958091556","https://openalex.org/W2963091231","https://openalex.org/W2963504849","https://openalex.org/W2963864421","https://openalex.org/W2969519626","https://openalex.org/W2970759804","https://openalex.org/W2980379861","https://openalex.org/W2982584952","https://openalex.org/W2999562137","https://openalex.org/W3002189898","https://openalex.org/W3002489817","https://openalex.org/W3008402949","https://openalex.org/W3011830499","https://openalex.org/W3013031620","https://openalex.org/W3018217961","https://openalex.org/W3033390989","https://openalex.org/W3093951152","https://openalex.org/W3110682650","https://openalex.org/W3131624537","https://openalex.org/W3137135908","https://openalex.org/W4250589301","https://openalex.org/W6684921986","https://openalex.org/W6769989166","https://openalex.org/W6790918679"],"related_works":["https://openalex.org/W2393746923","https://openalex.org/W2972496411","https://openalex.org/W4239223006","https://openalex.org/W3033662781","https://openalex.org/W2137530048","https://openalex.org/W2360869927","https://openalex.org/W2050876785","https://openalex.org/W2074642116","https://openalex.org/W3164401656","https://openalex.org/W2392031372"],"abstract_inverted_index":{"Network":[0],"slicing":[1,30,51,128,243],"is":[2,9,36,106,140,163,176],"a":[3,47,132,141,164,195,211],"key":[4],"paradigm":[5],"in":[6,14,194],"5G":[7],"and":[8,67,154],"expected":[10],"to":[11,40,81,96,107,117,178,226],"be":[12,179],"inherited":[13],"future":[15],"6G":[16],"networks":[17],"for":[18,191],"the":[19,62,83,97,120,125,147,159,183,192,218,223,229,236],"concurrent":[20],"provisioning":[21],"of":[22,25,31,65,71,77,100,110,174,198,238],"diverse":[23],"quality":[24],"service":[26,101],"(QoS).":[27],"Unfortunately,":[28],"effective":[29],"Radio":[32],"Access":[33],"Networks":[34],"(RAN)":[35],"still":[37],"challenging":[38],"due":[39],"time-varying":[41],"network":[42],"situations.":[43],"This":[44,172],"paper":[45],"proposes":[46],"new":[48],"intelligent":[49,241],"RAN":[50,127,242],"strategy":[52],"with":[53,169],"two-layered":[54],"control":[55,89,161],"granularity,":[56],"which":[57,86,139,202],"aims":[58],"at":[59,119],"maximizing":[60],"both":[61],"long-term":[63,98],"QoS":[64,84],"services":[66],"spectrum":[68],"efficiency":[69],"(SE)":[70],"slices.":[72],"The":[73,103],"proposed":[74,126,240],"method":[75],"consists":[76],"an":[78],"upper-level":[79],"controller":[80,105],"ensure":[82],"performance,":[85],"enforces":[87],"loose":[88],"by":[90,112,182],"performing":[91],"adaptive":[92],"slice":[93],"configuration":[94],"according":[95],"dynamics":[99],"traffic.":[102],"lower-level":[104,160,230],"improve":[108],"SE":[109],"slices,":[111],"tightly":[113],"scheduling":[114],"radio":[115],"resources":[116],"users":[118],"small":[121],"time-scale.":[122],"To":[123],"realize":[124],"strategy,":[129],"we":[130,209],"propose":[131,210],"model-free":[133],"deep":[134,149],"reinforcement":[135],"learning":[136],"(DRL)":[137],"framework,":[138],"hierarchical":[142],"structure":[143],"that":[144],"collaboratively":[145],"integrating":[146],"modified":[148],"deterministic":[150],"policy":[151],"gradient":[152],"(DDPG)":[153],"double":[155],"deep-Q-network":[156],"algorithm.":[157],"Specifically,":[158],"problem":[162,168,175],"mixed-integer":[165,199],"stochastic":[166],"optimization":[167,220],"multiple":[170],"constraints.":[171],"kind":[173],"hard":[177],"directly":[180],"solved":[181],"exiting":[184],"DRL":[185],"algorithms,":[186],"since":[187],"it":[188],"involves":[189],"searching":[190],"solution":[193],"vast":[196],"set":[197],"action":[200,213],"space,":[201],"will":[203],"induce":[204],"unbearable":[205],"computational":[206],"complexity.":[207],"Thus,":[208],"novel":[212],"space":[214],"reducing":[215],"approach,":[216],"embedding":[217],"convex":[219],"tools":[221],"into":[222],"DDPG":[224],"algorithm,":[225],"speed":[227],"up":[228],"control.":[231],"Furthermore,":[232],"simulation":[233],"results":[234],"confirm":[235],"effectiveness":[237],"our":[239],"scheme.":[244]},"counts_by_year":[{"year":2026,"cited_by_count":4},{"year":2025,"cited_by_count":35},{"year":2024,"cited_by_count":30},{"year":2023,"cited_by_count":38},{"year":2022,"cited_by_count":37},{"year":2021,"cited_by_count":4}],"updated_date":"2026-04-09T08:11:56.329763","created_date":"2025-10-10T00:00:00"}