THE MOBILE AI ERA: REVOLUTIONIZING CONNECTIVITY WITH ZTE’S AIR RAN AND AGENTGUARD
The digital landscape is undergoing a monumental shift, propelled by the relentless advance of artificial intelligence. What was once the realm of science fiction is rapidly becoming our reality, as AI capabilities permeate every facet of technology. This profound transformation is particularly evident within the mobile communication industry, which stands at the precipice of a new era—the Mobile AI Era. No longer confined to cloud-based processing, AI is now deeply embedding itself into the very infrastructure of our networks, fundamentally altering how we connect, communicate, and interact with the digital world. The widespread availability of powerful open-source AI models and the emergence of sophisticated AI Agents are not just enhancing existing services; they are creating entirely new paradigms of interaction, shifting AI’s role from a passive analytical tool to an active, intelligent executor.
THE DAWN OF THE MOBILE AI ERA
The convergence of mobile networks and artificial intelligence marks a pivotal moment in technological evolution. Traditional mobile internet, characterized by passive consumption of information through applications, is giving way to a dynamic “mobile AI” landscape. In this new paradigm, intelligent agents—digital assistants, embodied robots, and smart systems—are becoming primary interfaces. These AI Agents, exemplified by frameworks like Manus, require an unprecedented level of network intelligence and responsiveness. They demand not just speed, but a nuanced understanding of context, intent, and real-time interaction, pushing the boundaries of what current network architectures can deliver.
ZTE’S VISION: PIONEERING AI IN RADIO ACCESS NETWORKS
At the forefront of this revolution is ZTE, a global leader in telecommunications and information technology. Recognizing the imperative for deep integration between AI and network infrastructure, ZTE has pioneered the AIR RAN (AI Reshaped RAN) solution. This innovative approach aims to fundamentally intertwine AI with the Radio Access Network, transforming it into an intelligent, adaptive, and highly efficient foundation for the mobile AI era. This vision was eloquently articulated by Tang Xue, Vice President of ZTE, during her keynote at the GSMA’s 5G Business Summit at MWC Shanghai 2025, where she highlighted the profound convergence of mobile networks and AI in ushering in new service paradigms.
AI RESHAPED RAN (AIR RAN) EXPLAINED
AIR RAN represents a paradigm shift in network design, moving beyond merely optimizing existing operations to embedding AI directly into the network’s core. The solution leverages advanced heterogeneous computing, with the AIREngine – an intelligent computing board integrated within the Baseband Unit (BBU). This integration enables network-native AI capabilities, meaning intelligence is no longer a separate, overlaying layer but an intrinsic part of the network’s fabric. By undertaking comprehensive digital upgrades across critical components such as antennas, transmission systems, and power management, AIR RAN transforms conventional RAN into an infrastructure where AI and RAN are inseparably linked.
BENEFITS FOR USER EXPERIENCE
One of the primary objectives of AIR RAN is to significantly enhance the user experience, particularly for high-value scenarios and premium users. This is achieved through a precise closed-loop assurance system that operates with remarkable intelligence:
- Intelligent Service Identification: The network can discern and categorize various services in real-time, understanding their unique demands and prioritizing them accordingly.
- Data Analytics and Deep Learning: Advanced analytics and deep learning algorithms continuously process vast amounts of network data, providing insights into user behavior and network performance.
- Service-Assured Resource Orchestration: Resources are dynamically allocated and optimized based on identified service needs, ensuring consistent performance.
- Targeted Subscriber Acquisition and Perception: The system accurately perceives and evaluates user experience, allowing for tailored services and optimized resource allocation to meet personalized needs.
By integrating key scenarios, offering specific service add-on packages, and enabling granular user classification, operators can dramatically improve the satisfaction of high-value customers. This targeted approach not only enhances service delivery but also drives substantial revenue growth through personalized and premium service offerings.
BENEFITS FOR NETWORK EFFICIENCY
Beyond user experience, AIR RAN delivers substantial improvements in network efficiency, leading to significant operational savings and improved sustainability. Through precise service perception, the solution deploys refined strategies, including:
- Advanced Energy-Saving Optimization: Intelligent algorithms dynamically adjust power consumption based on traffic patterns and demand, leading to reduced energy consumption across the network.
- Load-Based Dynamic Beam Adaptation: Antenna beams are intelligently adapted to real-time load conditions, optimizing signal coverage and capacity utilization.
- Service-Aware Complaint Root Cause Analysis: The system can quickly identify and diagnose the root causes of service complaints, streamlining troubleshooting and maintenance.
This holistic approach elevates user perception and drastically boosts spectrum efficiency, energy efficiency, and operational efficiency. The tangible results include increased cell capacity, lower network energy consumption, streamlined Operations and Maintenance (O&M) processes, and substantial reductions in operational expenditures (Opex).
AGENTGUARD: THE CATALYST FOR THE AI AGENT REVOLUTION
Building upon the intelligent foundation of AIR RAN, ZTE introduces AgentGuard—a groundbreaking solution designed to revolutionize human-machine interaction in the mobile AI era. As Tang Xue highlighted, “We’re witnessing a pivotal transition from mobile internet to mobile AI. In this new era, traditional app interfaces are evolving into AI Agents, appearing as digital assistants and embodied agents like robots. AgentGuard empowers the deep integration of 5G-A and AI, providing enhanced assurance for new AI services.”
The shift towards AI Agents presents unique and demanding requirements for mobile networks. Consider scenarios such as ordering coffee, generating reviews, or posting to social media with a single voice command—tasks that were demonstrated live at MWC Shanghai 2025. Without manually opening any application, a natural-language command can trigger an AI Agent to seamlessly handle geolocation, intent parsing, merchant matching, and payment processing. Such lightweight interactions, while convenient, impose unprecedented demands on network capabilities.
THE NETWORK DEMANDS OF AI AGENTS
To balance device power, cost, and efficiency, AI Agents increasingly rely on end-cloud collaboration. Devices handle initial intent understanding, while complex, multi-step tasks are executed by powerful cloud-based Large Language Models (LLMs). This collaboration necessitates the constant exchange of multimodal data—voice, image, and video—demanding ultra-high uplink bandwidth and ultra-low latency. As an example, the ability of AI Agents to understand and generate human-like text responses for complex tasks often relies on sophisticated models, much like what is accessible through platforms such as Free ChatGPT. Research indicates that ensuring smooth, multi-step AI Agent tasks requires networks to consistently deliver ubiquitous 20Mbps uplink capacity. AgentGuard is specifically designed to meet these rigorous demands, ensuring flawless AI Agent experiences.
“ONE-STEP-ONE-POLICY” PRECISION ASSURANCE
Traditional, static assurance policies are ill-equipped to handle the dynamic and multifaceted nature of AI Agent tasks. When a digital assistant performs a series of actions—like ordering coffee (selecting vendors, comparing prices, placing orders, processing payments)—each step dynamically alters its network requirements. AgentGuard addresses this by pioneering “one-step-one-policy” precision assurance through three core innovations:
- Intelligent Service Recognition: Base stations utilize sophisticated neural networks to deeply correlate and recognize sequences of actions performed by digital assistants. From cloud planning to local execution, the system identifies specific agent types and their objectives (e.g., ordering meals, booking tickets), providing critical context for network optimization.
- Composite Assurance Policies: Adapting to the dynamic nature of generative tasks, AgentGuard dynamically generates optimal network policies and allocates precise resources for each individual task step. This ensures reliable, smooth execution even for highly complex, multi-stage interactions.
- Four-Tier Collaborative Assurance: A robust closed-loop mechanism spanning cell-level, base station cluster-level, network-level, and device-network-level collaboration delivers deterministic network experiences. This multi-layered approach ensures that network stability and performance are consistently maintained, eliminating concerns about fluctuating connectivity or complexity.
Tang Xue affirmed ZTE’s commitment, stating, “We’re committed to delivering ubiquitous intelligent experiences. Whenever you call upon your smart assistant, rest assured that 5G-A and AgentGuard work silently behind the scenes, eliminating worries about network stability or complexity.”
THE SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP: AI FOR RAN AND RAN FOR AI
The deep integration of RAN and AI, as championed by ZTE, can be understood from a dual perspective: “AI for RAN” and “RAN for AI.” While many contemporary solutions primarily focus on “AI for RAN”—applying AI to optimize network operations, drive upgrades, and enhance network value (e.g., predictive maintenance, intelligent resource allocation, anomaly detection)—AIR RAN distinguishes itself by also pioneering “RAN for AI.”
“RAN for AI” refers to the network’s evolving role in directly supporting and enabling AI deployments, particularly at the edge. By integrating AI capabilities directly into the RAN, the network becomes a powerful platform for edge AI applications, reducing latency, enhancing data privacy, and enabling real-time processing crucial for advanced AI services. This dual approach significantly expands the strategic role of the RAN, transforming it from a mere data conduit into an intelligent processing and enablement layer for the burgeoning AI ecosystem. This comprehensive strategy ensures that the network is not just optimized by AI but also serves as the essential infrastructure for the next generation of AI-driven applications and services.
CHARTING THE FUTURE: 5G-ADVANCED AND BEYOND
Looking ahead, ZTE envisions AgentGuard evolving in tandem with the increasing sophistication of multimodal AI agents. As AI interactions become richer, incorporating voice, video, and image inputs, AgentGuard will dynamically allocate resources with precise latency guarantees tailored to the interaction type. This forward-looking development ensures that the network remains ahead of the curve, capable of supporting even the most demanding AI applications.
“5G-Advanced serves as critical infrastructure for the mobile AI era,” Tang Xue emphasized. ZTE’s strategy for 5G-Advanced network evolution is built upon two foundational pillars: strengthening the core network foundations and enabling profound AI integration. This dual focus empowers the mobile AI era, ensuring that intelligent infrastructure evolves continuously to meet the ever-growing demands of an AI-driven world. The innovations brought forth by ZTE’s AIR RAN and AgentGuard are not just incremental improvements; they represent a fundamental reshaping of mobile communication, setting the stage for a future where seamless, intelligent connectivity is the norm.
CONCLUSION
The mobile communication industry is in the midst of a transformative period, with artificial intelligence acting as the primary catalyst. ZTE’s AIR RAN and AgentGuard solutions exemplify a pioneering spirit, driving the deep integration of AI into the very fabric of mobile networks. By enhancing both user experience and network efficiency through native AI capabilities, and by providing precision assurance for the burgeoning AI Agent ecosystem, ZTE is not merely adapting to the mobile AI era; it is actively shaping it. The commitment to “AI for RAN” and “RAN for AI” ensures a symbiotic relationship where the network is both optimized by AI and serves as the intelligent backbone for future AI innovations. As 5G-Advanced continues to evolve, these foundational developments promise a future where ubiquitous intelligent experiences are seamlessly delivered, empowering a new generation of digital interaction and service paradigms.