Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning Scheduling to Support Low Latency in Teleoperated Driving

Abstract: The teleoperated driving (TD) scenario comes with stringent Quality of Service (QoS) communication constraints, especially in terms of end-to-end (E2E) latency and reliability. In this context, Predictive Quality of Service (PQoS), possibly combined with Reinforcement Learning (RL) techniques, is a powerful tool to estimate QoS degradation and react accordingly. For example, an intelligent agent can be trained to select the optimal compression configuration for automotive data, and reduce the file size whenever QoS conditions deteriorate. However, compression may inevitably compromise data quality, with negative implications for the TD application. An alternative strategy involves operating at the Radio Access Network (RAN) level to optimize radio parameters based on current network conditions, while preserving data quality. In this paper, we propose Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning (MARL) scheduling algorithms, based on Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO), to dynamically and intelligently allocate radio resources to minimize E2E latency in a TD scenario. We evaluate two training paradigms, i.e., decentralized learning with local observations (IPPO) vs. centralized aggregation (MAPPO), in conjunction with two resource allocation strategies, i.e., proportional allocation (PA) and greedy allocation (GA). We prove via ns-3 simulations that MAPPO, combined with GA, achieves the best results in terms of latency, especially as the number of vehicles increases.