Communications system design has been traditionally guided by task-agnostic principles, which aim at efficiently transmitting as many correct bits as possible through a given channel. However, in the era of cyber-physical systems, the effectiveness of communications is not dictated simply by the bit rate, but most importantly by the efficient completion of the task in hand, e.g., controlling remotely a robot, automating a production line or collaboratively sensing through a drone swarm. In parallel, it is projected that by 2023, half of the worldwide network connections will be among machines rather than humans. In this context, it is crucial to establish a new paradigm for designing communications strategies for multi-agent cyber-physical systems. This is a daunting task, since it requires a combination of principles from information, communication, control theories and computer science in order to formalize a general framework for task-oriented communication design. In this direction, this paper reviews and structures the relevant theoretical work across a wide range of scientific communities. Subsequently, it proposes a general conceptual framework for task-oriented communication design, along with its specializations according to the targeted use case. Furthermore, it provides a survey of relevant contributions in dominant applications, such as industrial internet of things, multi-UAV systems, tactile internet, autonomous vehicles, distributed learning systems, internet of skills, smart manufacturing plants and 5G and beyond self-organizing networks. Finally, it highlights the most important open research topics from both the theoretical framework and application points of view.
翻译:通信系统的设计传统上遵循的是任务保密原则,其目的是通过一个特定渠道有效传送尽可能多的正确比特;然而,在网络物理系统时代,通信的效力并非仅仅取决于比特率,而最重要的是取决于高效率完成手头的任务,例如遥控机器人、生产线自动化或通过无人机群进行协作遥感。与此同时,预计到2023年,全世界网络连接的半数将是机器而不是人类之间的,在这方面,为多代理人网络物理系统的通信战略制定新模式至关重要,这是一项艰巨的任务,因为它需要将信息、通信、控制理论和计算机科学等原则结合起来,以便正式确定面向任务的通信设计的总框架。在这一方向上,本文件审查并构建了广大科学界的相关理论工作。随后,它提出了面向任务的通信设计的一般概念框架,以及其专业化情况。此外,它从以下角度对主导性互联网应用中的相关贡献进行了一项重要调查:互联网的理论应用,互联网的智能应用,互联网的智能应用,互联网系统,互联网的智能应用,互联网系统,工业的智能应用,互联网的理论,互联网的理论,以及互联网系统。