Mavenir today extended its artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning analytics suite to automate the management of emerging 5G and edge networks.

The platform includes a swath of AI tools designed to ingest and analyze large quantities of unstructured data. Once analyzed, this data can be used to automate network operations, root cause analysis and optimization, select edge workloads like facial recognition, and security, according to the vendor.

“Leveraging our deep AI and machine learning knowledge and advanced capabilities enables communications service providers to optimize, automate, and advance their mobile networks for the future of 5G,” BG Kumar, president of Mavenir’s communications services business group, in a statement.

Mavenir claims that closing the loop on these operations — that is, allowing the AI algorithm to effectively make decisions based on the available data — will dramatically reduce costs and cut down on the number of human interactions required to run the network.

The core of Mavenir’s AI platform is its radio access network (RAN) intelligent controller (RIC) and network data analytics function (NWDAF), which allows networks to adapt to changing traffic conditions using machine learning algorithms and applications deployed across the network.

Specifically, RIC and NWDAF are designed to optimize network performance and train machine learning algorithms, run inference workloads on open RAN functions in real-time, and ingest data from 5G standalone network functions.

This data can be fed into the company’s AI operations (AIOps) platform to automate testing, log inspection, troubleshooting, and manual configurations. According to Mavenir, this not only cuts down on labor-intensive tasks but helps to improve network capacity planning and assist with anomaly detection.

At the network edge, Mavenir’s 5G EdgeAI product uses video analytics to support a variety of use cases such as facial recognition.

Finally, on the security front, Mavenir’s fraud management and security suite promises to protect network traffic in real-time using machine learning-based predictive analytics.

Several tier one network operators in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific have deployed the platform, according to Mavenir.

“Mavenir’s security and anti-fraud solutions based on AI and machine learning are taking care of ongoing revenue savings at Telefónica Argentina,” Diego Quevedo, core network solution design lead at Telefónica Argentina, said in a statement.