Agentic Quantum Deep Reinforcement Learning for RAN Slicing
TL;DR
Simulation results under different eMBB traffic loads show that Agentic-QDRL improves eMBB throughput, reduces eMBB queue buildup, and maintains URLLC delay reliability compared with classical DRL and heuristic baselines.
Abstract
Radio access network (RAN) slicing enables ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC) and enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) services to share radio resources, but their requirements create a challenging reliability--throughput tradeoff. URLLC requires low-latency and reliable packet delivery, whereas eMBB targets high sustained throughput. This paper considers downlink URLLC/eMBB RAN slicing and formulates it as a queue-aware long-term eMBB throughput maximization problem subject to URLLC delay-violation, physical resource block (PRB) exclusivity, and slice-budget constraints. To solve this problem, we propose agentic quantum deep reinforcement learning (Agentic-QDRL), a two-time-scale framework that combines agentic slice-level resource control with quantum-enhanced PRB scheduling. At the slow time scale, a perceive--memory--act--reflect (PMAR) controller adapts the resource shares of URLLC and eMBB slices. At the fast time scale, a compact variational quantum circuit (VQC)-based QDRL scheduler performs PRB allocation under the current slice configuration. A feasibility projection and a safety fallback mechanism is further introduced to satisfy scheduling constraints and reduce URLLC deadline violations. Simulation results under different eMBB traffic loads show that Agentic-QDRL improves eMBB throughput, reduces eMBB queue buildup, and maintains URLLC delay reliability compared with classical DRL and heuristic baselines.