# Uncovering Issues in the Radio Access Network by Looking at the Neighbors

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.14686 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.14686/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 7 of its 26 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 20 Apr 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 7 of 7)

- [Attention Is All You Need](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.03762/) (2017)
- [Graph Attention Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1710.10903/) (2017)
- [Relational inductive biases, deep learning, and graph networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1806.01261/) (2018)
- [Graph Neural Network-Based Anomaly Detection in Multivariate Time Series](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.06947/) (2021)
- [TranAD: Deep Transformer Networks for Anomaly Detection in Multivariate Time Series Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2201.07284/) (2022)
- [Long-Term Mobile Traffic Forecasting Using Deep Spatio-Temporal Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1712.08083/) (2017)
- [Detecting Contextual Network Anomalies with Graph Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.06342/) (2023)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Mobile network operators (MNOs) manage Radio Access Networks (RANs) with massive amounts of cells over multiple radio generations (2G-5G). To handle such complexity, operations teams rely on monitoring systems, including anomaly detection tools that identify unexpected behaviors. In this paper, we present c-ANEMON, a Contextual ANomaly dEtection MONitor for the RAN based on Graph Neural Networks (GNNs). Our solution captures spatio-temporal variations by analyzing the behavior of individual cells in relation to their local neighborhoods, enabling the detection of anomalies that are independent of external mobility factors. This, in turn, allows focusing on anomalies associated with network issues (e.g., misconfigurations, equipment failures). We evaluate c-ANEMON using real-world data from a large European metropolitan area (7,890 cells; 3 months). First, we show that the GNN model within our solution generalizes effectively to cells from previously unseen areas, suggesting the possibility of using a single model across extensive deployment regions. Then, we analyze the anomalies detected by c-ANEMON through manual inspection and define several categories of long-lasting anomalies (6+ hours). Notably, 45.95% of these anomalies fall into a category that is more likely to require intervention by operations teams.