Converged RAN-CN Intelligence for Next-Generation Mobile Networks: A Conditional Handover Case Study

The intelligence deployed within RAN and CN largely operates independently, restricting the overall efficiency and adaptability of mobile networks, as key contextual data–such as real-time radio conditions and user session information–remains confined within a single domain. This article summarizes existing efforts from 3GPP, the O-RAN Alliance, and ITU-T, aimed at enabling intelligence integration, highlighting their current limitations. To address these limitations, we propose a RAN-CN intelligence convergence framework that bridges intelligence across the two domains. As a case study, we apply the proposed framework to conditional handover and show its potential to support target gNB selection. Finally, we discuss future research directions for intelligence-integrated mobile networks.