SK Telecom announced on the 6th that it successfully developed and demonstrated a technology in collaboration with Professor Hong Won-bin's team from Pohang University of Science and Technology POSTECH that increases the number of antennas embedded in smartphones to enhance communication performance.
The newly developed technology demonstrated the potential to improve data transmission quality by using on-device artificial intelligence while maintaining the frequency environment and smartphone size at the same level, increasing the typical four antennas found in smartphones to as many as eight.
In particular, this technology can reliably respond to various variables in over one million smartphone usage environments by utilizing artificial intelligence. It is expected to provide solutions to problems related to antenna performance, which vary depending on the user's posture and changes in the environment, indicating a high potential for practical application. Existing attempts to expand multiple antennas have primarily focused on hardware, but this research opens new possibilities by leveraging AI.
In the validation phase, SK Telecom utilized AI to solve the problem of increased mutual interference as the number of antennas embedded in mobile devices increased. Based on the information learned by the on-device AI, it minimized mutual interference, enabling real-time optimization of antenna performance.
In this laboratory-based validation, SK Telecom confirmed a significant improvement in data transmission speeds under the same conditions as existing smartphones by utilizing measurement equipment from Anritsu, a global telecommunications measurement equipment company.
SK Telecom plans to advance this technology while promoting standardization with the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), an organization for mobile communication standardization, and further concretize a roadmap for commercialization through collaboration with chipset manufacturers, component suppliers, and smartphone manufacturers.
In addition, SK Telecom is consistently continuing its research related to on-device AI in line with the AI era. Through these efforts, it received recognition in the 'Leading Light Awards 2024' last September for its technology that reduces smartphone power consumption based on on-device AI, winning in the 'Outstanding AI Use Case' category.
Ryu Tak-gi, head of SK Telecom's Infrastructure Technology Division, noted, "This meaningful outcome confirms that smartphone performance and communication technology can evolve to a new level with on-device AI," adding, "We will continue to secure core technologies for 6G and AI infrastructure to enhance customer satisfaction and strengthen our competitiveness in the global market through innovative advanced technology research."
Professor Hong Won-bin of Pohang University of Science and Technology POSTECH said, "While the number of antennas is a crucial factor in communication competitiveness, there have been difficulties in technological advancement due to various practical constraints," and added, "By combining on-device AI and antenna expansion technology, we can overcome existing limitations and create a variety of added values."