SK Telecom said on the 29th that it is leading standardization at the global open RAN (open radio access network) standards body O-RAN Alliance, including newly publishing a technical document on FILM, a technology that advances wireless network data collection.
Open RAN is a next-generation network technology that enables interoperability among equipment from different manufacturers, enhancing the openness and efficiency of telecom networks. The O-RAN Alliance is a global open RAN standardization body established in Feb. 2018. About 300 equipment manufacturers and research institutions worldwide, including Samsung Electronics, Ericsson, Nokia, and Nvidia, are participating. SK Telecom, as a member, also hosted a standards meeting last year, the first time a Korean corporations did so.
According to the company, SK Telecom's FILM selectively collects the telecom quality data needed so that artificial intelligence (AI) can analyze and optimize network quality more precisely. Previously, when analyzing network quality, analysis was based on the average performance figures of all devices. But by applying FILM, it is possible to selectively collect device data that meets certain conditions such as signal strength or location, enabling more accurate quality analysis.
FILM is designed to collect data in a consistent format even in environments where equipment from various manufacturers is configured together through open interfaces. This helps AI use data in the same form without distinguishing between manufacturers.
SK Telecom views open RAN as key to realizing "network AI," the combination of mobile communications and AI, and is continuing research to advance network quality and improve operational efficiency using AI. Last year, in 2024, it unveiled base station parameter optimization technology using AI, and early this year, it disclosed a compute resource management technology that provides AI services without degrading the performance of AI base stations. In April, it also succeeded in a commercial-environment demonstration of next-generation virtualized base stations.