KT said on the 11th that it had successfully verified AI-RAN (Artificial Intelligence Radio Access Network) technology on a commercial network. AI-RAN, co-developed by KT and Samsung Electronics, is a next-generation technology in which a base station analyzes in real time, based on artificial intelligence (AI), the data it exchanges with devices to provide each user with an optimal network environment.
AI-RAN is seen as more than simple network optimization; it is considered the starting point for an intelligent network capable of ultra-low latency, ultra-high speed, and ultra-connectivity, which are essential in the 6G era. KT and Samsung Electronics have continued joint research on AI-RAN since 2023, and this year signed a multilateral business agreement with Nvidia to push forward full-scale research and development of GPU (graphics processing unit)-based AI-RAN.
The AI-RAN commercial network verification was conducted in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. An average of about 18,000 users per day used the network with AI-RAN technology applied, and the company said the verification confirmed that issues such as dropouts that repeatedly occurred when some customers moved between cells (the area served by a single base station) were significantly reduced. It also said that the quality for other customers with similar movement patterns improved, enhancing the network quality of the entire cell.
Most domestic and overseas networks have traditionally been optimized on a per-cell basis. In this approach, the same network setting values are applied to all users connected to a cell, making it difficult to finely reflect each user's situation or characteristics. KT and Samsung Electronics introduced an approach of delivering user-tailored network quality to address this issue. It uses real-time quality data, such as signal strength and quality change trends, to predict potential problems in advance and provides optimized setting values tailored to each user's situation.
Jeong Jin-guk, vice president and head of the Next-Generation Communication Research Center at Samsung Research of Samsung Electronics, said, "This is an important achievement that clearly confirms AI can bring improved user experiences in actual networks," and added, "The two research labs will continue to lead AI-centric future communication technologies through ongoing technological advancement and verification."
Lee Jong-sik, executive vice president and head of the Future Network Research Institute at KT, said, "This verification is a result that proves the potential for AI to innovate network operations around users," and added, "KT will, together with Samsung Electronics, advance customized optimization technologies to provide stable, seamless services, and take the lead in securing core 6G technologies to innovate customer value."