SK Telecom (SKT) announced on Monday its partnership with Samsung Electronics to implement AI-based 5G base station quality optimisation technology, known as the AI-RAN Parameter Recommender, in its commercial network. This collaboration aims to enhance wireless network operations.
According to the official release, SK Telecom and Samsung Electronics have been working throughout the year to learn from past mobile network operation experiences using AI and deep learning technologies. The companies recently completed the development of technology that automatically recommends optimal parameters suitable for each base station environment.
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SK Telecom and Samsung Electronics Partnership
In their testing phase, the companies tested the AI technology on the SKT's commercial network and confirmed that the technology can enhance the quality of customer experience by bringing out the potential performance of 5G base stations.
SKT explained that deep learning was used to analyse and learn the correlation between statistical data and AI operation parameters accumulated in the existing wireless network, predicting various wireless environments and service characteristics and succeeded in automatically deriving optimal parameters to improve perceived quality.
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Samsung's Network Parameter Optimisation AI Model
Samsung Electronics' 'Network Parameter Optimisation AI Model' used in this demonstration improves the efficiency of resources invested in optimising the wireless network environment and performance, and enables optimal management of mobile communication networks organised in cluster units, the official release said.
The two companies are conducting additional learning and verification by diversifying the parameters applied to the optimised AI model, with plans to extend this application to high-traffic areas such as subways, where patterns frequently change.
When the radio signal is weak or data transmission errors occur due to interference, the AI technology automatically adjusts the output of the base station radio wave or resets the range of radio retransmission allowances to improve quality, the companies said.
Future Expansions and Real-time Optimisations
SK Telecom plans to continue improving this technology by expanding the scope of targets that can be optimised with AI, such as parameters related to beamforming, a technology that focuses signals received through antennas in the direction of a specific receiving device to strongly transmit and receive signals, and developing real-time application functions.
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Ryu Tak-ki, Head of Infrastructure Technology at SKT, said, "This is a meaningful achievement that has confirmed that the potential performance of individual base stations can be maximised by incorporating AI. We will accelerate the evolution into an AI-Native Network that provides differentiated customer experiences through the convergence of telecommunications and AI technologies."
Choi Sung-hyun, Head of Advanced Development Team, Network Business at Samsung Electronics, added: "AI is a key technology for innovation in various industrial fields, and it is also playing a decisive role in the evolution to next-generation networks. Samsung Electronics will continue to take the lead in developing intelligent and automated technologies for AI-based next-generation networks."
SKT further noted that it is expanding the application of AI technology across various communication network areas, such as 'Telco Edge AI', including improving the quality of base stations, network power reduction, spam blocking, and operation automation.
