Samsung Electronics Demonstrates AI-RAN Technologies, Paving the Way for Convergence of Telecommunications and AI
The future telecommunications market is increasingly emphasizing sustainability, including enhancing user experience and energy efficiency, beyond just the improvement of data transmission speeds. As a result, technologies that integrate communication and AI are gaining attention.
Samsung Electronics is accelerating preparations for future communications by integrating AI technology into the entire Radio Access Network (RAN), from radio units (responsible for conversion between analog and digital signals at base stations, antennas, etc.) and digital units (including modems for digital signal modulation and demodulation, schedulers for resource allocation, etc.) to system operation, thereby advancing the convergence of telecommunications and AI technologies.
In mobile communication networks, RAN, which connects mobile phones to the core network, is a critical component that determines user experience in terms of transmission speed and communication quality. As RAN accounts for the largest share of energy usage among the entire communication network, including core networks and data centers, the need for energy-saving technology is also high.
Samsung is conducting research on AI-RAN technology, which integrates AI technology into RAN. In particular, at the Silicon Valley Future Wireless Summit held last November, AI-RAN technologies were demonstrated in collaboration with industry partners, showcasing capabilities to improve base station data throughput (i.e., the amount of data successfully transmitted by a base station over a certain period), communication coverage (i.e., the geographical range where communication services provided by a base station are available) and energy efficiency, among others.
One example is to utilize AI technology to improve the performance of channel estimation technology for estimating the state of wireless channels where data is transmitted between base stations and mobile phones. The result showed that the downlink data throughput from the base station to the mobile phone and the uplink data throughput from the mobile phone to the base station were significantly improved compared to 5G RAN.
In addition, it was shown that energy efficiency was enhanced by applying power adaptively according to the strength of transmitted signals.
These industry-first demonstrations shown to telecommunications operators with Proof of Concept (PoC) results applying AI across the entire RAN have identified AI’s potential to significantly enhance communication performance, user experience and energy efficiency in future communication networks.
“We thank our partners for collaboration on these ground-breaking AI wireless innovations,” said Charlie Zhang, Senior Vice President at Samsung Research America (SRA) and Head of the 6G Research Team at Samsung Research. “Samsung Electronics will continue to work with our ecosystem partners to lead innovation in making AI-RAN a reality in the coming years.”
Leaders from major global wireless operators were very pleased with the promising results of integrating the latest AI technology into the design of future RAN and appreciated Samsung’s efforts in leading the industry efforts on the AI-Native wireless technology.
“We were impressed by the results from Samsung Research and valued the insights from our supplier partners and global operators,” said Steven Rice, Vice President of Network Planning at Verizon Wireless. “Constantly improving network performance to enhance our customers’ experience is our priority. Showcasing research through demonstrations like this one is important to drive the industry forward.”
“Samsung’s demonstrations highlighted the significant potential of AI for RAN,” said Satoshi Konishi, Executive Vice President and Head of Advanced Technology Research Laboratories at KDDI Research, Inc. “We look forward to further advancing the integration of communication and AI together.”
“It was a great honor to participate in the Samsung event,” said Takehiro Nakamura, Chief Standardization Officer at NTT DoCoMo. “It was very impressive to see the AI-RAN demonstrations produce meaningful gains over existing solutions. I believe Samsung’s advanced AI-RAN technologies can promote early commercial deployment of AI-RAN in the 5G network and help initiate AI-RAN discussions in preparation for 6G.”
“Leveraging Samsung’s AI technology, we anticipate substantial improvement in our uplink link budget and enhanced communication stability for both downlink and uplink,” said Ryuji Wakikawa, Vice President and Head of the Research Institute of Advanced Technology at SoftBank Corp. “As we look to the future, this AI-driven approach is expected to evolve further and become a cornerstone of 6G technology. SoftBank recognizes the pivotal role of this AI-based technology in transforming the future of the telecom landscape and eagerly awaits its commercialization.”
Additionally, leaders from Samsung’s global partners, who were also collaborators for these demonstrations, were thrilled to be part of the collective effort in leading the way toward an AI-Native next generation network and shared their vision on how AI can help shape the future of wireless communications.
“Wireless networks will be AI-Native, with the capability to harness AI, for necessary improvements in RAN performance and spectral efficiency,” said Ronnie Vasishta, Senior Vice President of Telecom at NVIDIA. “Our deep collaboration with Samsung and other research partners around the world is demonstrating that AI-RAN infrastructure accelerated by the NVIDIA AI Aerial platform can bring significant performance gains in radio signal processing while hosting AI and RAN together on the common infrastructure.”
“It was an honor to work closely with Samsung Research and showcase the powerful impact of AI in improving cell capacity in the future network,” said Giampaolo Tardioli, VP of 6G Strategy at Keysight. “Collaborations with these world-class partners are the exciting, and necessary, part of bringing AI to bear against some of our toughest wireless challenges.”
“VIAVI is pleased to have supported Samsung with a joint AI-designed air interface demo, continuing the strategic collaboration between industry leaders,” said Dr. Ian Wong, Senior Director of RF and Wireless Architecture, VIAVI. “VIAVI and Samsung are proud to lead the way in showcasing the tremendous potential of AI to significantly improve the spectral and energy efficiency of 6G.”
Christina Gessner, Executive Vice President of Rohde & Schwarz Test and Measurement Division, says: “Machine learning-driven signal processing has the potential to push wireless performance beyond what is possible. Our collaboration with Samsung Research of a neural receiver that uses non-uniform constellation transmission, leveraging our advanced test solutions, marks a milestone in confirming AI’s role in future 6G wireless communications.”
“Emerson is pleased to be working alongside Samsung and the industry to explore how generative AI can transform 5G and 6G networks,” said Ritu Favre, President of Test and Measurement Business Group at Emerson. “Our commitment to innovation and industry collaboration is an asset in advancing AI-native networks. Together, we’re working toward a smarter, more sustainable future for global communications.”
The successful demos are widely recognized as a promising starting point of industry collaboration to bring AI-Native Wireless to future radio access networks. Samsung plans to build on the innovation momentum and continue to work with partners in the ecosystem through industry associations such as AI-RAN Alliance, where Samsung is a founding member, to enhance user experiences by making the promise of AI in RAN a reality.
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