The 5G SA Core, jointly developed by Samsung Electronics and SK Telecom, not only supports technologies including network slicing and function modularization based on 3GPP standards, but also offers additional functions that operators have been using since LTE, include billing, subscriber management and operational convenience system. The interoperability assessment is the final stage for verifying the validity of 5G SA data transmission, signifying that the SA system is ready to be launched for commercial service.

Both companies implemented several cutting-edge technologies in the 5G SA Core that has been used for the interoperability. The technologies include Data Parallel Processing technology that performs QoS and transmission control simultaneously; Data Acceleration technology that classifies and distributes similar traffic types; and Path Optimization technology that automatically delivers data traffic to Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) platform.

“The fundamental structure of 5G SA is built on a completely new configuration, successfully delivering the most optimized 5G service to customers and enterprises across numerous industries,” said Jaeho Jeon, Executive Vice President and Head of R&D, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “Maintaining Korea’s leadership in network innovations through continuous investments in next-generation technologies is important to Samsung and SK Telecom, and the companies will continue to collaborate on developing and commercializing 5G SA.”

“Along with the initial phase of NSA rollout, we have been continuously focusing on researching and developing the SA technology in order to provide customers a differentiated service quality with innovative products, which will be launched in the first half of next year,” said Park Jin-hyo, Chief Technology Officer and Head of ICT R&D Center at SK Telecom. “By strengthening bilateral collaboration with Samsung, SK Telecom will drive and lead highly innovative 5G technologies and solutions.”

Once 5G SA is commercialized, data processing efficient will be improved by threefold, allowing efficient control for supporting massive data traffic. Moreover, 5G SA system is highly optimized for emerging next generation services such as Autonomous driving, Smart Factory, Smart Farm, and AR/VR.

For the past five years, the two companies have been collaborating on LTE and 5G development, which ultimately led to this successful 5G SA Core interoperability test. Some of other accomplishments include the commercialization of Virtualized LTE Core and Packet Optimization system; and they have completed the development of 3GPP Rel. 15 based SA Core in July last year, and successfully launched 5G NSA commercial service in April this year.

About SK Telecom

SK Telecom is the largest mobile operator in Korea with nearly 50 percent of the market share. As the pioneer of all generations of mobile networks, the company has launched the fifth generation (5G) network on December 1, 2018. The company is not only leading innovations in the field of mobile network, but is also creating unprecedented value in areas such as media, security and commerce. In the Fourth Industrial Revolution, SK Telecom will inspire the world, building a future beyond expectations. Building on its strength in mobile services, the company is also creating unprecedented value in diverse ICT-related markets including media, security and commerce. For more information, please contact skt_press@sk.com or sktelecom@bm.com

This marks the third project in which KT and Samsung’s Networks Business unit have partnered on PS-LTE network deployments. The two previous projects were the world’s first PS-LTE network throughout Gangwon (Pyeongchang) province of South Korea using 700MHz based on the 3GPP standard in 2016 (Link), and the 2017 delivery of LTE-Railway service on a high-speed train traveling at up to 250 km/hour (155 mph) using MCPTT solutions for the first time (Link). The two companies are now aiming to expand PS-LTE network further into the metropolitan areas around the country, including Seoul, Gyeonggi, Gangwon, Jeolla, Gyeongbuk and Chungnam provinces.

“Samsung is thrilled to see such a significant achievement in the country’s public safety where our continuous efforts and innovation on technology have advanced the safety of the world,” said GY Seo, Senior Vice President and Head of Global Sales & Marketing, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung is honored to take part in this important mission with KT by providing PS-LTE solutions that will ensure seamless and stable connectivity across the nation.”

“By acquiring innovative wireless communications from Samsung, we are able to aid in life-threatening situations where data traffic is severely congested or connection is completely out of reach,” said Yoon-Young Park, Senior Executive Vice President and Head of Enterprise Business Group at KT. “These first-of their-kind networks help responders connect with those in need.”

In addition to LTE radio base stations that support 700MHz, Samsung is providing KT with virtualized core and the latest features of PS-LTE based on the 3GPP standard. Some of the key features include MCPTT solutions, RAN Sharing, evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service, Public Network IoT based on NB-IoT, Isolated eUTRAN Operation for Public Safety (IOPS), and device to device (D2D) network solutions.

D2D and NB-IoT play crucial roles in creating public safety network by ensuring stable, seamless, and reliable network in unfavorable environments. For instance, D2D allows direct and undisrupted communications between any two devices without traversing radio base stations or core network even in areas where bases stations are not provided.

For the first time, NB-IoT is applied to the public safety network to help prevent natural disasters like fires as hundreds of IoT sensors are deployed to sense even the smallest size of embers or people that have been stranded in remote areas of mountains that are hard to spot in general.

Newly Applied PS-LTE Key Features

About KT CORP.

KT Corporation, Korea’s largest telecommunications service provider, reestablished in 1981 under the Telecommunications Business Act, is leading the era of innovations in the world’s most connected country. The company is leading the 4th industrial revolution with high speed wire/wireless network and new ICT technology. KT launched the world’s first nationwide commercial 5G network on April 3, 2019, after successfully showcasing the world’s first trial 5G services at the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games in February 2018. This is another milestone in KT’s continuous efforts to deliver essential products and services as it aspires to be the number one ICT Company and People’s Company.

5G NC operates independently of the LTE network and makes new features available. 5G NC was developed with a new service-based architecture that introduces software features, such as Control and User Planes Separation, Network Slicing and Virtualized Network Functions (VNF) deployed on containers, the latest in virtualization technology. This is the first trial of 5G NC in the world that implements VNFs based on 3GPP standards-compliant, service-based architecture.

As diverse services with complex requirements continue to emerge, the new 5G NC is able to identify service types and process the traffic accordingly. For example, the transmission of sensitive financial and biometric information can be protected through advanced security functions, such as quantum cryptography. In addition, ultra-high-resolution images can be transmitted faster, while ultra-low latency can be guaranteed for telemedicine.

Moving beyond proprietary technologies, the 5G NC control plane includes the Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) international standard, which has been newly adopted by 3GPP. HTTP enables a seamless connection between the core network and web-based services and allows third parties such as start-ups to create new 5G services easily. As a result, they can provide an optimal service to customers, leveraging network-related information, such as location and data, throughout.

5G NC is also characterized by its ability to guarantee both operational stability and unprecedented user experience. This is achieved by automatically selecting the best path between device and internet and by adding intelligent automatic management to restore the network instantaneously if issues occur.

“Based on this trial, SK Telecom has successfully verified the essential core network technologies for 5G commercialization,” said Park Jin-hyo, Executive Vice President and Head of ICT R&D Center at SK Telecom. “We will continue to enhance our technology development to enable truly innovative 5G services.”

“The completion of 5G NC with SK Telecom is a significant step towards 5G commercialization,” said Paul Kyungwhoon Cheun, Executive Vice President and Head of R&D, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “The tests have shown how fast, flexible, efficient and user-centric the network can become with Next-Generation Core.”

SK Telecom and Samsung have jointly submitted more than 30 5G NC contributions to 3GPP standardization, and have completed several 5G NC proof-of-concept activities. The two companies are collaborating to develop and verify 5G NC solutions, expected to be deployed in 2019.

In February 2017, as part of its broader commercial 5G portfolio Samsung Electronics announced the readiness of its NC solution and a library of 5G VNFs. The solution has since been upgraded to integrate new features defined in the 3GPP standards Release-15. It supports both 4G and 5G core functions.

Today’s test is part of the Korean government’s official verification process for the first phase of a PS-LTE network project. During the test, 20 departments from eight fields, including medical, police, fire protection, military and government services, used the same PS-LTE network deployed by Samsung and responded in accordance with the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).

“Through the successful demonstration, we showed our PS-LTE end-to-end innovation and stability by using the actual PS-LTE network, soon to serve public safety in live situations.” said Dong Soo Park, Executive Vice President and Head of Global Sales & Marketing, Networks business at Samsung Electronics. “We’re thrilled to see that Samsung’s technical leadership can contribute to ensuring people’s safety in Korea,” he added.

“Today’s comprehensive verification test indicates a significant milestone where a number of government agencies and business entities were able to rehearsal effective measures to overcome any challenging moment in emergency that are directly connected to people’s safety in the country,” said Mr. JinHong Shim, the Director of Ministry of Public Safety and Security (MPSS). “We could see today our efforts toward perfection by assuring both network performance and SOP and we hope to contribute to nation’s safety through world’s first 3GPP Standard-based PS-LTE project in first four cities by this month and nationwide by the end of next year.”

During the test, various PS-LTE communications were demonstrated, such as instant messaging in emergency situations, voice calling by multiple groups, voice/video Push-To-Talk (PTT) communication and video conferencing between field and command center utilizing the PS-LTE network deployed in the area.

For example, during the virtual simulation, a situation was created to test the response to a fire, explosion or building collapse at an international event. Based on the steps of SOP, a volunteer called 911, and a responsible organization then reported the situation to all relevant groups instantly. The first responders arriving at the site delivered the message regarding the real-time situation through video-calling or HD group-calling, after which every organization would perform their own rescue operations organically based on the steps taken above.

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Samsung was selected as a sole provider of the PS-LTE end-to-end solutions by the Korean government in January 2016. For this event, Samsung provided 700 MHz base stations, a virtualized core solution including key PS-LTE features, such as IMS and PTT, as well as rugged-type smartphones.

Following today’s event, the Korean government’s PS-LTE network will be launched in four cities beginning this month. The government will continue expanding the coverage until it provides a nationwide PS-LTE service.

To discuss 5G wireless communications technology standards, Samsung Electronics is hosting a 3GPP* RAN1** meeting for five days in Busan, Korea. The international meeting, which commenced on April 11, brings together about 400 technology experts from 80 telecommunications businesses to begin the standardization of 5G technologies in earnest.

3GPP first began to discuss the 5G standardization schedule at the 3GPP RAN 5G Workshop held in Phoenix last September. The meeting will serve as the starting point of 3GPP’s in-depth research on 5G candidate technologies.

During this meeting, 3GPP members will discuss ways to support the effective integration of new services such as IoT (Internet of Things) into 5G, and measures to ensure the compatibility of the 5G technologies. 3GPP will conduct research in these areas until next June and plans to complete the first standardizations for 5G by June 2018.

Samsung began its development of 5G technology in 2011 and successfully carried out the world’s first Gigabit (1.2 Gbps) data transmission in the millimeter-wave band in 2013. Since then, the company has continued to prove its technology leadership in 5G by achieving the world’s first 1.2 Gbps connection in a mobile environment from a vehicle travelling at 110 kilometers per hour; the fastest 5G data transmission rate while stationary (7.5 Gbps); and the world’s first handover technology that transfers 5G mmWave data connections from one base station to another.

In addition, Samsung continues to be actively engaged in a range of key global 5G research initiatives and leads multiple collaborative projects with its industrial partners, academic partners and operators around the world. Holding 17 percent of the total LTE and LTE-Advanced standard-essential patents (SEP), Samsung ranks at the top of 35 major telecommunications businesses. (Source: “2014 Results of Research on Telecom Technology Patent Trends and Patent Litigation Analysis,” Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO), April 2015.)

*3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) is the world’s most influential project to standardize telecommunications technologies.

**As one of the core tech groups in 3GPP, RAN (Radio Access Network) is in charge of terminal-base station interface standards.

Samsung will deploy the initial PS-LTE network in Seoul, where the main control center and core equipment are located, and in Gangwon province in early 2016. Coverage of the network will then be expanded in stages, until it provides a nationwide PS-LTE service by 2017.

“It is delightful to see how our 4G technology leadership can help society to function better. The demand for effective public safety communications has increased dramatically, so it’s important that our technology is able to serve that need,” said Youngky Kim, President and Head of Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “We will accelerate the process to implement cutting-edge standard-based PS-LTE solutions for accurate and timely decision-making in critical situations.” he added.

Samsung is the only vendor delivering end-to-end solutions, from infrastructure to devices. Samsung’s infrastructure offerings include not only base stations but also core equipment such as an IP-Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (eMBMS), virtualized EPC (vEPC) for flexible operation and Push-To-Talk (PTT) server, which is an essential feature of PS-LTE solutions. In addition, Samsung introduces a rugged-type smartphones for PS-LTE service.

All these offerings support 700MHz, which was recently identified as a PPDR (Public Protection and Disaster Relief) spectrum by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and is expected to be adopted by public safety networks globally.

Each component of Samsung’s PS-LTE solution is based on the 3GPP Release 12 standard, and ready to provide the key features of Release 13 via a simple software upgrade. Functionality such as Mission Critical Push-to-Talk (MCPTT), will be enabled when Release 13 is scheduled to be announced in the first quarter of 2016.

Samsung will also complete a PS-LTE interoperability test, to make sure that emergency calls are always available across the different types of network. It includes an interoperability test with legacy technologies such as TETRA and VHF/UHF which will be co-located with PS-LTE for several years. It also includes other safety networks such as LTE-Railways, LTE-Marine and even commercial LTE networks for roaming purposes.

Samsung’s PS-LTE solutions will be exhibited at the Exhibit Hall 2 Stand 2M10 during Mobile World Congress 2016, February 22-25 in Barcelona, Spain.