Samsung Electronics today announced the company has successfully completed the industry’s first end-to-end call in a lab environment with a future Intel® Xeon® processor (codenamed Granite Rapids-D), on a virtualized Open RAN network powered by Samsung’s vRAN 3.0. This achievement between Samsung and Intel is another milestone in the companies’ multi-year collaboration and represents the companies’ mutual dedication to advance virtualized Open RAN for enhanced performance and capacity.

Conducted in Samsung’s R&D lab in Korea, the companies completed the end-to-end data call using Samsung’s versatile and O-RAN-compliant virtualized RAN (vRAN) integrated with Intel’s Granite Rapids-D, Samsung’s Core and test devices. During the test, Samsung achieved significant gains as well as reduced power consumption. The test results will be demonstrated at Mobile World Congress 2024 (Samsung Networks booth, invitation-only).

This technical achievement builds on the two companies’ long-standing collaboration on vRAN, which began in 2017 and has resulted in commercially proven large-scale vRAN deployments with Tier-1 operators. The companies have been collaborating on each generation of Intel’s processors to advance vRAN, including the 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors in 2021 and 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors in 2023. With the 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors, the companies completed the industry’s first data call on a commercial network within just four months of the processors’ commercial availability.

“As a global vRAN innovator with proven commercial deployments at scale, Samsung is committed to expanding its ecosystem with industry-leading partners like Intel and staying at the forefront of the software-centric transformation,” said Dong Geun Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of Technology Strategy Group, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “This first call represents Samsung’s unparalleled ability to deliver the full potential of mobile networks for the future by embracing a virtual and open approach.”

“Completing the first call on Granite Rapids D far ahead of its general availability is a remarkable achievement and is a strong reflection of Samsung’s and Intel’s close collaboration over many years,” said Cristina Rodriguez, vice president and general manager, Wireless Access Networking Division at Intel. “We remain committed to driving our multi-generational Intel® Xeon® processor roadmap to deliver the solutions operators need, and to enable new innovations in areas like energy efficiency, vRAN capacity, and AI.”

In addition to integrating Samsung vRAN software on Granite Rapids-D, Samsung and Intel are collaborating to drive AI innovations in radio networks toward enabling potential future RAN use cases such as power optimization, traffic steering, improved spectral efficiency and anomaly detection to name a few.

Samsung has pioneered the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end solutions, including chipsets, radios and core. Through ongoing research and development, Samsung drives the industry to advance 5G networks with its market-leading product portfolio, from vRAN 3.0, Open RAN, Core to private network solutions and AI-powered automation tools. The company currently provides network solutions to mobile operators that deliver connectivity to hundreds of millions of users worldwide.

For this installation, Samsung is providing its vRAN software supporting Multi-RAT (multiple radio access technology) — across 4G and 5G — and its O-RAN compliant radios in the low- and mid-bands, including its Massive MIMO radios. Samsung has fully integrated its 64T64R Massive MIMO radios into Open RAN, demonstrating its capability to handle integration, which is more complex for 64T64R Massive MIMO radios, in comparison to single-band radios.

This deployment — the largest Open RAN rollout in the U.K. — is the latest milestone in the expanded collaboration between Vodafone, Samsung and several other partners, since the U.K.’s first 5G Open RAN site in Bath in January of 2022. Subsequently Samsung supported the installation of Open RAN in Vodafone’s Exmouth and Torquay network, in December of 2022. This was another first for the Open RAN ecosystem.

Using Samsung’s vRAN solutions, Vodafone, Samsung and other partners have proven the capability of Open RAN in Vodafone UK’s commercial network, exceeding the performance of legacy hardware-based RAN in urban locations. Test results exceeded the targeted KPIs, including 4G and 5G downlink and uplink throughput.

“Vodafone has been at the forefront of Open RAN innovation and we are excited to kick-off the mass installation of Open RAN, working together with Samsung Networks and the rest of our ecosystem,” said Andrea Dona, Chief Network Officer, Vodafone UK. “After rounds of testing and validation, we are well prepared to embark on this new phase in our Open RAN expansion, and look forward to opening up a new world of possibilities that will transform customer experiences.”

“Now we are witnessing how innovative technologies like Open RAN and vRAN can further bolster 5G capabilities, creating new paths and possibilities for network evolution,” said Junehee Lee, Executive Vice President, Head of Global Sales & Marketing, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “Following this historic milestone in Europe, we will continue working together with Vodafone to take their Open RAN networks to new heights.”

“The release of vRAN 3.0 comes at a good time, as Samsung is extending its vRAN solutions to this major ‘brownfield’ opportunity,” said Joe Madden, Founder & Chief Analyst, Mobile Experts. “This milestone is important because it represents Open RAN replacing legacy solutions at scale in a high-capacity environment, and it sets up Vodafone UK with the flexibility to monetize their RAN better in the future.”

Samsung also supported the automation of vRAN deployments process, easing the management of cell sites from a unified platform.

Samsung has pioneered the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end solutions, including chipsets, radios and cores. Through ongoing research and development, Samsung drives the industry to advance 5G networks with its market-leading product portfolio, from vRAN 3.0, Open RAN, Core to private network solutions and AI-powered automation tools. The company currently provides network solutions to mobile operators that deliver connectivity to hundreds of millions of users worldwide.

As part of this expanded collaboration, Samsung will integrate its vRAN 3.0 software with 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors with Intel vRAN Boost to deliver advanced vRAN solutions. Offering increased capacity, Samsung’s enhanced vRAN will be able to support more cells with the same number of servers, which would bring the benefits of power savings and cost efficiency to network operators.

Samsung and Intel have been collaborating on vRAN innovation since 2017, and the companies have already proven the performance of their integrated solutions in Tier One operators’ commercial networks in the U.S., the U.K. and Japan. In these networks, Samsung’s vRAN software integrated with 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors (Intel’s previous generation processor) has been delivering performance optimization and power saving capabilities to operator networks.

Along with its ecosystem partners, Samsung continues to deliver advanced virtualized network solutions powered by its latest vRAN 3.0 capabilities, such as 200MHz 3-Cell support for 64T64R Massive MIMO radios, power saving features and improved automation. This paves the way for operators to deploy an exceptional and versatile RAN solution. In addition to its enhanced features, Samsung’s vRAN also supports multiple radio access technology (Multi-RAT) – across 2G, 4G and 5G – for greater flexibility in network operation.

“Intel has been a close innovation partner within Samsung’s 5G vRAN ecosystem, helping advance our goal of working with industry-leading innovators to develop and commercialize best-in-class vRAN solutions that meet the highest standards,” said Jeongho Park, Vice President and Head of Technology Strategy Group, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “We are excited to expand upon our collaboration with technology leaders like Intel to bring forth the next wave of vRAN enhancements – including reduced power consumption, automation and increased flexibility. This enables customers to benefit from a host of performance- and efficiency-enhancing vRAN capabilities, delivering one of the most powerful RAN solutions in the world.”

The combination of Samsung’s vRAN 3.0 and 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors with Intel vRAN Boost will provide operators with a solution that allows them to meet their demanding capacity, coverage, quality and total cost of ownership requirements while underpinning their networks on a modern, fully virtualized architecture.

“The mobile industry is on a transformational journey toward end-to-end network virtualization,” said Cristina Rodriguez, Vice President and General Manager, Wireless Access Networking Division at Intel. “Intel and Samsung have a long-standing collaboration with a shared commitment to deliver highly integrated, virtualized RAN solutions. This new agreement will deepen that collaboration, enabling both companies to jointly speed-up operators’ vRAN deployments at scale and to deliver a strong combination of flexibility, performance and power efficiency.”

The companies have successfully completed interoperability tests, accomplishing a first call on Samsung’s vRAN running on the 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors with Intel vRAN Boost. This enhanced vRAN offering is expected to be commercially available in the second half of 2023.

Samsung has pioneered the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end solutions, including chipsets, radios and core. Through ongoing research and development, Samsung drives the industry to advance 5G networks with its market-leading product portfolio, from vRAN 3.0, Open RAN, Core to private network solutions and AI-powered automation tools. The company currently provides network solutions to mobile operators that deliver connectivity to hundreds of millions of users worldwide.

The demands on uplink performance are increasing with the rise of live streaming, multi-player gaming and video conferences. Upload speeds determine how fast your device can send data to gaming servers or transmit high-resolution videos to the cloud. As more consumers seek to document and share their experiences with the world in real-time, enhanced uplink experiences provide an opportunity to use the network to improve how they map out their route home, check player stats online and upload videos and selfies to share with friends and followers.

While current smartphones and customer premise equipment (CPEs) can only support 2Tx antennas, this industry-first demonstration validated the enhanced mobile capability of 3Tx antenna support. This approach not only improves upload speeds but also enhances spectrum and data transmission efficiency, as well as overall network performance.

The test was conducted in Samsung’s lab, based in Suwon, Korea. Samsung provided its industry-leading 5G network solutions, including its C-Band Massive MIMO radios, virtualized Distributed Unit (vDU) and core. The MediaTek test device featuring its new M80-based CPE chipset began with one uplink channel apiece at 1,900MHz and 3.7GHz, but added an extra uplink flow using MIMO on 3.7GHz. Both companies achieved a peak throughput rate of 363Mbps, an uplink speed that is near theoretical peak using 3Tx antennas.

“We are excited to have successfully achieved this industry breakthrough with MediaTek, bringing greater efficiency and performance to consumer devices,” said Dongwoo Lee, Head of Technology Solution Group, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “Faster uplink speeds bring new possibilities and have the potential to transform user experiences. This milestone further demonstrates our commitment to improving our customers’ networks using the most advanced technology available.”

“Enhancing uplink performance using groundbreaking tri-antenna and 5G UL infrastructure technologies will ensure next-generation 5G experiences continue to impress users globally,” said HC Hwang, General Manager of Wireless Communication System and Partnership at MediaTek. “Our collaboration with Samsung has proved our combined technical capabilities to overcome previous limits, enhancing network performance and efficiency, opening up new possibilities for service providers and consumers to enjoy faster and more reliable 5G data connectivity.”

“With demands on mobile networks rising, enhancing upload performance is essential to improving consumer and enterprise connectivity, as well as application experiences,” said Will Townsend, VP & Principal Analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. “Samsung and MediaTek have achieved an important 5G Standalone milestone in a demonstration which underscores a tangible network benefit and does so in a way that can help operators maximize efficiency.”

Samsung has pioneered the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end solutions, including chipsets, radios and core. Through ongoing research and development, Samsung drives the industry to advance 5G networks with its market-leading product portfolio, from virtualized RAN and Core to private network solutions and AI-powered automation tools. The company currently provides network solutions to mobile operators that deliver connectivity to hundreds of millions of users worldwide.

This expanded private 5G network collaboration follows Samsung’s announcement with NAVER Cloud in 2022, when the companies launched a private 5G network at NAVER’s new headquarters to power autonomous mobile robots.

Wireless communication is an essential part of environments supporting highly mobile workers and machinery. Samsung and NAVER Cloud’s collaboration underlines 5G networks’ ability to significantly improve worksite operations and will include a variety of next-generation applications to enhance Hoban Construction’s workflow. New construction industry-specific 5G applications that will be utilized at the company’s worksite include:

• Drone-based high-resolution monitoring will provide live inspection videos, reducing the need for on-site visits and enabling issues to be detected earlier.
• IoT concrete strength sensors will support real-time monitoring of concrete temperature and strength, providing real-time, accurate information during the curing phase.
• Construction site management solutions will help keep track of construction progress and optimize project outcomes. They will allow workers both on- and off-site to track progress, view floor plans and share updates through visual dashboards.
• Smart safety jackets are equipped with gas detection sensors, 140-degree full HD cameras and safety buttons, creating a safer working environment by enabling potential safety risks to be detected earlier.
• Real-time CCTV video monitoring will help reduce on-site hazards and errors with 4K video streaming capabilities. With wireless transmission support, CCTV cameras can be easily installed throughout worksites.

These 5G applications will streamline communications for human-to-human, machine-to-machine and human-to-machine interactions, helping Hoban Construction improve on-site collaboration and allocate resources more effectively.

“We are excited to partner with Samsung and NAVER Cloud to deploy Korea’s first 5G private network in the construction sector,” said Kap Moon, Vice President of Management Division, Hoban Construction. “We look forward to using this advanced technology to enhance safety at our worksites, improve construction workflow and provide workers with real-time data to allocate resources and deliver better outcomes for our projects.”

“This collaboration with Samsung and Hoban Construction represents an exciting milestone in our efforts to bring 5G to various industries in Korea,” said Sang-young Han, Executive Director at NAVER Cloud Strategy and Planning. “As Korea’s first private 5G common carrier, we are confident that the benefits of private 5G networks will be transformative for the entire construction sector, and we look forward to showcasing these benefits to the wider industry.”

NAVER Cloud has a license for private 5G dedicated spectrum in Korea, making the private spectrum available to enterprises. NAVER Cloud is also leading the project, managing partnerships with the IT companies providing various solutions.

For this project, Samsung provided its outdoor radios, baseband units and advanced core solution — 5G Standalone Compact Core. These solutions support the mid-band (4.7GHz) spectrum dedicated to private 5G networks in Korea. Samsung’s 5G SA Compact Core is a “one box” solution that can run on a single server hardware, ideal for quick deployments and less complex operation.

“We are delighted to build on our collaboration with NAVER Cloud to bring new 5G innovations to Hoban Construction,” said Yong Chang, Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “Our advanced network technology will help construction companies in expanding what’s possible, by bringing forth new tools and applications that will optimize their operations and improve safety on-site.”

Private 5G networks have the potential to transform and improve business operations in many industries by enabling new use cases for automation, productivity and safety.

Samsung has pioneered the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end solutions including chipsets, radios and core. Through ongoing research and development, Samsung continues to drive the industry to advance 5G networks with a market-leading product portfolio ranging from RAN and Core to private network solutions and AI-powered automation tools. The company currently provides network solutions to mobile operators that deliver connectivity to hundreds of millions of users worldwide.

This builds upon the two companies’ initial network collaboration, including Vodafone UK’s successful launch of the first 5G Open RAN site in Bath, U.K. in January 2022, using Samsung’s virtualized RAN (vRAN) solution. Vodafone and Samsung are proving stable performance and capacity in Vodafone UK’s commercial network, exceeding targeted performance level and power savings in its strategic Open RAN sites (also known as its ‘Golden Cluster’), located in Exmouth and Torquay, England.

“As we grow and scale our network, we are excited to jointly drive collaborative Open RAN innovation and continue our groundbreaking work together with Samsung,” said Santiago Tenorio, Director of Network Architecture for Vodafone. “We look forward to continue bringing fundamental improvements to our wide-scale next-generation network, to further accelerate our open network approach for 5G expansion across Europe.”

New Europe 5G Initiatives

Building on their collaborative advancements, the two companies continue to grow their Open RAN footprint in Europe. New developments and projects include:

• In the U.K.: The companies implemented Samsung’s O-RAN compliant Massive MIMO radios in Vodafone UK’s commercial network, efficiently expanding 5G coverage in the U.K. With this, Samsung’s 64T64R Massive MIMO radios are now successfully integrated with 5G vRAN, carrying commercial data traffic. Recently, the companies also completed a data call using Samsung’s vRAN and NEC’s Massive MIMO radio, demonstrating multi-vendor interoperability for Vodafone’s commercial network. This illustrates how Open RAN technology can enable multi-vendor integration of vRAN, not only with single-band radios but also with more complex Massive MIMO radios.
• In Germany: Vodafone will carry out comprehensive pilot projects for Open RAN using Samsung’s 2G/4G vRAN and O-RAN compliant radio solutions. In these commercial pilots announced in October 2022, Vodafone will use Samsung’s mature solutions — proven in large-scale commercial networks — to demonstrate outstanding performance, stability and reliability.
• In Spain: Samsung joined Vodafone’s testbed in Ciudad Real, which was created to benchmark mature RAN providers and compare performance across both traditional and Open RAN. Samsung will deploy its Massive MIMO radios and 4G/5G vRAN in CREATE (Ciudad Real España Advanced Testing Environment) to evaluate and verify their performance in Spain’s urban environment.

“Samsung’s virtualized Open RAN solutions are successfully running in Vodafone’s commercial network in the U.K., delivering performance on par with traditional mobile radio networks and providing Vodafone with an agile network on which to deploy new services and features,” said Thomas Riedel, Head of Samsung Networks Europe. “Vodafone has been a pioneer in the Open RAN space and they continue to break new grounds. We are excited to deepen our collaboration with Vodafone by extending our capabilities across Europe, and taking vRAN innovation to the next level.”

Continuing to claim deployment milestones, the two companies remain as strong partners in leading 5G Open vRAN innovation. Vodafone and Samsung are collaborating with other Open RAN leaders, to drive acceleration of Open RAN with wider diversity and multi-vendor, open architecture.

The SCO now supports automation of vRAN deployments on both private and public clouds, enabling network services to be provisioned across multiple cloud environments, and this multi-cloud capability offers a highly flexible scaling option for operators, tailored to various deployment scenarios.

Samsung delivered SCO for virtualized RAN to Tier One operators in Asia, Europe and North America, leveraging the solution to bring greater efficiencies to their network deployment and operation.

“Automation adds incredible value for operators who are rapidly shifting to software-centric networks. With our enhanced Samsung Cloud Orchestrator, operators have a necessary platform to deploy and manage their vRAN with maximum efficiency and greater flexibility,” said June Moon, Executive Vice President, Head of R&D, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “This is part of Samsung’s goal to leverage our wide-scale commercial vRAN deployment experience to develop and introduce intuitive tools that take vRAN to the next level.”

For virtualized and Open RAN network operators, SCO enables them to simplify manually intensive tasks from the very start of network creation. It is an integrated automation platform that supports end-to-end process coordination through a centralized portal, where users can view and control the status of their network in one unified platform.

The key process-improving capabilities delivered by SCO include the following:

• Onboarding: Operators can leverage this solution to prepare packages to be installed at each site and automatically perform deployment tasks on a scheduled basis. This allows operators to easily implement their own CI/CD (Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment) environment. It verifies package version and file formats and automatically checks for missing components in the package.
• Deployment: Operators can distribute numerous vRAN software packages and containers needed to launch large groups of cell sites with one click from a centralized location — reducing the overall deployment time. It also helps simplify the configuration process of each cell site through centralized management of tasks.
• Operation: SCO can provide automatic vRAN software upgrades, healing and scaling, to ensure the resilience of each network, enabling operators to maintain optimal network conditions by performing these tasks remotely on a massive scale.

Samsung has pioneered the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end solutions including chipsets, radios and core. Through ongoing research and development, Samsung drives the industry to advance 5G networks with its market-leading product portfolio from virtualized RAN and Core to private network solutions and AI-powered automation tools. The company is currently providing network solutions to mobile operators that deliver connectivity to hundreds of millions of users around the world.

Samsung 5G RAN products to be provided include radios for CBRS and 600MHz, baseband units, and a newly developed 5G CBRS Strand Small Cell that can be deployed on Comcast’s aerial cable lines (i.e. strand). Using the new compact and lightweight small cell product, cable operators like Comcast can more easily and cost-effectively provide 5G cellular connectivity by leveraging their existing DOCSIS infrastructure without having to build or acquire additional cell sites.

“Our capital-light approach to providing enhanced 5G connectivity in service areas where we have a high concentration of traffic and cable infrastructure is smart for our business and even better for customers who will benefit from broader coverage and industry-leading speeds and prices,” said Tom Nagel, SVP of Wireless Strategy at Comcast. “Partnering with Samsung and leveraging their leadership in 5G network innovation will help us seamlessly deliver more next-generation applications and services to our consumer and business mobile customers.”

“We are excited to collaborate with Comcast on their journey to deliver the most enhanced 5G experiences available to their customers,” said Mark Louison, Executive Vice President and Head of Networks Business, Samsung Electronics America. “With this partnership, Samsung continues to build on its wireless technology leadership in commercial 5G rollouts. We look forward to helping Comcast advance its goals in delivering best-in-class 5G mobile services for their Xfinity Mobile and Comcast Business customers.”

As the demand for reliable Internet access inside and outside of the home and office rapidly increases, Comcast’s mid-band (CBRS) and low-band (600MHz) spectrum enable the company to supplement its existing Xfinity WiFi network and cellular network partnership with additional 5G coverage in certain high-traffic areas within its service areas. Comcast and Samsung are conducting field trials of their new 5G network solution and are currently expanding these trials to include Comcast employee testing.

Xfinity Mobile and Comcast Business Mobile services are built for the way people use mobile today, with the Internet at the core of the experience. Calls and texts are free, and customers can experience the freedom of paying by the gig at $15 for 1GB, $30 for 3GB, or $60 for 10GB, or by going unlimited at $45 for one line or $30/line for two to four lines — some of the most competitive pricing on the market. Customers can switch between payment options at any time for any line on their account. For complete pricing and availability details, please visit Xfinity Mobile or Comcast Business Mobile.

Samsung has pioneered the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end solutions including chipsets, radios, and core. Through ongoing research and development, Samsung drives the industry to advance 5G networks with its market-leading product portfolio from RAN and Core to private network solutions and AI-powered automation tools. The company is currently providing network solutions to mobile operators that deliver connectivity to hundreds of millions of users around the world.

About Comcast Corporation

Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA) is a global media and technology company that connects people to moments that matter. We are principally focused on connectivity, aggregation, and streaming with 57 million customer relationships across the United States and Europe. We deliver broadband, wireless, and video through our Xfinity, Comcast Business, and Sky brands; create, distribute, and stream leading entertainment, sports, and news through Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, Universal Studio Group, Sky Studios, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, multiple cable networks, Peacock, NBCUniversal News Group, NBC Sports, Sky News, and Sky Sports; and provide memorable experiences at Universal Parks and Resorts in the United States and Asia. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more information.

“Private 5G networks will enable progressive changes across all industry verticals. Applications like digital twins, autonomous vehicles, AI and AR are only a glimpse of the plethora of use cases Samsung’s 5G can bring to life,” said Yong Chang, Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung understands the unique needs of enterprises and is capable of delivering optimized network experiences. We are excited to help drive the private 5G ecosystem in Korea.”

Samsung will provide its advanced private 5G network solutions to an array of entities in the public and private sectors — including energy, safety, water resource management, medical services and medical education.

In the public sector, Samsung will collaborate with three major government agencies to help them ensure workplace safety and efficiency by applying smart, AI-enabled connectivity solutions:

• Korea Electric Power Corporation, the largest electric utility in Korea, plans to deploy smart grid technologies and build digital twins to enhance safety and efficiency in the workplace. A digital twin technology is a virtual replica of an electrical substation, and will help with remote monitoring and inspection around the entire premises. This not only saves time and resources spent on actual site inspections but also enables real-time monitoring on the safe working environment of the employees. 5G-powered wearable cameras and autonomous robots will also boost control and monitoring capabilities at various sites.

• Korea Industrial Complex Corporation, a government agency that manages and supports industrial complexes, will deploy a 5G-driven digital safety platform at various work sites. Samsung will help them build a robust, AI-based smart monitoring system for detection of fire hazards and any other security risks or emergencies in real-time.

• Korea Water Resources Corporation, a government agency for comprehensive water resource management, will build digital twins — virtual models of real-world river basins — to precisely visualize water flow and predict water-related hazards such as flood damages. Also, the digital twins of water purification plants will provide accurate AI-based simulations of the water purification process, improving accuracy in water management and predictive capabilities.

In the private sector, Samsung will also work with two of the largest and most technologically advanced hospitals in Korea, to implement enhanced medical services and immersive use cases, transforming the healthcare industry:

• Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital will introduce smart medical services, such as a 3D rendering of computed tomography (CT), rapid reconstruction of medical images and real-time, long-distance surgical collaboration using virtual interaction.

• Samsung Medical Center will leverage 5G to enhance its medical education program. Some examples will include remote training using AR glasses, virtual simulation of live surgical conditions and live-streaming of 360-degree recordings of surgical operation.

For private 5G network expansion in Korea, Samsung will deliver its advanced private 5G network solutions, including Compact Macro, Compact Core and radios supporting 4.7GHz and 28GHz bands. This new project follows Samsung’s recent deployment of Korea’s first private 5G network at Naver’s new headquarters.

Samsung’s private 5G radios are capable of delivering improved uplink performance with optimized uplink feature, which can increase the ratio of network uploads to up to 40 percent. This latest feature is designed to help enterprises upload vast amounts of data across numerous devices simultaneously, which is required in many private networks.

Samsung has pioneered the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end solutions including chipsets, radios and core. Through ongoing research and development, Samsung drives the industry to advance 5G networks with its market-leading product portfolio from fully virtualized RAN and Core to private network solutions and AI-powered automation tools. The company is currently providing network solutions to mobile operators that deliver connectivity to hundreds of millions of users around the world.

The CTO’s Choice Award is selected by a panel of industry experts comprised of 21 CTOs from leading mobile network operators around the globe. Chosen among the six winners in the Best Mobile Technology category — recognizing distinguished leaders in networks and technology — this is the highest recognition at the prestigious industry awards and a top honor in the global telco industry.

“We are honored that Samsung Networks’ fully-virtualized 5G RAN was recognized as the supreme champion with the CTO’s Choice Award, representing our dedicated efforts in network advancement,” said Junehee Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of R&D, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung believes vRAN is a powerful enabler for network transformation and will pave the path towards next-generation networks. As a global leader in virtualization with successful commercialization experiences, we continue to lead the journey, redefining what is possible for 5G network innovation.”

“In one of the most fiercely contested categories in the GLOMOs, the judges felt that the Samsung entry showed innovation in one of the most exciting parts of the market,” said Shaun Collins, Chair of the Judges, GLOMO Awards (Executive Chairman, CCS Insight). “It was clear the 21 carrier CTOs also thought that and selected Samsung’s entry for the prestigious CTO Choice Award this year.”

This award is backed by Samsung’s commercial track record of vRAN deployments in wide-scale in North America, Europe and Asia. Samsung delivered its 5G vRAN solutions for a large-scale commercial network service in the United States that launched in December 2020, providing reliable mobile services to millions of users. The company was also the world’s first in commercializing 5G 64T64R Massive MIMO radios on 5G vRAN using C-band spectrum (3.5GHz).

With a fully disaggregated architecture, Samsung’s vRAN runs on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) servers, offering features and performance that are equivalent to traditional hardware-based equipment. The company’s vRAN brings reliability, scalability and flexibility to mobile operators’ networks.

For detailed information on Samsung’s vRAN and Open RAN leadership, please refer to the recent announcement.

Samsung has pioneered the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end solutions including chipsets, radios and core. Through ongoing research and development, Samsung drives the industry to advance 5G networks with its market-leading product portfolio from fully virtualized RAN and Core to private network solutions and AI-powered automation tools. The company is currently providing network solutions to mobile operators that deliver connectivity to hundreds of millions of users around the world.

In June 2021, the companies announced that Vodafone UK selected Samsung as a leading vendor to support a wide-scale 5G commercial deployment based on an Open RAN architecture powered by vRAN in Europe.

“Open RAN can radically evolve the telecoms industry, and we are excited to champion the technology in the UK,” said Andrea Dona, Chief Network Officer, Vodafone UK. “This is an ecosystem which is only a few years old but the progress we have made so far is quite remarkable. Not only have we begun the first scaled deployment in the UK, but we have also installed the first 5G Open RAN site. Open RAN is now a real-world technology and it is truly exciting to see this technology flourish.”

“Samsung is proud to collaborate with Vodafone UK to switch on the UK’s first 5G Open RAN site,” said Thomas Riedel, Head of Samsung Networks Europe at Samsung Electronics. “This will help deliver the benefits of our carrier-grade 5G vRAN solutions to millions of Vodafone UK customers. Through our accumulated commercial 5G vRAN experience with leading operators across major markets globally, we look forward to pushing the boundaries of technological innovation and supporting the 5G journey across Europe.”

In the coming months, Vodafone and Samsung will be testing Samsung vRAN’s telco-grade performance metrics and features, such as security, inter-Radio Access Technology (inter-RAT) mobility and inter-frequency handover, as well as ensuring compliance with Open RAN specifications. Samsung’s fully virtualized, software-based RAN runs on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) servers, offering features and performance that are equivalent to traditional hardware-based equipment. Using a cloud-native and container-based architecture, the company’s vRAN enables more flexible deployments and network management efficiencies for mobile operators, while helping them meet the demands of deploying new and existing services.

The companies will also test other advanced network technologies that leverage both LTE and 5G technologies to help enhance mobile user experiences. This includes Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS), which assigns time-frequency resources based on traffic demands to accommodate users of both LTE and 5G in the same frequency band, and E-UTRAN New Radio Dual Connectivity (EN-DC), which boosts 5G speeds, reliability and coverage by combining the resources of 4G and 5G networks. Testing will occur in the first half of 2022.

Samsung has pioneered the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end solutions including chipsets, radios and core. Through ongoing research and development, Samsung drives the industry to advance 5G networks with its market-leading product portfolio from fully virtualized RAN and Core to private network solutions and AI-powered automation tools. The company is currently providing network solutions to mobile operators that deliver connectivity to hundreds of millions of users around the world.

As one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators, Orange provides mobile services to 222 million users in 26 countries including Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The group plans to deploy O-RAN Alliance-compliant base stations starting with indoor and rural configurations and expand to new deployments in the coming years.

“Open RAN is a major evolution of radio access that requires deeper cooperation within the industry. With our European peers, we want to accelerate the development of Open RAN solutions that meet our needs. After the publication of common specifications, Orange’s Open RAN Integration Center will support the development and tuning of solutions from a broad variety of actors,” said Arnaud Vamparys, Senior Vice President of Radio Access Networks and Microwaves at Orange.

Samsung’s vRAN solutions can help ensure more network flexibility, greater scalability and resource efficiency for network operation by replacing dedicated baseband hardware with software elements. Additionally, Samsung’s vRAN supports both low and mid-band spectrums, as well as indoor and outdoor solutions. Samsung is the only major network vendor that has conducted vRAN commercial deployments with Tier one operators in North America, Europe and Asia.

“We are pleased to participate in Orange’s innovative laboratory,” said Woojune Kim, Executive Vice President, Head of Global Sales & Marketing, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “Through this collaboration, we look forward to taking networks to new heights in the European market, enabling operators to offer more immersive mobile services to their users.”

By opening its Open RAN Integration Center in Châtillon, near Paris, Orange will enable the testing and deployment of networks capable of operating with innovative technologies, which will serve as the backbone of the operator’s future networks. At the center, Samsung and Orange will conduct trials to verify capabilities and performance of Samsung’s vRAN, radio and Massive MIMO radio.

Samsung has pioneered the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end infrastructure solutions including chipsets, radios and core. Through ongoing research and development, Samsung drives the industry to advance 5G networks with its market-leading product portfolio from fully virtualized RAN and Core to private network solutions and AI-powered automation tools. The company is currently providing network solutions to mobile operators that deliver connectivity to hundreds of millions of users around the world.

To power immersive mobile experiences in 5G, Samsung has introduced advanced 5G solutions that include new baseband units and radios. Among these 5G radios, Massive Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO) radios are one of the most attractive options for mobile operators looking to deploy or enhance their 5G networks. The massive MIMO radio is a breakthrough solution that is equipped with a lot of antennas for better coverage and more capacity than a radio. As 5G networks continue to expand around the world using mid-band spectrum, 5G Massive MIMO radios with hundreds of antennas are commonly deployed in the market to help handle the growth in mobile data traffic.

To develop these powerful 5G Massive MIMO radios, numerous tests must be conducted to inspect the products for performance and reliability. One of the tests is conducted at a special facility called an anechoic chamber. Samsung Electronics has several anechoic chambers that are used to analyze and test the antenna performance of its radios. Recently, the company opened a large anechoic chamber at its Digital City campus in Suwon, Korea in order to enhance its ability to introduce more advanced and compelling 5G solutions to its customers.

Testing in Anechoic Chambers

The term “anechoic” comes from “an-echoic”, meaning non-echoing or non-reflective in Greek. As its name suggests, this room can emulate a non-reflective environment by using special walls and ceiling and floor designs to completely absorb all reflected electromagnetic waves. This is extremely important since even a small electromagnetic wave can disrupt an accurate antenna measurement. The interior walls are built with a number of absorbers that have a pyramid shape and help to minimize interference in the shielded room. This concept is very similar to how a stealth aircraft evades radar detection by absorbing and scattering radar signals.

The chamber’s interior is also equipped with a parabolic reflector. This reflector is used to collect radio waves from a generator and re-project the waves to the 5G radios placed inside the chamber. By collecting and re-projecting the waves at different angles, the parabolic reflector can simulate long distances, making it seem as though the 5G radio were transmitting radio waves to a mobile device from a far-off location. While the size of the chamber is relative to the simulated distance, Samsung’s chambers can simulate a distance of as much as hundreds of kilometers, creating what is called a “far field condition”. To measure the accuracy of radio performance, the size of the chamber is critical.

The newly added non-reflective chamber in Samsung’s Digital City is the size of a basketball court. Beneath the reflector, the engineer looks as small as an insect!

Samsung’s anechoic chambers are also able to cover a wide range of spectrum across low, mid and high-bands. This is especially useful in evaluating 5G radio performance since 5G spans various spectrum bands. Specifically, Samsung’s facilities have the ability to test mmWave antennas, which power high-capacity 5G mobile services. The mmWave spectrum is not used in 4G technology but is crucial to supporting immersive 5G use cases due to its wide-bandwidth.

By enabling tests to be conducted using a range of spectrum, the data sets collected in this way will help Samsung’s engineers verify and analyze a very high number of radio patterns. Based on the findings, engineers are able to refine and improve 5G radio performance to deliver best-in-class solutions for mobile services.

“We are extending our capabilities by developing powerful 5G solutions with the newly added anechoic chamber,” said Seunghwan Yoon, Vice President and Head of the RF Lab at Samsung Electronics’ Networks Business. “With vigorous quality control and verification processes, we look forward to bringing the full benefits of cutting-edge 5G solutions to more users for immersive mobile experiences.”

Better, More Powerful and Reliable 5G Solutions

The establishment of anechoic chambers is part of Samsung’s ongoing efforts to provide superior, reliable 5G solutions that deliver ultra-fast connectivity to users. These chambers help Samsung develop innovative antenna systems tailored to advanced 5G solutions in a wide array of spectrum bands. By leveraging a range of tools and facilities like anechoic chambers, Samsung looks forward to delivering leading-edge 5G solutions that offer consumers and enterprises around the globe new and immersive mobile experiences.

C-Band spectrum (3.7GHz to 3.98GHz) is used in deployments to boost overall 5G capabilities, access and coverage, while CBRS (3.55GHz to 3.7GHz) opens new opportunities, such as powering private enterprise networks or bringing broadband to underserved areas. By using a dual-band radio, mobile operators no longer need to deploy two radios to provide the benefits of C-Band and CBRS. This helps reduce an operator’s footprint and lower energy consumption, while simplifying installation and operation.

The dual-band radio brings significant benefits to radio innovation. It is ultra-lightweight and compact — weighing approximately 14kg (30lbs). Plus, it is equipped with Samsung’s in-house built chipset, bringing greater flexibility by supporting 350MHz of bandwidth covering both C-Band and CBRS spectrums. Leveraging the wide bandwidth support, operators can aggregate these spectrum bands to maximize network capacity to handle high user demands.

C-Band/CBRS Dual-band 16T16R Massive MIMO Radio

“C-Band and CBRS are mid-band sweet spots that provide a perfect combination of coverage and capacity for 5G services. We are excited to introduce our latest addition to our Massive MIMO radios portfolio, a multi-band radio that offers unprecedented compactness and is lightweight,” said Wonil Roh, Senior Vice President and Head of Product Strategy, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “We are proud to expand our mid-band solutions lineup to offer flexibility and maximized network capacity to operators, and we plan to continue building optimized 5G solutions to bring the best possible value to our customers.”

vRAN Integration

This new dual-band Massive MIMO radio also integrates with Samsung’s virtualized Radio Access Network (vRAN), offering greater agility to operators. By replacing dedicated baseband hardware with software elements, vRAN offers more deployment flexibility, greater scalability and improved resource efficiency in network operation. Samsung vRAN offers features and performance that are equivalent to traditional hardware-based equipment, while covering both low- and mid-band spectrums, as well as indoor and outdoor solutions. Samsung is the only major network vendor to have commercially deployed its vRAN to operators across Asia, Europe and North America.

The new radio is part of Samsung’s comprehensive portfolio of solutions for C-Band and CBRS, which include best-in-class radios that are already commercially deployed in North America. The new C-Band/CBRS Dual-band 16T16R Massive MIMO Radio will be commercially available in the second half of 2022.

Samsung has pioneered the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end infrastructure solutions including chipsets, radios and core. Through ongoing research and development, Samsung drives the industry to advance 5G networks with its market-leading product portfolio from fully virtualized RAN and Core to private network solutions and AI-powered automation tools. The company is currently providing network solutions to mobile operators that deliver connectivity to hundreds of millions of users around the world.

AWS and PCS are important mid-band spectrums, offering a good mixture of coverage and capacity. By combining them into a ‘one box’ solution, mobile operators gain a simplified approach to capacity extension.

As the lightest and most compact AWS/PCS dual-band Massive MIMO radio available in the market, Samsung’s new radio stands out for its ability to deliver high output power (320W) in a small form factor. It is equipped with the company’s latest System-on-a-Chip (SoC), which is built to improve network capacity and coverage, while decreasing its power consumption and radio size. This will enable operators to reduce their radio footprint, the weight placed on towers and installation time, helping to drive faster rollouts and operational efficiency.

AWS/PCS Dual-band Massive MIMO Radio and AWS/PCS Dual-band 4T4R Radio

The AWS/PCS Dual-band Massive MIMO Radio is the company’s first 16T16R FDD dual-band Massive MIMO radio. It is now commercially available, along with Samsung’s AWS/PCS Dual-band 4T4R Radio. Samsung continues to offer a comprehensive lineup of radios covering low-band, mid-band and mmWave in North America.

“We are excited to launch a new dual-band 16T16R Massive MIMO radio, adding to our 5G radio lineup to expand our extensive portfolio of cutting-edge network solutions,” said Dong Geun Lee, Vice President and Head of H/W R&D Group, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “With Samsung’s high-performance dual-band Massive MIMO radio, which features one of the smallest footprints in the industry, operators will be able to easily boost network capacity and accelerate network rollouts.”

Samsung has pioneered the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end infrastructure solutions including chipsets, radios and core. Through ongoing research and development, Samsung drives the industry to advance 5G networks with its market-leading product portfolio from fully virtualized RAN and Core to private network solutions and AI-powered automation tools. The company is currently providing network solutions to mobile operators that deliver connectivity to hundreds of millions of users around the world.

Virgin Media O2, which launched in June 2021, is a joint venture between Liberty Global and Telefónica in the U.K. The new business has become one of the U.K.’s largest, with 47 million connections across broadband, mobile, TV and home phone, and offers connectivity services, applications and digital solutions to tens of thousands of U.K. businesses and public sector organizations.

For the trial, Samsung will provide its advanced solutions which include its baseband unit, 5G Massive MIMO radios, as well as 4G radios on both low-band and mid-band spectrums, while being Open RAN compliant with some configuration changes and additional support in the future. The company’s latest baseband unit offers improved performance with industry leading capacity and throughput, while supporting both 4G and 5G technologies in a single unit. Moreover, Samsung’s 5G Massive MIMO radios have a slim and lightweight design, which ensures easy and quick installation for operators, as well as increased coverage and data speeds for driving enhanced 5G end-user experiences.

“With this trial, we are excited to join hands with Virgin Media O2 to demonstrate the readiness of our 5G network solutions for deployment in the U.K. and our capabilities in bringing immersive and reliable 4G and 5G mobile experiences to users,” said Woojune Kim, Executive Vice President, Head of Global Sales & Marketing, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “At Samsung, we are continuously enhancing mobile experiences through powerful network solutions that advance and drive 5G to new levels.”

“Vendor diversity is crucial to developing safe, secure and more efficient networks,” said Jeanie York, Chief Technology Officer at Virgin Media O2. “We look forward to undertaking these initial trials with Samsung, which is another milestone in our continued journey to provide the best possible 5G experience for our customers, as well as boosting our 4G network, as we look to upgrade the U.K.”

Julia Lopez, Minister for Media, Data and Digital Infrastructure, said, “We’re investing £250 million to put the UK at the forefront of 5G innovation so more people and businesses can benefit from improved and secure connectivity. It is fantastic to see industry supporting this push with Virgin Media O2 and Samsung working together to increase competition, resilience and choice in the 5G supply market.”

Samsung has pioneered the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end solutions including chipsets, radios and core. Through ongoing research and development, Samsung drives the industry to advance 5G networks with its market-leading product portfolio from fully virtualized RAN and Core to private network solutions and AI-powered automation tools. The company is currently providing network solutions to mobile operators that deliver connectivity to hundreds of millions of users around the world.

About Virgin Media O2
Virgin Media O2 launched on 1 June 2021, combining the UK’s largest and most reliable mobile network with a broadband network offering the fastest widely-available broadband speeds. It is a customer-first organisation that brings a range of connectivity services together in one place with a clear mission: to upgrade the nation. Virgin Media O2 is the corporate brand of the 50:50 joint venture between Liberty Global and Telefónica SA, and one of the UK’s largest businesses.

TWS, a privately owned company, will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics America, Inc. The service offerings and customers of TWS complement Samsung’s growth among networks infrastructure clients. With competencies in radio frequency (RF) and network design service–as well as installation, testing, optimization services–TWS will continue to serve its existing customers and clients they currently support with Samsung. The TWS leadership team will continue to manage the business and, together with Samsung, will address the network upgrade cycle occurring in the U.S.

“The acquisition of TWS will enable us to meet mobile carriers’ growing needs for improving their 4G and 5G networks, and eventually create new opportunities to enhance our service capabilities to our customers,” said Paul Kyungwhoon Cheun, Executive Vice President and Head of Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung will continue to drive innovation in communications technology while providing optimization services for network deployments that accelerate U.S. 5G network expansion.”

“Everyone at TeleWorld Solutions is excited to be part of the Samsung family,” said Shervin Gerami, CEO of TeleWorld Solutions. “The advent of 5G and the amount of new spectrum coming into the U.S.  market requires scale and innovation for the next generation of wireless technologies. Joining forces with Samsung will accelerate innovation to help our customers fulfill their needs for network strategy, deployment, and automation.”

Continued growth in mobile usage is driving the need for new spectrum and network densification. Additionally, demand is increasing for network infrastructure, design, deployment and optimization services. This is driven by 5G network builds, network virtualization initiatives, testing and optimization associated with new open RAN architectures–and demand for new enterprise cellular networks.

With a growing position in the U.S. networks industry, along with its 5G technology leadership, Samsung has collaborated with major U.S. network operators to fulfill 5G’s network expansion. As its growth continues through network operator agreements and enterprises seeking their own cellular networks, the combination of Samsung and TWS will help customers address a range of next-generation demands.

For over 40 years, Samsung has had a strong presence in the U.S., investing more than $30 billion and currently employing over 20,000 workers across the country. Samsung has demonstrated the power of 5G with end-to-end solution from semiconductor, mobile phone to network infrastructure through U.S. initiatives such as the 5G Innovation Zone at its Samsung Austin Semiconductor facility in Texas and a collaboration to create the nation’s first 5G-enabled stadium experience. Samsung remains committed to investing in 5G advancement and network development across the U.S.

About TeleWorld Solutions, Inc.

TeleWorld Solutions, Inc. is a network services provider that delivers consulting, design, deployment, testing, optimization, automation, and software development services to mobile service and cable operators, equipment OEMs and other companies across the U.S. TeleWorld Solutions fulfills the full lifecycle of network services across DAS, Macro, Small Cells, 5G, V2X, Satellite, Technology development, IoT, and Enterprise. TeleWorld Solutions has been recognized by Deloitte as a Fast 500 company due to its innovation to our services and continued customer satisfaction. For latest news, please visit TeleWorld Solutions at http://www.teleworldsolutions.com.