Juyeon Song, a researcher at Samsung Electronics, has been appointed to lead the 6G Spectrum Drafting Group within the Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT) Conference Preparatory Group for the World Radiocommunication Conference 2027 (APG-27). Representing South Korea, Song was elected chair following a competitive process involving candidates from six other countries — reaffirming the global leadership of both Korea and Samsung in shaping the future of 6G technology.

APT is an intergovernmental organization that promotes the development of information and communication technology across the Asia-Pacific region by coordinating the shared interests and policy directions of its member countries. Operating under APT, the APT Conference Preparatory Group (APG) enables the region to respond collectively to the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC).¹

Scheduled for October 2027, WRC-27 is expected to identify the new 6G spectrum bands. Song will play a pivotal role in aligning the perspectives of the 38 APT member countries to develop a unified proposal on 6G spectrum bands. Her efforts will also support the broader goal of securing favorable outcomes for the Asia-Pacific region at WRC-27.

Previously, Song served as chair of the 5G Vision Group for the International Telecommunication Union Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R), where she led the development of the global vision for 5G mobile communications. She later played a key role in the 5G standardization process as vice chair of Study Group 5 (SG 5), ITU-R’s terrestrial services group. With her latest appointment, she will oversee 6G spectrum discussions across the Asia-Pacific region. This reinforces Samsung’s leadership in 6G and provides a strategic advantage in securing mid-band spectrum — critical for expanding the company’s presence in the mobile communications market.

Since 2019, Samsung has accelerated its 6G technology research through the establishment of its Advanced Communications Research Center (ACRC). In parallel, the company has articulated its vision for next-generation mobile communications by publishing the 6G White Paper and 6G Spectrum White Paper. Building on Samsung’s existing leadership in standardization through the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), Song’s new role in the 6G spectrum domain highlights the company’s expanding influence in next-generation communications. Looking ahead, Samsung plans to take a strategic approach across key areas such as technology development, global standardization and spectrum acquisition as it prepares for the 6G era.

¹ Held every four years by the International Telecommunication Union, the World Radiocommunication Conference is the highest decision-making body in the field of radiocommunications — responsible for determining global frequency allocation and usage policies. Due to its significance, it is often referred to as the “Olympics of spectrum.”

Since 2020, Samsung Electronics has played a pioneering role in advancing next-generation communication technologies through active participation in international standardization efforts. This includes the publication of its 6G white papers and securing of key positions in major organizations such as the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). At the May 2025 3GPP elections, Samsung secured additional leadership positions, reaffirming its distinct standing at the forefront of the industry.

To shine a light on this progress, Samsung Newsroom is launching an interview series with the leaders of the company’s communications business, which will introduce the current state of next-generation communications technology research and global standardization efforts. In part one of the Communications Leadership Interview series, the Newsroom sat down with Jin-Kyu Han, Vice President of the Tech Standards Research Team at Samsung Research, to discuss the current landscape and future outlook of 6G standardization, as well as Samsung’s strategies and vision.

▲ Jin-Kyu Han, Vice President of the Tech Standards Research Team at Samsung Research

International Standards for Seamless Communication Across Borders

Today, using our own smartphones to access roaming services while traveling abroad is something we often take for granted. This is a convenience that has only become truly seamless through the invisible promise of international standards — born from the collaboration of countless companies and experts around the world.

“Common protocols are essential for products and services from different companies to work together seamlessly,” explained Han. “In the mobile communications industry, where a diverse range of players — including smartphone manufacturers, network equipment vendors, telecom operators and semiconductor companies — are involved, standardization is an indispensable element. It plays a key role in uniting the world into a single market.”

Standardization serves as the backbone that drives the global communications industry toward a unified direction. “At technological inflection points like the transition to 6G, the importance of industry-wide discussions and consensus on standards becomes even greater,” Han emphasized.

Global Collaboration Driving 6G Standardization

How does global standardization actually function? Unlike initiatives driven by a single entity, global telecommunications standardization is built on a clear, step-by-step framework of collaboration. Two key players in this process are the International Telecommunication Union (ITU¹) and the 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP²).

“The ITU sets the direction for each new generation of communication technology, and based on that blueprint, the 3GPP works with global companies to define the technical details and carry out the standardization process,” explained Han.

▲ Overview of ITU and 3GPP

Global 6G standardization has now entered its launch phase. Following preliminary discussions on 6G technology directions that began in 2021, ITU-R officially announced the recommended framework for 6G standardization in November 2023. With the goal of finalizing 6G technical specifications by 2030, 3GPP plans to develop and propose a range of candidate technologies.

“3GPP took its first step toward 6G standardization by hosting a workshop in Korea this March,” explained Han. “6G study items were approved during its plenary meeting in June, and starting in the second half of this year, detailed technical discussions will begin within its Working Groups (WGs).”

▲ Key milestones and objectives of the ITU and 3GPP by year

The standardization of 6G is a shared journey in which the world works together toward a common goal. As standardization efforts gain momentum, companies worldwide are moving quickly to position their technologies within this framework, ensuring interoperability while developing solutions that meet market demands.

Samsung’s 6G Leadership: Driving Consensus Amid Fierce Competition

Countries and companies around the world are participating in discussions on next-generation communications standardization, each taking on specific roles. This process demands forward-looking leadership capable of both steering technological development and harmonizing diverse viewpoints—a role where Samsung Electronics has emerged as a central figure, simultaneously advancing innovation while building industry consensus.

Standardization is a continuous process marked by fierce competition among countless global stakeholders that aim to secure a lead in standards by having their own technologies incorporated. In this complex landscape, Samsung has consistently been elected to leadership positions within groups, earning recognition for its neutrality, credibility and coordination capabilities

“Samsung chaired the ITU-R’s 6G Vision Group, helping to establish the initial global vision for 6G and contributing to the design of its early roadmap,” explained Han. “We’re also leading discussions within 3GPP by serving as chairs and vice chairs across various technical groups, steering the direction of standardization.”

Currently, Samsung Electronics holds a total of eight chair and vice-chair positions across 3GPP’s key Technical Specification Groups (TSGs). Han added, “In particular, the Radio Access Network (RAN) and System Architecture (SA) WG2 groups, where Samsung serves as chair, are central to shaping the structure and direction of 6G technologies. These groups are at the core of industry-wide technical discussions and the fact that Samsung chairs them is a testament to our influence.”

Samsung is also laying a solid technological foundation for standardization discussions through its pioneering research activities across various core 6G technologies. Since standardization only holds real value when it is backed by concrete technologies and practical feasibility, Samsung’s technological competitiveness contributes to making these discussions more effective.

“3GPP chairs are responsible for guiding discussions according to the timeline, while mediating and resolving various conflicts that arise during the standardization process,” Han explained. “Holding a significant number of chair positions is a clear sign that the mobile communications industry recognizes our technological capabilities and leadership.”

Key Focus Areas for Next-Generation 6G Research

As technical discussions within 3GPP begin in earnest this year, Samsung is concentrating its research on the core technologies necessary for 6G commercialization. At the heart of these discussions are three key phrases: AI integration, enhanced energy efficiency, and strengthened security.

“6G should deliver user-perceivable improvements, not just faster speeds or higher quality,” noted Han. “By applying AI technologies to network operations, we can automate complex processes while simultaneously reducing operational costs and improving service quality.”

“From the increasingly critical perspective of security and privacy, Samsung is also focusing on building safer communication systems while increasing system flexibility to easily and rapidly incorporate new services,” he added.

As we approach the 6G era — where technologies and services will connect seamlessly across national borders — international cooperation and coordination are more important than ever. In this evolving landscape, Samsung Electronics continues to play a leading role in shaping the global conversation on next-generation connectivity.

In part two of this series, Samsung Newsroom will explore the 6G standardization roadmap, key focus technologies and Samsung’s role as chair of the 3GPP TSG RAN, providing a closer look at the forefront of next-generation communications discussions.

¹ Short for the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a United Nations specialized agency dedicated to advancing information and communication technologies (ICT) and networks. Its work includes allocating radio frequencies, establishing technical standards, and supporting developing countries, while playing a vital role in fostering international cooperation in the global ICT sector.
² Short for the 3rd Generation Partnership Project, an international collaborative initiative established to develop standards for mobile communication technologies. It primarily develops globally applicable specifications for mobile communication systems, including radio access networks, services and systems, core networks, and mobile devices.

Following the first 6G white paper “The Next Hyper-Connected Experience for All.” in July 2020, this white paper covers the latest trends driving 6G standardization and next-generation mobile communications — including evolving market and technology needs, emerging services, key attributes of 6G and enabling technologies.

Samsung aims to integrate the latest AI technology throughout the telecommunication system and improve network quality for a future-oriented and sustainable user experience.

“We are intensifying our 6G research efforts, focusing on AI-enabled communication technologies and sustainable networks,” said Charlie Zhang, Senior Vice President of Advanced Communications Research Center (ACRC), Samsung Research. “As the telecommunication industry accelerates 6G standardization this year, Samsung will develop technologies to align with market demands.”

Market and Technology Trends Toward 6G

Mobile data traffic has surged, driven by the proliferation of AI technologies and the rise of streaming services. Now more than ever, there is a pressing need for technological advancements to manage increased data traffic and enhance user experiences in next-generation mobile communications.

Since the introduction of 5G, the telecommunications industry has been particularly focused on optimizing system operations, sustainability and user experiences. Beyond communication performance improvements such as data rates and latency, there is an urgency to reduce operating costs, enhance energy efficiency, expand service coverage and introduce innovative technologies such as AI.

Emerging Services

5G-Advanced will provide further enhanced 5G performance and incorporate AI to support new services and use cases — ultimately becoming the foundation for 6G technology.

In this white paper, some key emerging services such as immersive extended reality (XR), digital twin, massive communication, ubiquitous connectivity and fixed wireless access (FWA) are highlighted.

6G Key Attributes

In the white paper, Samsung highlighted four key attributes crucial to adapting to evolving market demands — AI-native, sustainable network, ubiquitous coverage and secure and resilient network.

6G Timeline

With the release of this white paper, Samsung solidifies its leadership in shaping the direction of 6G research and key technologies.

The telecommunications industry and standardization organizations have been researching 6G since 2020. In 2030, the 6G technology standards are expected to be finalized — following candidate technology development, evaluation and consensus-building processes. With the recent timelines from the International Telecommunication Union Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R)¹ and 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP),² momentum for 6G research and development is expected to intensify.

Samsung will continue to lead global standardization efforts and prepare for the 6G era while incorporating lessons learned from 5G commercialization and adapting to new market requirements.

Last November, Samsung held the Silicon Valley Future Wireless Summit and hosted an in-depth discussion with industry experts on the convergence of telecommunications and AI technologies. The company demonstrated AI-RAN technologies and Proof of Concept (PoC) results, showcasing the possibilities of AI-native technologies and garnering significant interest from major telecommunications operators.

¹ ITU is the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies with memberships of 193 Member States and more than 1,000 companies, universities, research institutes and international and regional organizations. The ITU’s Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) is responsible for regulating and standardizing global radio communication.
² 3GPP is dedicated to developing the global unified technical specifications for mobile communications.

“We have started on our journey long ago to understand, develop and standardize the 6G communications technology,” said Sunghyun Choi, Executive Vice President and Head of the Advanced Communications Research Center at Samsung Research.² “We are committed to taking the lead and sharing our findings to spread our vision to bring the next hyper-connected experience to every corner of life.”

6G Spectrum: Expanding the Frontier

6G would require spectrum with ultra-wideband contiguous bandwidth ranging from hundreds of MHz to tens of GHz to enable new services such as high-fidelity mobile holograms and truly immersive extended reality (XR) that are characterized by ultra-high speed communications and large amount of data. There is also growing demand for greater coverage. In response to these requirements, Samsung proposes considering all available bands for 6G, from low-band under 1 GHz, to mid-band in the 1-24 GHz range and high-band in the 24-300 GHz range.

It also highlights the importance of securing new bands for commercial deployments of 6G, as 5G networks will still be operational when the 6G deployment starts. The mid-band within the 7-24 GHz range is a candidate that can support faster data speed and reasonable coverage. The sub-terahertz (sub-THz) band in the 92–300 GHz range is being considered for support of ultra-high speed data rate. The white paper also mentions the refarming of existing bands used for 3G, 4G and 5G networks to 6G operation as another way to obtain all the spectrum necessary for 6G. In addition, it notes that research on forward-looking regulations and technologies on spectrum utilization is essential to provide efficient and flexible support of 6G and other services with the limited spectrum.

Recent Findings on 6G Candidate Technologies

Along with the release of the 6G spectrum white paper, Samsung also highlights its research findings on some of 6G candidate technologies – specifically about sub-THz band communications, reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), cross division duplex (XDD), full duplex, artificial intelligence (AI)-based nonlinearity compensation (AI-NC) and AI-based energy saving (AI-ES).

Sub-THz is considered a spectrum candidate for 6G communications, which is expected to support the data rate up to 1 Terabits per second (Tbps), 50 times faster than 20 Gbps of 5G networks. Samsung successfully demonstrated 6 Gbps data rate at a 15 meters distance indoors in June 2021, and 12 Gbps at a 30 meters distance indoors and 2.3 Gbps at a 120 meters distance outdoors the following year.

RIS can improve the beam sharpness and can steer or reflect the wireless signal to a desired direction with the use of a metamaterial surface. It can reduce the penetration loss and blockage of high frequency signal, e.g., mmWave. Samsung demonstrated that their RIS lens technology can enhance the signal strength by four times and the beam steering range by 1.5 times.

XDD can improve the propagation distance of uplink signal up to two times in the TDD system by enabling the continuous uplink transmission in a small portion of the system bandwidth. Hence, XDD is capable of dramatically enhancing the coverage of the TDD system often used in high-frequency bands. Samsung demonstrated its core technology, self-interference cancellation at the base station.

With full duplex, the data transmission and reception can take place simultaneously using the same frequency so that the data speed increases up to two times. Samsung carried out a successful trial of the full duplex in the mmWave band with a base station and a terminal 100 meters apart, demonstrating the self-interference cancellation of over 114 dB and 1.9 times improvement in the data rate.

AI-NC utilizes AI at the receiver to compensate the signal distortion caused by the nonlinearity of a transmitter’s power amplifier and hence, can significantly improve the coverage and quality of high-rate data signals. Samsung demonstrated 1.9 times improvement of the coverage for high-speed uplink data and 1.5 times improvement of the transmission speed for a given coverage.

AI-ES capitalizes on AI to minimize energy consumption at the base station by adjusting the parameters controlling the power on/off of selected cells depending on traffic load, without affecting network performance. In a real data-based replicated simulation of base stations, Samsung applied AI-ES to demonstrate an energy saving of more than 10%.

Samsung plans to share more details and the findings of its 6G research at the company’s first Samsung 6G Forum (samsung6gforum.com) scheduled on May 13, 2022.

For more information on ‘Samsung Tech Forum’, please visit Samsung Research website at research.samsung.com/events.

¹ Samsung’s 6G spectrum white paper is available for download at research.samsung.com.

² Samsung Electronics’ advanced R&D hub, which leads the development of future technologies for its Device eXperience division

At the recent workshop on Terahertz communications at the IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC 2021), researchers from Samsung Research, Samsung Research America, and the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) introduced the potential impact that THz could have on next-generation 6G technology, demonstrating an end-to-end 140GHz wireless link using a fully digital beamforming solution.

“Samsung has been at the forefront of technological innovation and standardization of 5G and 6G. As we shared in our 6G vision white paper last year, we believe new spectrum opportunities at the THz spectrum will become a driving force of 6G technology. This demonstration can be a major milestone in exploring the feasibility of using the THz spectrum for 6G wireless communications,” said Senior Vice President Sunghyun Choi, an IEEE Fellow and Head of the Advanced Communication Research Center at Samsung Research.

The THz band in­cludes an enormous amount of available spectrum, which will enable wideband channels with tens of GHz-wide bandwidth. This could potentially provide a means to meet the 6G requirement of terabits per second data rate. The peak data rate can be 50 times faster than 5G and the over-the-air latency could potentially be reduced to one-tenth. These improvements will enable 6G hyper-connectivity services and ultimate multimedia experience, such as extended reali­ty (XR), high-fidelity mobile hologram, etc.

△ 16-channel 140GHz phased-array module (middle), dual-channel 140GHz RFICs (left), 128-element antenna array (right)

The end-to-end prototype system the researchers demonstrated consists of a 16-channel phased array transmitter and receiver modules, driven by CMOS (Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) RFICs (Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits), and a baseband unit to process signals with 2GHz bandwidth and fast adaptive beamforming. In the over-the-air test, the prototype system achieved real-time throughput of 6.2 Gbps over a 15-meter distance with adaptive beam steering capability at the Terahertz frequency.

Samsung and UCSB researchers have been working closely on the THz phased array module development, which is a key to the success of the test. The module requires sophisticated packaging technology to allow research test chips to be used in a large-scale array module. The precise digital beamforming calibration algorithm, developed by Samsung, enables these modules to achieve high beamforming gain.

△ Samsung researchers: Wonsuk Choi, Shadi Abu-Surra and Gary Xu with the THz proof-of-concept system

“Working together with UCSB, we have been able to overcome many technological challenges and develop this new THz proof-of-concept system to explore 6G use cases and deployment scenarios,” said Senior Vice President Charlie Zhang, an IEEE Fellow and Head of the Standards and Mobility Innovations Team at Samsung Research America. “Samsung and UCSB researchers will continue to push the technological boundaries to bring 6G and THz communication closer to reality.”

△ Professor Mark Rodwell, University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB)

UCSB’s group, led by the Electrical and Computer Engineering professor Mark Rodwell, first developed the 140GHz transmitter and receiver RFIC in 2017, as part of a program sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the U.S.

“We bring our knowledge of advanced mmWave technologies, in particular the THz spectrum above 100GHz, focusing on devices and integrated circuits, while Samsung provides its expertise in wireless systems and cellular networks,” said professor Mark Rodwell, an IEEE Fellow and winner of the IEEE Sarnoff Award and the IEEE Marconi Prize Paper Award.

Samsung released a white paper in July 2020 titled “The Next Hyper-Connected Experience for All” outlining the company’s 6G vision, which is to bring the next hyper-connected experience to every corner of life. To accelerate research for 6G, Samsung Research, the advanced R&D hub within Samsung Electronics’ end-product business, founded its Advanced Communications Research Center in May 2019.

The True Value of Standardization

Communication is about sharing information with others. The evolutions of communications technology has enabled us to be more connected than ever before, meaning that information can be shared anytime and anywhere.

In mobile communication, a business with a well-established global ecosystem, from equipment manufacturers to telecommunications operators, common rule is essential to keeping the ecosystem moving forward collaboratively. This is where the process of standardization comes in, which sets internationally agreed-upon standards to give users access to better products and services at lower prices. A representative example demonstrating the benefits of international standardization is the global roaming service, which allows users travelling to foreign countries to use their mobile devices as they are.

Standardization is one of main driving forces behind the growth of the mobile communication industry since a new generation has been introduced once every decade. “Large-scale investments into mobile communication have been triggered when each new generation of communications is commercialized,” explained Dr. Han. “When certain countries or companies run their businesses with proprietary solutions, the risk of failure increases.” This means that the chance of success can increase only when the stakeholders of the mobile communication ecosystem come together to define the most relevant technologies and discuss aspects like implementation early enough. “Determining communications standards and developing products following these standards is an equitable process,” noted Dr. Han. “These standards are crucial.”

Standardization is two-fold: the de jure standards obligated by regulators and the de facto standards established by the global communications industry which, while not compulsory, specify unified ways of operation for stakeholders around the world to follow. The Standards Research team of Samsung’s Advanced Communications Research Center oversees both standards.

“For example, in order to utilize the extremely high frequency band (mmWave) for 5G, de jure standardization is a prerequisite for the commercialization of any device using the band, which includes assigning a set of frequency bands to mobile communication, setting regulated conditions such as maximum transmission power and out-of-band emission, and ensuring its safety for the human body and existing devices,” explained Dr. Han. “We are also simultaneously developing protocol technologies and working on de facto standardization to include these technologies into the standards by participating in standards developing organizations such as 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) and IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers).” Dr. Han emphasized that both de jure and de facto standards are equally important.

Working as a Communications Standard Expert

Frequency bands are a limited resource. It is inevitable that different parties will clash over acquiring such an in-demand resource, which is why each frequency band is already allocated to a specific purpose, e.g. fixed communications, mobile communication, broadcasting, satellite, or other uses. The extremely high frequency band adopted for 5G was an unexplored territory from the perspective of mobile communication. When Samsung initially proposed it, there was pushback at first.

Standards experts are supposed to take the initiative of reserving such new spectrums for the mobile communication industry. “By stressing mobile communication’s contribution to the economy, we managed to persuade the governments of each country, and attracted more supporters by showing them the feasibility of applying this extremely high frequency band to mobile communication,” recalled Dr. Han. “We actively presented many details to justify our claim, including the simulation results of a coexistence study. As a result, we were able to have this extremely high frequency band assigned to 5G.”

“There is no almighty judge when it comes to fairly determining which technology among many candidates should be selected as a part of the standard. Moreover, any technology has its own pros and cons,” said Dr. Han. “There is a decision-making process inherent to standardization. Proposals are first made by companies, intensive and technical debate on each proposal then follows, and participants finally build a consensus to reach a conclusion. We have to avoid sticking to our own interests. Instead, we are trying to communicate with other stakeholders to find the best way forward based on an understanding of the industry as a whole. When we take care of the ecosystem, proposals that we develop to make it healthy and sustainable will be supported by the majority as a result.”

Similar to the role of the diplomat, standardization experts participate in global standardization conferences and will there represent their company or their country. They are expected to be the best in their own field. “As we are contending at the forefront of these international discussions, technical competitiveness is the key requirement for Samsung delegates,” explained Dr. Han. “Therefore, in our projects, anyone who is most competitive in a certain area is designated as the champion of the area, regardless which team he or she belongs to.”

Standardization, the Next Phase of 5G

4G is a communications technology designed to enable the wireless broadband service for smartphones. In particular, 4G as a universal communications platform aggressively adopted the Internet protocol that was popularly used in past wired packet communications. Therefore, many Internet-based services could easily migrate to cellular systems. 5G, then, is designed to expand its territory from the broadband service for smartphone users to vertical markets including the smart factory, automobile, healthcare, private network, smart city, and more. 4G as a universal solution led to a huge growth of the communications market. On the other hand, 5G aims to create new markets based on its new design principle of customizable networks to fulfill the specific requirements of a particular industry sector.

To realize the innovations that 5G has promised, Dr. Han and his team have been working on Rel-16, the second version of 5G. “Rel-15, the first version of 5G, laid a new framework for the technology and focused on how to provide differentiated experiences to conventional customers, i.e. smartphone users,” noted Dr. Han. “We joined the global collaboration to develop Rel-16 in order to realize the 5G vision. Rel-16 introduces and enhances 5G’s features for vertical markets. For example, V2X¹ is for connected cars, industrial IoT communications is for smart factories and the data analytics function has been improved for network AI.”

Even though 5G has been commercialized, the standardization of 5G for further enhancements will never stop. Until the launch of 6G, the 5G standard will continuously evolve in order to improve and expand 5G. “As soon as we concluded the development of 5G’s second version, we immediately began work on the third version, Rel-17,” commented Dr. Han. “We have discovered some areas to improve commercial 5G networks with, including coverage expansion and NR-MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output). These will be amended and enhanced in the upcoming versions. Furthermore, we will continue to discover new features to add in order to enable new 5G applications. Innovations we are looking at include media delivery for AR glasses-type devices and edge computing enablers for low latency services from cloud servers close to users.”

Standardization of Edge Computing, Further Enhancement for 5G Services

Samsung is constantly pushing the boundaries of 5G in order to bring its unique experiences to users. One key characteristic of 5G is its ultra-low latency, brought about by its nine-tenths latency reduction in the radio access link between terminal and base station as compared to the previous generation. In order for users to experience the quality of ultra-low latency services, the end-to-end latency between the user terminal and the cloud server should be reduced. Samsung believes that edge computing will solve the rest of this puzzle, this being latency reduction in the backbone network, by placing the server closer to users. Thanks to 5G and edge computing, users will finally be able to enjoy 5G’s signature service on their devices.

“The link between a device and its server was out of 3GPP’s scope,” said Dr. Han. “But it is also hard for other standards organizations who are not experts in 5G to develop the standard for edge computing without a complete understanding of 5G systems.” Due to this difficulty, attempts were made to develop edge computing-enabled communication using proprietary solutions – which would lead to serious market fragmentation. “Samsung initiated discussions on edge computing inside 3GPP and persuaded other participating companies. We are now leading the standardization effort for enabling edge computing in 5G systems as one of the key items of Rel-17.”

In 2009, Samsung began the early stages of 5G research with the question of “how can we improve cellular networks to be 10 times better than 4G LTE?” Samsung will continue to develop further enhanced technologies for the future of 5G. “Samsung plays various key roles in the influential standardization organization for mobile communications and leads those standards and related technologies,” explained Dr. Han. “Based on our perseverance for over 10 years in this field, we will overcome whatever obstacles we encounter and will make 5G a big success.”

Making a Better World – Through Technology

Dr. Han began working in this field because when he was a student, he was extremely curious about who made standard specifications, the ground rules that were akin to a communications bible. And today, he is leading the team shaping the future of communications with standards. What resolution has he set?

“When we worked on LTE standards, we did not even expect that the term ‘LTE’, back then only used by selective standard engineers, would become a common and popular term,” noted Dr. Han. “This experience reminded me that the technologies we create can change the world and the daily lives of people. We are also aware of high expectation from 5G that we have developed. I firmly believe that our work will benefit the world.”

Dr. Han is also working on promoting Samsung’s 6G vision to inspire people in this field. “In the future, the main customers in the communications market won’t just be human, but will include robots and other machines, too,” explained Dr. Han. “People will start to enjoy hyper-connected experiences and be able to explore reality in a virtual world without temporal or spatial constraints. 6G will present fundamental technologies for such innovations. We will begin communicating with stakeholders as per Samsung’s 6G White Paper, published on July 14. Our 5G experience and the insights captured in our 6G vision will help us prepare for the long journey toward another success story with 6G.”

“Moreover, the sustainable growth of society and the communications industry will be key considerations for shaping 6G.”

¹ V2X is a technology that supports vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications.

A New Mobile Communications Generation (‘G’) Every Ten Years

In order to distinguish between elements that differ distinctly from their previous iterations, we use the letter ‘G’, the first letter of the word ‘generation’. For example, we use ‘G’ to distinguish between the different generations of mobile communications technologies.

What is it exactly that distinguishes each successive generation of the communications technologies that permeate various industries to enrich users’ daily lives? Dr. Lee, who has been leading Samsung’s research into the key technologies of 3G, 4G and 5G, explained that “the differentiation occurs when there are huge changes in technologies and services.”

We are seeing a new generation of communications technologies emerges every 10 year or so. It takes long time to perform various tasks such as defining the concept of new generation, verifying the feasibility of candidate technologies, and standardizing the selected technologies. “To develop the next generation of communications technology, we have to perform intensive study about the direction of service and technology evolution,” explained Dr. Lee. “Mobile communications works based on a protocol, so to speak. We have to ensure that everything in a smartphone will work properly as defined in the protocol.”

Everyone in the mobile communications industry cooperates for technology standardization and commercialization. Dr. Lee would compare the industry to a baseball league; “because we work with many stakeholders, there are inevitably tensions and lengthy discussions amongst us. But we are all working together with one goal in mind – the development of the entire industry.”

Chronicling the Development of Mobile Communications Technologies

The first generation of mobile communications, 1G, was based on analogue technologies. As it delivered users’ voices as electrical signals, users could hear background noise. “In the 1G era, international roaming was limited, since different countries had their own independent standards that were not necessarily compatible,” noted Dr. Lee.

The second generation, or 2G, brought digital capabilities with it. Mobile phones were able to serve more functions by providing not only voice call but also low-speed data communication functions such as short message services (SMS) and email. Still, mobile communications standards differed across regions. “During the 2G era, Korea and the US used IS-95 (Interim Standard 95) based on CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) while Japan used PDC (Personal Digital Cellular),” explained Dr. Lee. “Many countries mainly in Europe introduced GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) as their consolidated standard technology in order to improve international roaming services compared to what they had been with 1G.”

With the introduction of 3G came faster communication speeds. The 3G era is when the image of what today’s smartphones are started to take shape. “Based on these faster speeds, video call, as well as delivery of multimedia contents including video, became possible,” noted Dr. Lee. “In the 3G era, the two standards were developed, namely WCDMA in Europe and CDMA2000 in the US. New services such as mobile applications and digital music became popular and attracted a huge number of mobile communications users.”

LTE, or Long Term Evolution, is the technology that led the 4G market. Based on Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) and Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) for high speed data communication, LTE truly popularized the smartphone. As Dr. Lee pointed out, “with a maximum transmission speed of 1Gbps, we were able to enjoy online services such as high-quality video streaming or online games while on the move.”

5G is known for offering an unprecedented level of communication speeds. 5G aims to be a social infrastructure system by provision of enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Massive Machine-Type Communications (mMTC) and Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC). “5G is not just about multimedia service development,” noted Dr. Lee. “Various industries, including smart factories, vehicle-to-vehicle communication and smart cities, are aiming to converge with 5G mobile communications.”

What It Takes to Become a Global Leader, From Standardization to Commercialization

In the long history of the evolution of communications, what path has Samsung taken? “Samsung entered the mobile business from 1G,” explained Dr. Lee. “In the beginning, we produced products based on the standard consisting of technologies from other players. We have been putting a huge amount of effort into the development of our own technologies for their inclusion in standards since 3G.”

The results of such efforts came to fruition around the time of 4G. “Samsung participated in the 3G standardization process as one of the emerging forces. However, Samsung came forth as one of the leading companies when LTE was standardized and we succeeded in the first commercialization of LTE,” recalled Dr. Lee. At that time, Dr. Lee was a vice chairman of RAN1, a working group in 3GPP. He held the technological sessions for the standardization process and led the discussions. “There was fierce competition among the companies who were keen to adopt their own technologies in standards. Through these discussions, I was able to get a good understanding of the global trends of the industry.”

Ultimately, these experiences became a solid basis for the standardization of 5G. Thanks to distinct leadership in selecting technologies for standardization and setting processes such as standardization schedules, the company was able to lead the process from the beginning. “Samsung undertook the very first study on the utilization of mmWave bands such as 28 GHz for mobile communications and contributed a lot towards the success of 5G,” said Dr. Lee. “We were able to set and lead important agendas across the whole process of 5G standardization and commercialization.”

Creating New Values as a Diplomat in Next-Generation Communications Technologies

It has been a year since the world’s first instance of 5G commercialization. Samsung is now focusing on ‘5G Evolution’ as a research area in order to improve the 5G technologies that have currently been commercialized as well as on the advanced 6G technologies that are set for commercialization in 2030. On July 14, Samsung released a white paper entitled “The Next Hyper-Connected Experience for All.” outlining the company’s vision for 6G. The white paper covers various aspects related to 6G, including technical and societal megatrends, new services, requirements, candidate technologies and an expected timeline of standardization. Samsung’s vision for 6G is to bring the next hyper-connected experience to every corner of life.

As 6G technological research competitions are getting fiercer, Samsung’s 6G White Paper is set to enhance the company’s 6G technology leadership. “We are currently assessing the potential and usability of various technologies. An example is the utilization of the terahertz (THz) frequency band, which has not yet been used for mobile communication purposes,” explained Dr. Lee.

At the center of the communications industry, one that influences all others, Dr. Lee will work continuously to chart the road that has not yet been taken. The standardization of mobile communications technologies can be considered a ‘composite art’ as it requires capability of persuasion and diplomacy as well as technological leadership,” highlighted Dr. Lee. “During competitions, sometimes we win and sometimes we lose. I will continue to do my best to develop and standardize valuable technologies.”

Dr. Lee’s biggest desire for the foreseeable future, forgoing all the obstacles faced today, is “the age of the next hyper-connected experience for users.” In discussing the future, Dr. Lee predicted that “by connecting to high performance computers via communications technologies, lightweight input and output devices will replace our current laptops. New forms of multimedia communication, such as holograms, will emerge. Our physical world will be copied into a digital world for real-time monitoring and control to the end of preventing accidents in complex systems such as flight control.” In other words, a digitized world that can help mankind with a bolstered level of new values is set to emerge.

Communications technologies permeate our lives in ways we are not even aware of and opens the door to another world. “As we work on innovative communications technologies, we seek to contribute to the creation of new values by promoting convergence with various related fields,” said Dr. Lee. He expressed a firm belief in looking to the future to discover issues that might arise – and solving them.

Redefining Next-Generation Communication System as We Know It

Samsung Electronics was among the first to realize the commercialization of 5G. Now, the company is set to accelerate research for 6G with the vision of bringing the next generation of hyper-connected experiences to every corner of our lives in the future.

Wireless communications technology has developed from the first-generation analog communication, in which only voice calls were supported, to the ultra-fast 5G of today, and the generation change of this technology is now progressing even more rapidly.

When asked to define communications technology, Choi summed it up as “technology that offers the infrastructure needed to enable people and things (i.e., devices, places, etc.) to connect and interact with one another across physical and virtual spaces.” As Choi explained, “It is the basis for the foundation of a smarter age in which AI and robots will become a common part of our lives.”

Today, communications technology connects not just people but also devices and other things all together, and it will keep evolving so as to allow the exchange of content and ideas in new and exciting ways. “Compared to the previous generations, current communication technology can process more data in shorter time,” Choi explained. “Network equipment is also undergoing evolutions to handle more demanding requirements of this technical trend.” Eventually, the industry is heading towards automation that can adapt to the complexity of advancing communication technologies and their operations to be able to raise the quality of service provided.

“Advances of communications technology have gone beyond simply facilitating the exchange of information,” Choi continued. “Now, it’s about advancing this technology in consideration of what types of businesses and services it can provide.”

A Commitment to Innovation

From a peak data rate of 20 Gbps (i.e., ultra-high-speed) to an air latency of 1 ms (i.e., ultra-low latency) and a reliability of 99.999 percent (i.e., ultra-reliability), it seems nearly everything is becoming “ultra” in the 5G era. Indeed, you could say that we’re no longer talking about the evolution of wireless communications technology, but rather the beginning of a whole new world of “ultra” experiences.

This shift in perspective has been made possible thanks in large part to collaboration among industries, academia, and research institutions. Through its commercialization of 5G, and through collaboration with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU-R), Samsung has played a key role in developing the standards that define this new era of “ultra” experiences.

“Samsung Electronics has always innovated with an eye toward the future, continuously preparing for the next generation,” said Choi. “Now, we are witnessing the results of our long-term investment in the development of wireless communications technology. Not only do we lead the smartphone market, because we also possess a comprehensive portfolio of communication technologies, including smartphones, network equipment, and semiconductor chipsets, we’ve been able to see the market from various angles.”

The Advanced Communications Research Center at Samsung Research is working tirelessly to chart a bold new future for wireless communications technology. One way that the center is achieving this, Choi explained, is by expanding its global capabilities. “Research centers in various regions across the globe are drawing from their strength of expertise to develop and standardize major core technologies.”

In order for Samsung to maintain its leadership in the development of communications technologies, he added, “The company must continue to nurture talents and take a long-term approach to the development of the next-generation communications technology.”

Going beyond 5G

Today, 5G technology is being applied to the core infrastructure of a wide range of industries, and is utilized to support everything from high-quality communications services to smart factories, vehicle-to-vehicle communication, and a raft of other new services. Looking ahead, Choi described how taking this technology to the next level will require a great deal of research and development.

The path to overcoming some of the current technological challenges facing communications technologies, Choi explained, lies in enriching software’s capabilities and advancing AI. Networks of the future will demand capabilities that can process enormous amounts of information, which means that more powerful network equipment will be required, and the softwarization, which can make equipment more flexible and less costly, will become increasingly important. Furthermore, developing core technologies for 6G with long-term vision and driving global standardization are important.

More information on Samsung’s efforts to usher in a new era of wireless communications technology may be found in the company’s official 6G white paper, which is set for release today. The white paper covers various aspects related to 6G, including technical and societal megatrends, new services, requirements, candidate technologies, and an expected timeline of standardization.

Making the Impossible Possible

The communications industry is evolving faster than any other, and there is fierce competition to define the future of this technology. As Choi pointed out, however, the focus for researchers in this field should not be the competition, but the long-term goal. “It’s important to conduct research with a long-term view,” Choi explained, noting that several communications technologies that have changed life as we know it ultimately took decades to commercialize.

“We are currently conducting research on technology that may seem difficult to realize now, but may have potential in the future,” added Choi. “In particular, by focusing on services that have not yet been explored and that Samsung is uniquely qualified to deliver, we’re constantly thinking about the types of services that users of the future will need. As a global leader in wireless communications technology, we will continue to design technology that can contribute to the advancement of mankind.”

Choi has worked in this field for over 30 years, and has spent the last 17 years advancing communications technology in academia. Today, Choi remains as fascinated by this technology as he’s ever been. He’s pleased to work with experts at Samsung Research who share his passion, and he’s committed to nurturing the talents of his world-class team, having vowed to “continue to support the growth of our team members, who already rank among the best engineers in the world.”

The next 10 years, Choi continued, will be particularly exciting, as we will witness the “beginning of a world in which the impossible becomes possible.”

“Going forward, the future of communications technology will be defined by its ability to bring the next hyper-connected experience for all,” said Choi. “As we aspire to become the best in the industry, our world-class engineers will continue to strive to realize a world, where the impossible becomes possible.”

Samsung’s vision for 6G is to bring the next hyper-connected experience to every corner of life. To accelerate research for 6G, Samsung Research, the advanced R&D hub within Samsung Electronics’ SET Business, founded its Advanced Communications Research Center in May of last year.

“While 5G commercialization is still in its initial stage, it’s never too early to start preparing for 6G because it typically takes around 10 years from the start of research to commercialization of a new generation of communications technology,” explained Sunghyun Choi, Head of the Advanced Communications Research Center. “We’ve already launched the research and development of 6G technologies by building upon the experience and ability we have accumulated from working on multiple generations of communications technology, including 5G. Going forward, we are committed to leading the standardization of 6G in collaboration with various stakeholders across industry, academia and government fields.”

In the white paper, Samsung expects that the completion of the 6G standard and its earliest commercialization date could be as early as 2028, while mass commercialization may occur around 2030. Both humans and machines will be the main users of 6G, and 6G will be characterized by provision of advanced services such as truly immersive extended reality (XR), high-fidelity mobile hologram and digital replica.

Whereas 5G requirements mainly focused on performance aspects, Samsung defines three categories of requirements that have to be met to realize 6G services – performance, architectural and trustworthiness requirements. Examples of 6G performance requirements are a peak data rate of 1,000 Gbps (gigabits per second) and air latency less than 100 microseconds (μs), 50 times the peak data rate and one-tenth the latency of 5G. A comparison of key performance requirements between 6G and 5G is shown in the diagram below.

The architectural requirements of 6G include resolving the issues arising from the limited computation capability of mobile devices as well as implementing AI right from the initial phase of technology development and enabling the flexible integration of new network entities. The trustworthiness requirement addresses the security and privacy issues arising from the widespread use of user data and AI technologies.

The white paper also introduces candidate technologies that could be essential to satisfy the requirements for 6G. These include the use of the terahertz (THz) frequency band, novel antenna technologies to enhance the coverage of high frequency band signals, advanced duplex technologies, the evolution of network topology, spectrum sharing to increase the efficiency of frequency utilization and the use of AI in wireless communications.

Click here to download Samsung’s 6G white paper. More information on Samsung’s latest innovations in the communications technology field may be found on Samsung Research’s website.