Topics covered during the event included Samsung’s 5G vision and latest network innovations; its industry leading virtualized solutions to bring innovation for mobile operators and enterprises; its new range of chipsets to be embedded in the Samsung’s next generation 5G solutions; and the company’s complete lineup of private network solutions to transform industries.

Check out some highlights from the event below.

At the event, Samsung Networks highlighted key developments in its global expansion, which includes delivery of over four million 5G-ready radios around the world. Samsung focused on how it is advancing virtualization to drive next-generation networks, and leading 5G radio innovation by embedding its radios with the company’s latest in-house chipsets.

“We are delighted to discuss the infinite possibilities of wireless technology, as we continue our 5G journey, and pave the way towards the next phase of 5G,” said Paul (Kyungwhoon) Cheun, President and Head of Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung’s 5G vision includes bringing together the best global expertise and technical insights that can help operators and consumers take full advantage of 5G benefits. We’re grateful that our customers and partners have joined us on this journey, and look forward to achieving many more 5G milestones together.”

The following are key areas of advancement that Samsung Networks leadership covered at the virtual event:

Virtualization

Virtualization of an entire network from Radio Access Network (RAN) to Core will offer multiple benefits to operators, bringing greater efficiency, scalability and flexibility in network management, as well as easier upgrades through software implementations. Recent vRAN accomplishments include the following solutions:

• Samsung vRAN has virtualized all elements of a baseband unit. Backed by years of R&D, Samsung deployed the industry’s first fully-virtualized commercial 5G RAN delivered end-to-end (Link). Recently, the company demonstrated the capability to support multi-gigabit speeds of Massive MIMO radios on COTS servers (Link), showing how the performance of vRAN technology is now near the performance of custom hardware solutions.

• Samsung vCore is built with a cloud-native containerized architecture, enabling operational automation while ensuring optimized performance. With high adaptability and scalability, Samsung 5G vCore allows network operators to quickly launch new services and upgrade per business needs. Since introducing its first virtualized Core in 2015, the company has successfully commercialized the world’s first 5G Non-Standalone (NSA) vCore, and achieved a significant milestone in data processing capacity on its 5G Standalone (SA) Core (Link).

• Network management solutions help optimize operational efficiencies in virtualized networks. Samsung Cloud Orchestration, known as SCO, coordinates an entirely automated process of network deployment and optimization. Samsung’s Network Slice Manager supports simplified management of slice resources, while AI-based analytics provides intelligent analysis of network performance.

5G Radios

Samsung has been pioneering 5G technology to support RAN solutions for more than a decade, through research, standardization and commercial rollouts of its highly competitive 5G solutions. New developments are:

• In-House Chipsets: Samsung continues its leadership in chipset research and development, with an expanded line-up of new chipsets, including a 3^rd generation RFIC, 2^nd generation 5G modem and DFE-RFIC integrated chip (Link), part of the company’s initiative to help foster compact and efficient, yet high-performing 5G solutions.

• New Solutions: Samsung continues to expand its 5G radio lineup. The company recently unveiled its wideband radio (Link) supporting 400MHz of bandwidth in mid-band, and designed to help operators drive more flexible and cost-effective deployments. Also introduced are the next generation 5G Compact Macro and baseband units, as well as its new One Antenna Radio (Link), a solution that delivers a more compact form factor with antenna integration, offering simplified installation and deployment efficiencies.

Private Networks

Samsung has the capability to build reliable and secure private networks, leveraging its comprehensive solutions portfolio. The company’s industry-leading 5G solutions offer a resilient backbone to private 5G networks, introducing use cases such as smart factories (Link) and a real-time 4K video monitoring system (Link). Samsung also provides end-to-end PS-LTE solutions, from network equipment to applications and devices. The company is powering the world’s first 3GPP-compliant nationwide PS-LTE network in Korea (Link), and accomplished the demonstration of the industry’s first MCPTX video call on a cloud platform (Link).

6G Future Vision

As part of its networks overview, Samsung Networks: Redefined shares Samsung’s vision of 6G technology, and the world it will help create. Samsung stays ahead in preparing for new generations of wireless technologies. The company led 5G research and development even before 4G deployments, and is already preparing for 6G. Now, the company is set to accelerate 6G innovation, bringing hyper-connected experiences to users (Link). Samsung recently explored the potential of the Terahertz (THz) spectrum application for 6G wireless communications, demonstrating an end-to-end 140GHz wireless link using a fully digital beamforming solution (Link).

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 new chipsets were announced today at “Samsung Networks: Redefined,” the company’s virtual public event highlighting notable 5G accomplishments and new solutions for network transformation. At the event, Samsung emphasized its experience in developing in-house chipsets for more than two decades and reiterated the significant investments behind the launch of multiple generations of chipsets starting from 3G, leading to today’s cutting-edge 5G solutions.

The newly introduced chipsets are designed to take Samsung’s next generation 5G lineup to a new level, boosting performance, increasing power efficiency and reducing the size of the 5G solutions.

Samsung’s newly-introduced chips are:

• 3^rd Generation mmWave RFIC:
  This new chip follows prior generation RFICs from Samsung. The first generation, introduced in 2017, powered the company’s 5G FWA solutions supporting the world’s first 5G home broadband service in the U.S. Two years later, the second generation powered Samsung’s 5G Compact Macro, the industry’s first mmWave 5G NR radio, which has since been widely deployed in the U.S.
  
  Samsung’s 3^rd generation RFIC chip supports both 28GHz and 39GHz spectrums, and will be embedded in Samsung’s next generation 5G Compact Macro. The chip incorporates advanced technology that reduces antenna size by nearly 50%, maximizing the 5G radio’s interior space. Moreover, the latest RFIC chip improves power consumption, resulting in a more compact-sized, lightweight 5G radio. Lastly, output power and coverage of the new RFIC chip have increased, doubling output power of the next generation 5G Compact Macro.

• 2^nd Generation 5G Modem SoC:
  Samsung’s first 5G modem SoCs, introduced in 2019, powered the company’s new 5G baseband unit and Compact Macro. To date, more than 200,000 of these 5G modem SoCs have been shipped.
  
  This new second generation chip will enable Samsung’s forthcoming baseband unit to have twice the capacity, while cutting power consumption in half per cell, in comparison to the previous generation. Moreover, supporting both below-6GHz and mmWave spectrums, it offers beamforming and increased power efficiency for Samsung’s next generation 5G Compact Macro and Massive MIMO radio, while reducing the size for both solutions.

• DFE-RFIC Integrated Chip:
  In 2019, the first Digital/Analog Front End (DAFE) chip was introduced by Samsung, serving as an essential component of 5G radios (including Samsung’s 5G Compact Macro), by converting analog-to-digital and vice versa, and supporting both 28GHz and 39GHz spectrums.
  
  This new chip combines RFIC and DFE functions for both below-6GHz and mmWave spectrums. By integrating these functions, the chip not only doubles frequency bandwidth, but also reduces the size and increases output power for Samsung’s next generation solutions, including 5G Compact Macro.

“This newly unveiled chipset is the fundamental component of our state-of-art 5G solutions, developed through a long-standing R&D effort that enables Samsung to be at the forefront of delivering cutting-edge 5G technologies,” said Junehee Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of R&D, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “As one of the largest semiconductor companies in the world, we are committed to developing the most innovative chips for the next phase of 5G advancement, integrated with the features mobile operators seek to stay competitive.”

“5G chipsets are critical to achieving the performance capabilities required for next-generation network deployments,” stated Anshel Sag, Moor Insights & Strategy. “Samsung’s long-standing expertise in developing chipsets in-house is a key differentiator, positioning it as a leader in the delivery of 5G network solutions with the features and benefits operators seek to advance their 5G strategies.”

Samsung has pioneered the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end solutions including chipsets, radios, and core. This includes the creation and shipment of innovative chips from Samsung’s manufacturing facility in Austin, Texas. 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 company is now bringing its drive and passion for innovation to next-generation mobile advancements, playing a leading role in 5G development and standardization. Samsung has already begun trialing technology in the field in cooperation with pioneering service providers in the United States, Japan and Europe.

Paul Kyungwhoon Cheun, Executive Vice President and Head of the Next Generation Business Team, explains the company’s most recent 5G developments and what the future of mobile communications has to offer.

Q. First of all, what exactly is 5G?

A. 5G means a lot of different things to different people within the industry. The aspects that are most talked about today, such as improvements to throughput and latency, are parts of a much larger puzzle that the telecommunications industry is working hard to construct. The end goal of 5G is to fundamentally transform the way we make use of mobile connectivity.

That, of course, means a significantly faster and more responsive user experience for people. However, it also means enabling an entirely new dimension of use cases that go beyond the traditional boundaries of the mobile industry by pulling in dozens of previously unconnected or under-connected industries – from automotive and home entertainment to city planning and public safety. In fact, our earliest 5G trials have already begun to explore use cases that have not typically leveraged wireless connectivity in the past.

Q. How will 5G impact the people’s user experience?

A. For the typical mobile users, 5G will enable a much richer media experience overall. Next-generation networks will be capable of delivering multi-gigabit throughputs and extremely low latencies, even in highly dense locations. Some of the first major use cases will be highly responsive 4K video content and 360-degree virtual and augmented reality experiences.

For example, musicians from across the globe will now be able to pick up their instruments and play together, while fans watch in real-time. Such scenario requires both bandwidth to support multi-way UHD video streams and extremely low latencies that allow players to remain in-sync and on-beat.

Additionally, a defining goal of 5G is to introduce an entirely new paradigm of connectivity. A key focus for service providers will be development and introduction of revolutionary new services beyond traditional mobile industry offerings to a new set of customers.

Q. What is Samsung doing to differentiate itself from other vendors exploring 5G?

A. Most importantly, Samsung brings unparalleled, end-to-end expertise to its 5G efforts. The company is ideally positioned to explore the Internet of Things, for example, with established strengths in network infrastructure, device manufacturing and chipset development, as well as market leadership in household appliances and consumer electronics.

Samsung has established a Next Generation Business Team to recruit talented staff from every part of the company, including chipset, mobile device and networks divisions, in order to specifically focus on the challenges and opportunities of the fast-approaching 5G era.

We also have been one of the strongest contributors to the standardization of 5G technologies, working closely with operators, academic organizations and international standards bodies such as ITU-R and 3GPP.

Related article:
Samsung Begins 5G Technology Standardization in Earnest by Hosting 3GPP RAN1 Meeting

Q. What kinds of technology is Samsung using in its 5G trials and what are the challenges the trials are designed to explore?

A. One of the core focuses of our early 5G trials has been the delivery of high throughput and high capacity connectivity over relatively dense footprints. Today’s LTE networks generally communicate using radio frequencies between 600 and 2600 MHz, which has now become a very crowded space. In order to meet the goals of our 5G vision, Samsung has been exploring the usage of ultra-high frequency spectrum, commonly called millimeter waves (or mmWave). There are extremely large portions of this spectrum that are unused or under-used – easily five to ten times more than the total amount available for LTE.

Until a few years ago, millimeter waves were a large unknown for the industry. They have a unique set of characteristics and challenges. For example, mmWaves have a more difficult time penetrating solid objects and are much more easily absorbed in the air when compared to the lower LTE frequencies. Because of this, the potential of mobile communications at these high frequencies has been at the core of our research and development over the past four years, and is now playing a significant role in our 5G field trials.

Adaptive beamforming is one of the technologies designed to overcome the challenges at high frequencies. Beamforming works by tightly focusing the radio waves into individual beams that are targeted independently at each device. A combination of small antenna arrays and advanced signal processing makes this possible, enabling high quality signals and incredible data throughputs.

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Q. Samsung recently completed a demo of multi-cell handover capability in 5G. Can you describe why this is important?

A. Handover is a defining aspect of mobile networks. Samsung’s early successes in this area demonstrate our focus on practical technology innovation.

Base stations have a limited range depending on their frequency and output power. As users move around the network, they will inevitably move beyond the coverage area of a given base station and will need to connect to another station. In LTE, the network and the device need to coordinate this transition perfectly to avoid dropped calls or service interruptions.

With 5G, this becomes even more complicated because radio signals are being actively beamed to users. Thus 5G networks also need to coordinate the beam formation between the base stations during the handover to maintain signal quality, throughput and user experience.

Samsung is the first vendor to develop a solution for this challenge, and has successfully showcased the ability to handover in a fraction of a second without any negative impact on user experience. Recently, our three-cell field test network demonstrated average throughputs above 1 gigabit per second, while the device moved through the network at a speed of 25km/h.

Related article:
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Q. Speaking of chipset developments, what is Samsung doing in this area?

A. While there has been a lot of emphasis on mmWave spectrum and beamforming, chipset development is also a key focus of Samsung’s end-to-end mobile strategy. Up until now, trial equipment has been fairly large, including the cabinet-sized base stations and “user devices” that must be mounted on the top of a vehicle. Advanced chipsets will allow smaller devices and base stations and enable the ultra-broadband throughputs expected from 5G.

Samsung’s pioneering research efforts have included the development of key technologies for 5G-capable RFIC chipsets, which are integrated chipsets small enough to fit into typical smartphone devices. At MWC this year, we showcased a 5G-ready smartphone prototype featuring the 60GHz version of this chipset. In the near future, we will follow suit with a prototype 28GHz chipset.

Related articles:
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Q. What does the introduction of 5G mean for other technologies, such as LTE and WiFi?

A. 5G will transform the way we think about mobile networks, and the deployment of end-to-end 5G infrastructure will positively impact existing and future radio access technologies. Keep in mind that the radio enhancements, we’re focused on today represent just one among of the several key components of what will make 5G so transformative.

With the implementation of several other technologies, such as virtualization and software-defined networking, Samsung is exploring the potential of what we call a “Multi-Link architecture.” Built for next generation networks, this architecture will introduce powerful and adaptive interworking between 5G and virtually any other modern radio access method – from LTE and WiFi to LPWA technologies and more. With Multi-Link, the network can efficiently meet the connectivity needs of any given user, device or service in real-time. To accomplish this, next-generation networks will be able to automatically leverage available network resources and technologies – each of which excel in different use cases – without manual configuration or network service planning.

Related article:
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Q. When can we expect to see 5G commercialization?

A. Samsung is now working very closely with service providers, governments and standards bodies alike to accelerate the standardization and readiness of 5G technologies. We are expecting to see some of the earliest implementations of 5G – focused on fixed wireless applications – go live in late 2017 or early 2018. Fixed wireless applications will enable more people to access gigabit per second internet connections at home by providing a compelling alternative to fiber-based connectivity. Samsung is taking a leading position in defining this market which is expected to grow to tens of billions dollars in the US market, with even greater opportunities globally.

The first mobile broadband applications are being developed in parallel, and Samsung is preparing to deliver 5G trial service by early 2018 in PyeongChang, Korea. By 2020, broader commercialization will take place in Korea and similar markets, including Japan and the United States.

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