To help catch you up on some of the biggest announcements from Samsung’s jam-packed year, we proudly present our top 15 stories of 2020. Click on the thumbnails in the image below to read them for yourself, and read on to learn more about what made each one so meaningful.

Samsung Newsroom’s Top Stories of 2020

Mobile

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  The History of the S Pen
  
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  Galaxy Buds Live Design Int.
  
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  Hideaway Hinge Design Article
  

TV ∙ Home Appliances

• 
  Big-Screen Chronicles
  
• 
  Lifestyle Appliances Editorial
  
• 
  Clothing Care with AirDresser
  

Semiconductors

• 
  Image Sensor Editorial
  
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  Samsung’s Carbon Trust Cert.
  
• 
  New Memory Material Discovery
  

Technology

• 
  What’s Next in Comm. Tech
  
• 
  Samsung AI Forum 2020 Recap
  
• 
  Holographic Display Interview
  

Corporate News

• 
  Empowering Future Generations
  
• 
  Advancing Ed. During Pandemic
  
• 
  Designing a Sustainable Future
  

Once again, some of the most popular content featured in the Newsroom this year discussed exciting additions to the Galaxy family. An article highlighting the history of the S Pen, along with enhancements that were made for the Galaxy Note20, showcased how Samsung made one of the Note series’ most powerful features even more so. An interview with the team that perfected the design of the Galaxy Buds Live demonstrated the lengths Samsung went to ensure that its newest earbuds would offer an exceptionally comfortable fit. We also published an in-depth series on the Galaxy Z Flip’s Hideaway Hinge and the groundbreaking technologies that make it work.

Samsung’s TVs and appliances were also prominently featured. Our ‘Big-Screen Chronicles’ series walked readers through the ins and outs of selecting the perfect TV, and outlined steps Samsung has taken to foster next-level viewing experiences. An enlightening editorial from Samsung Electronics’ Head of Digital Appliances offered insight into how Samsung’s lifestyle-focused approach to home appliance design has evolved in response to the pandemic, while a feature on the Samsung AirDresser highlighted the device’s comprehensive take on clothing care.

Standout articles in the semiconductor category include an editorial on developing image sensors that capture more detail than the human eye, and an announcement that Samsung’s efforts to reduce the environmental impact of its memory solutions resulted in a total of nine Samsung memory products receiving Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) labels from the U.K.-based Carbon Trust. We also posted a story on the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology’s (SAIT) groundbreaking discovery of a material that could be game-changing for semiconductor designs.

There were also several articles that highlighted technologies that have the power to shape the future of tech. Our ‘What’s Next in Communications Technology?’ series collected insights from experts whose work has the potential to transform communication as we know it, while our recap of Samsung’s 2020 AI Forum highlighted some of the biggest topics in AI research today. One of our most engaging articles illuminated SAIT researchers’ efforts to usher in a new era of immersive holographic displays.

Last but certainly not least, some of the most meaningful content that was featured in the Newsroom spotlighted Samsung’s commitments to sustainability and corporate citizenship. Click on the links above to learn more about how Samsung technologies are empowering young people to achieve their full potential – even in the face of a global pandemic – and how the company’s commitment to sustainable design will help create a brighter future for us all.

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.”