Conducted in and around Tokyo, spanning dense urban, suburban and rural areas, the test leveraged 100 MHz of 3.7 GHz TDD spectrum across hundreds of cells. The diverse traffic and network environments allowed robust AI model training to be carried out across real-world conditions. During peak hours, Samsung’s RSO delivered an average increase of 31% in 5G downlink throughput across the overall trial area, with gains reaching a maximum increase of 52% in dense urban areas. In addition to substantial performance gains, the trial highlighted the potential and effectiveness of AI-based solutions to enable more precise and adaptive network optimization in commercial environments.

Samsung’s AI-powered RSO is built to enhance network performance through distinctive parameter optimization per cell. This is a significant change and advancement, where AI-tuned customization moves beyond the conventional cluster-level approach that applies the same parameter settings across multiple cells. Samsung’s RSO uses its own AI-based prediction model to analyze site environment data automatically and recommend optimized parameters tailored to each individual cell. The RSO is part of the Samsung CognitiV Network Operations Suite (NOS), a set of diverse AI-powered network automation solutions, AI agents and intelligent applications.

This trial benefits operators by automatically adjusting to changing conditions across different network scenarios, allowing for reduced manual intervention and greater cost efficiency. For end users, this means faster and more reliable connections whether they are streaming videos, browsing the web or making calls.

“Combining KDDI’s accumulated expertise in network innovation and Samsung’s technical leadership, this field trial proves that individual tuning for cells — a long-standing industry challenge — has now become a reality through the integration of AI,” said Kazuhiro Furuhata, Chief Network Officer at KDDI. “Moving forward, we remain committed to pushing the boundaries of AI-based technologies to continuously elevate network experience for our customers.”

“Samsung continues to help operators like KDDI build intelligent and efficient networks by weaving in AI-powered innovation,” said June Moon, Executive Vice President, Head of R&D, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “Since 2024, we have been actively testing and training our AI-powered RSO technology in the field and we have demonstrated breakthrough progress in its capabilities. This trial with KDDI exemplified how Samsung’s AI-powered innovation can bring advanced optimization to live commercial networks while facilitating steady, seamless connectivity in an array of different network environments.”

Building on this successful trial, Samsung and KDDI plan to continue evaluating AI-based optimization technologies for broader commercial network applications. The companies’ long-standing collaboration on fully virtualized network deployments provides KDDI with an optimal foundation for advancing toward AI-native network operations.

Samsung Networks has pioneered the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end solutions, including chipsets, radios and cores. Through ongoing research and development, Samsung is driving the industry to advance 5G networks and paving the way for 6G and beyond with its market-leading product portfolio, from purpose-built RAN, vRAN, Open RAN, AI-RAN and cloud-native core to private network solutions and AI-powered automation tools. The company currently provides innovative network solutions to mobile operators that deliver boundless connectivity to hundreds of millions of users worldwide.