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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This announcement follows a series of tests completed last year to verify Samsung’s private 5G network solutions on NTT East’s network, demonstrating the capabilities required to build an optimized private 5G network that meets specific enterprise needs.

Leveraging 5G SA

This month, the companies successfully completed a 5G Standalone (SA) technological verification, achieving increased uplink throughput by optimizing uplink and downlink allocation ratio in NTT East Research Facility. This improved uplink performance will be a key enabler for advanced services that require high data transmission — such as live video monitoring, connected drones and automated vehicles.

For the technological verification, Samsung provided its end-to-end 5G solutions — including its outdoor radio units, baseband unit and 5G SA Core — to deliver the highest standards of quality, interoperability and stability. Samsung also used HPE’s software to ensure security in the network.

This verification was conducted using NTT East’s 4.8 – 4.9GHz spectrum, which is a frequency band dedicated for the Local 5G networks initiative in Japan — a government program that enables enterprises to deploy private 5G networks using the country’s assigned frequency band, independent of traditional mobile networks.

“We are excited to advance in accelerating our private 5G network expansion in Japan,” said Riaki Hoshino, Senior Vice President & Executive Officer at NTT East. “In continuing our collaboration with Samsung, we look to deliver the most innovative 5G services and transformative experiences possible for our enterprise customers, tailored to their specific needs.”

“Private 5G networks, powered by Samsung’s comprehensive portfolio of 5G solutions, will create a new wave of opportunities for enterprises, driven by improved productivity and superior connectivity,” said Woojune Kim, Executive Vice President, Head of Global Sales & Marketing, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “We’re proud to support NTT East in the expansion of Local 5G, which will impact a range of industries including agriculture, manufacturing and transportation.

NTT East is a leading telecommunications company, providing services in the east area of Japan.

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.

Samsung is the global leader in the fully-virtualized 5G RAN market.¹ The company’s achievement was driven by its 5G vRAN solution, which has been deployed around the world, making Samsung the only major network vendor to have delivered fully-virtualized commercial RAN deployments in North America, Europe and Asia.

Samsung delivered its 5G vRAN solutions for a large-scale commercial network service in the U.S. that launched in December 2020, providing reliable mobile services to millions of users. The company continues to expand its 5G vRAN footprint, with recent milestones including:

• Achieved 2.25Gbps on a single user device with dual connectivity using vRAN and Massive MIMO radios on C-band spectrum in June 2021
• Successfully launched commercial vRAN over C-band using 64T64R Massive MIMO radios in the U.S. in January 2022
• Switched on the UK’s first 5G Open RAN site and the world’s first 5G Standalone (SA) Open RAN site in Japan — both powered by Samsung’s vRAN

Samsung’s commercially-proven network solutions range from traditional RAN to virtualized RAN to Open RAN — supporting operators’ 5G path of choice. To advance virtualization and openness, Samsung’s 5G vRAN splits the baseband functions into a fully disaggregated virtualized Distributed Unit (vDU) and virtualized Central Unit (vCU). The key to this disaggregated architecture is that the RAN software is separated from customized hardware and runs on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) servers. Samsung’s vRAN also supports O-RAN specifications, “opening up” interfaces between baseband unit and radios, allowing integration from different vendors.

“While many vendors claim they support Open RAN by starting with the RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC), in reality, this is still far from commercialization in large-scale networks and sidesteps the most important part of the Open RAN revolution — which starts from the disaggregation of hardware and software in the baseband, and also involves opening of the fronthaul,” said Woojune Kim, Executive Vice President, Head of Global Sales & Marketing, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics.

Samsung’s vRAN solution fully disaggregates the hardware and software in the baseband, and can support the open fronthaul interface. The company’s O-RAN compliant 5G vRAN solutions are deployed commercially in Japan and U.K. networks, offering seamless integration with other vendors’ radios.

Added Kim: “What differentiates Samsung is a combination of consistent innovation and large-scale commercial experience with leading Tier One operators around the world. This has helped us lead the advancement of vRAN and Open RAN beyond lab tests and field trials, and into major commercial markets. Now, the creation of this vRAN ecosystem will drive innovation to the next level, unlocking numerous opportunities ahead for network industry players and helping operators scale their businesses.”

Innovating Together for Success

As a pioneer and leader in vRAN technology, Samsung has brought together various companies for collaboration in this ecosystem — starting with Dell, HPE, Intel, Red Hat and Wind River. Samsung has tested and validated interoperability with each company platform, which collectively holds a comprehensive view of the network evolution at every step of the development process. The ecosystem will help in the preparation for commercial deployments, including conducting various activities in Samsung’s lab — aligning solution roadmaps from multiple vendors, fostering a fully interoperable approach to vRAN and leading the design process of an end-to-end vRAN solution.

Companies joining this vRAN ecosystem include:

Dell Technologies

Dell Technologies’ telecom solutions bolster the open ecosystem and help communications service providers (CSPs) transform to cloud-native vRAN networks. Samsung’s vRAN solution, combined with Dell’s carrier-grade, telecom infrastructure, will help CSPs around the globe to affordably build and deploy open networks. Dell’s global supply chain and telecom services seamlessly support network deployments of any scale.

Dennis Hoffman, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Dell Technologies Telecom Systems Business said, “Samsung’s commitment to advancing the vRAN ecosystem will foster new innovative services and business opportunities for communications service providers and enterprises. Our collaboration with Samsung and other partners is helping to develop an open ecosystem of technologies that can deliver the performance and reliability network operators demand.”

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

HPE continues a legacy of over 30 years of experience in the telecom industry. More than 300 telco customers across 160 countries take advantage of HPE’s open telco solutions, offered through the HPE Communications Technology Group (CTG), to evolve to a 5G ready, cloud-native, service-based architecture. As the global edge-to-cloud company, HPE’s experience in enterprise IT and hybrid cloud helps deliver a cloud transformation and secure, carrier-grade, standards-based infrastructure to telecommunications networks.

Phillip Cutrone, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Global OEM & Service Providers, at HPE said, “HPE looks forward to continuing our longstanding collaboration with Samsung by welcoming a new opportunity to deliver optimized 5G solutions for our customers. By using HPE ProLiant servers, the world’s trusted servers, to deliver highly dense, small form factor RAN workload-optimized compute platforms, HPE is playing a pivotal role in enabling the Samsung vRAN ecosystem that will further advance 5G experiences.”

Intel

Samsung has teamed up with Intel to support global service providers in virtualizing their 5G RAN and driving new services innovation based on Intel Xeon Scalable processors. Samsung recently announced the deployment of its fully virtualized, cloud-native vRAN solution to support the UK’s first 5G Open RAN network, as well as 5G vRAN in Japan. Both Intel and Samsung have optimized their solutions to deliver outstanding virtualized performance and flexibility to meet service provider requirements around the world.

Cristina Rodriguez, Vice President and General Manager, Wireless Access Network Division at Intel said, “The shift to virtualized RAN is one of the biggest transformations impacting the industry today. Intel’s collaboration with Samsung illustrates the strength of software-defined solutions in delivering flexibility and scalability in real world deployments.”

Red Hat

Red Hat is collaborating with Samsung to deliver 5G network solutions built on Red Hat’s proven open hybrid cloud portfolio, including Red Hat OpenShift – the industry’s most comprehensive enterprise Kubernetes platform. With this collaboration, Samsung and Red Hat are helping service providers drive 5G adoption and realize the benefits of vRAN. Samsung’s 5G vRAN solutions coupled with Red Hat’s open source, cloud-native solutions aim to extend 5G-based use cases by supporting consistent horizontal platforms from the core to the edge for customers to more easily deploy vRAN.

Darrell Jordan-Smith, Senior Vice President, TME & Industries at Red Hat said, “Red Hat is committed to building a bridge for customers to embrace RAN transformation, connecting business needs with the underlying technologies through an open ecosystem of partners. At the heart of the 5G and RAN evolution is cloud-native, open source innovation that helps form the foundation for future connectivity. Samsung’s leading 5G network solutions powered by Red Hat hybrid cloud technology offers service providers and their customers a flexible, scalable and reliable solution to successfully implement RAN at the edge, improving business agility to respond to opportunities more rapidly.”

Wind River

Wind River Studio provides a fully cloud-native, Kubernetes- and container-based architecture, based on open source, for the development, deployment, operations and servicing of distributed edge networks at scale. It delivers a foundation for a geographically distributed managed solution able to simplify Day 1 and Day 2 operations by providing single-pane–of-glass (SPoG), zero-touch automated management of thousands of nodes, no matter their physical location. Studio addresses the complex challenges of deploying and managing a physically distributed, cloud-native vRAN infrastructure to provide traditional RAN performance in a vRAN deployment.

Avijit Sinha, Chief Product Officer, Wind River said, “A leader in the early 5G vRAN landscape, Wind River is delivering mature production-ready offerings with Samsung based on proven Wind River Studio technology that is live in deployment with Tier One operators. Together with Samsung, Wind River can provide flexible, secure, reliable and ultra-low latency solutions that extend across the 5G cloud core and edge to support new use cases in an increasingly intelligent systems world.”

Samsung continues to expand its ecosystem with additional partners with industry-leading expertise in order to meet operator needs for more flexible and scalable networks.

¹ Based on internal analysis of third-party market size estimates

The two companies verified the 5G Option 4 technology at the SKT R&D Center to achieve the equal data speed as the NSA, using 175MHz of bandwidth, and also completed the verification of SA’s specialized functions. For this commercial field trial, SKT used Samsung’s 5G SA Core, 5G radios and 4G radios, which are already deployed across SKT’s 5G commercial networks.

5G Option 4 is a more advanced option than the existing 5G Standalone mode (SA Option 2) and provides the equivalent level of speed and quality as the NSA while utilizing the specialized functions of the SA Option 2 such as network slicing and the evolved 5G Core network.

SA Option 4 helps operators deliver innovative services including Urban Air Mobility (UAM), automated vehicles, remote control for heavy equipment, remote control robots and more. Network slicing creates multiple virtual networks within a single physical network infrastructure, optimizing network resources to meet specific performance needs for various services.

“While we supported the launch of the world’s first commercial 5G services in Korea, we are excited to continue spearheading the advancement of 5G through 5G SA technology, which will power innovative 5G services by leveraging the world-class LTE network that is well established in Korea,” said Jong-Kwan Park, Vice President and Head of 5GX Technology Group at SKT. “We will continue to expand our collaboration with industry leaders to continue driving this advanced technology and in growing this 5G SA ecosystem, to demonstrate new ways to tap the full potential of next-generation networks.”

“Through this commercial trial, Samsung is proud to collaborate with SKT to achieve another milestone in advancing 5G SA technology, demonstrating the equal performance as NSA with 5G Option 4 technology in 5G SA mode,” said June Moon, Executive Vice President and Head of Technology Strategy, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “We look forward to continue collaborating with SKT for the development and commercialization of advanced 5G SA technology, to deliver market-leading services to consumers and diverse use cases across industry.”

While in the early stages of 5G, operators used E-UTRAN New Radio Dual Connectivity (EN-DC) technology to combine 5G and 4G networks in 5G NSA mode, and now with 5G SA, they can leverage SA Option 4, which is a more advanced dual connectivity technology.

This latest milestone is a result of Samsung and SKT’s continued commitment to developing cutting-edge network technologies that power innovative 5G use cases. As part of their ongoing collaboration, the companies have successfully completed the EN-DC test in 2019, following the world’s first 5G Next-Generation Core (5G NC) trial in June 2018. In March 2021, SKT began delivering 5G SA commercial services to private networks using Samsung’s advanced 5G end-to-end solutions. In a collaborative effort, the companies will continue delivering advanced network services to mobile users in Korea.

Visit SK Telecom’s booth at MWC Barcelona 2022 for this Option 4 (NE-DC) demonstration and more.

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

About SK Telecom

SK Telecom (NYSE:SKM) is Korea’s leading ICT company, driving innovations in fixed & wireless telecommunications, AI service, and digital infrastructure service. Armed with cutting-edge ICT including AI and 5G, the company is ushering in a new level of convergence to deliver unprecedented value to customers. As the global 5G pioneer, SKT is committed to realizing the full potential of 5G through ground-breaking services that can improve people’s lives, transform businesses, and lead to a better society.

SKT boasts unrivaled leadership in the Korean mobile market with over 30 million subscribers, which account for nearly 50 percent of the market.

For more information, please contact skt_press@sk.com or visit our LinkedIn page www.linkedin.com/company/sk-telecom.

“Viettel has continued to prioritize building 5G infrastructure in key areas of the city,” said Tao Duc Thang, Deputy General Director from Viettel. “Viettel will join hands to make smart city development in Da Nang more synchronous and modern, to connect broadband in multi-dimensional and safe ways, ensuring best network infrastructure for digital government development, supporting for business and growth of Da Nang.”

With the main mission to build a digitalized society, Viettel has built 4G telecommunications infrastructure covering 97% of the Vietnamese population. The company also pioneers in providing the first 5G service in Vietnam. Up to now, 11 provinces/cities of Vietnam have 5G Viettel coverage (including Hanoi, Bac Ninh, Bac Giang, Vinh Phuc, Dong Nai, Ho Chi Minh City, Ba Ria–Vung Tau, Binh Phuoc, Thua Thien–Hue and Da Nang). People in these areas can experience 5G for free with unlimited capacity, on many 5G support devices. The 5G Viettel network in the above areas has a stable data download speed of 600-700 Mbps, the highest of up to more than 1Gbps.

For the commercial trial in Da Nang, Samsung provided its latest 4G and 5G solutions, which include its baseband unit as well as 64T64R Massive MIMO radios and radios on mid-band spectrum. Samsung’s latest baseband unit offers improved performance with industry leading capacity and throughput, while supporting both 4G and 5G technologies. The company’s 64T64R 5G Massive MIMO radio has the capability to power highly-congested and populated areas, delivering increased coverage and data speeds for enhanced 5G end-user experiences.

“We are excited to work with Viettel to bring immersive and reliable 5G services to consumers, and demonstrate Samsung’s technical leadership in Vietnam. This trial marks a big first step for the two companies’ collaborative efforts in Vietnam,” said Ho Chi Dung, Vice President, Network Business, Samsung VINA. “We look forward to supporting Viettel with a network that is ready to unlock the future of mobile connectivity in Vietnam, and that brings a new level of 5G experiences to the country’s increasing number of mobile users.”

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.

“Our mmWave build is a critical differentiator, even as we drive towards massive and rapid expansion of our 5G service using our newly acquired mid-band spectrum, we are doubling down on our commitment to mmWave spectrum usage,” said Adam Koeppe, Senior Vice President of Technology Planning for Verizon. “You will see us continue to expand our mmWave footprint to deliver game-changing experiences for the densest parts of our network and for unique enterprise solutions. We had over 17K mmWave cell sites at the end of last year and are on track to add 14K more in 2021, with over 30K sites on air by the end of this year, and we’ll keep building after that,” said Koeppe.

Previous multi-gigabit speeds have been recorded on downloads before, but this is the fastest speed the companies have been able to reach while uploading data to the network. Speeds approaching those seen in this recent trial (for comparison, 700+ Mbps is the equivalent of a one GB movie uploaded in about 10 seconds) will pave the way for uploading videos, pictures and data to the cloud, social media accounts, or sharing directly with others in densely populated venues like downtown streets, concerts and football stadiums. Whether using a traditional mobile link or fixed wireless access, these speeds will also allow students working from home or employees in distributed workforces the ability to upload and synchronize massive files, complete simultaneous editing of documents in the cloud, and collaborate with colleagues effortlessly.

These breakthrough uplink speeds will also drive new private network use cases for enterprises. Faster uplink speeds can enable quality control solutions for manufacturers using artificial intelligence to identify tiny product defects in products visible only through ultra HD video feeds. Other upload-intensive solutions such as multi-location, massive security video capabilities and augmented reality-centered customer experiences will also get a boost with these increased speeds.

About the trial

The demonstration surpassed current peak upload speeds by combining 400MHz of Verizon’s 5G mmWave frequency and 20MHz of 4G frequency using the latest 5G technologies, including mmWave carrier aggregation and Single-User MIMO (SU-MIMO). Network technology used in the demo included Samsung’s 28GHz 5G Compact Macro and virtualized RAN (vRAN) and Core (vCore) along with a smartphone form-factor test device powered by the Qualcomm flagship Snapdragon^® X65 5G Modem-RF System.

Snapdragon X65 is Qualcomm Technologies’ 4th generation 5G mmWave Modem-RF System for phones, mobile broadband, compute, XR, industrial IoT, 5G private networks and fixed wireless access. Commercial mobile devices based on these Modem-RF solutions are expected to launch by late 2021.

Samsung’s Compact Macro delivers 5G mmWave by bringing together a baseband, radio and antenna in a single form factor. This compact and lightweight solution can be easily installed on the sides of buildings, as well as on utility poles, for the swift build-out of 5G networks. The Compact Macro achieved first Common Criteria (CC) certification against Network Device collaborative Protection Profile (NDcPP), an internationally recognized IT security standard.

“In collaboration with Qualcomm and Verizon, we are excited to reach these ultra-fast uplink speeds, which will enable differentiated 5G experiences and deliver more immersive mobile services for all users,” said Junehee Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of R&D, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung looks forward to harnessing the full potential of 5G through new breakthroughs that will bring truly transformative benefits to people around the world and across the enterprise landscape.”

“Enhancing uplink speeds opens the door to new possibilities with 5G mmWave, in transit hubs, downtown areas, shopping malls and crowded venues, while also powering robust 5G fixed wireless access services in homes and small businesses,” said Durga Malladi, Senior Vice President and General Manager, 5G, mobile broadband and infrastructure, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “Our collaboration with Samsung and Verizon exemplifies how we are collectively driving 5G mmWave commercialization and enabling new and exciting user experiences – every day.”

With 5G networks, a self-learning AI-based tool’s ability to manage operations and optimize performance offers clear benefits for mobile operators. That said, we believe that complementing such tools with human creativity and decision-making will help bring the technology’s enormous potential to reality. With this in mind, Samsung has developed an AI tool known as CognitiV Analytics, which can collaborate with human counterparts to help mobile operators resolve various issues related to managing 5G networks.

I’d like to share how Samsung’s latest human-AI collaborative tool helps mobile operators optimize services and manage 5G networks more effectively.

Quality and Collaboration Are Key

CognitiV Analytics represents a big step forward for 5G network management. The solution’s ability to swiftly identify technical issues and accurately analyze network quality stems from two key features. The first is its ability to analyze the performance and quality of services across entire networks, while the second is the collaboration it fosters with its human counterparts.

In order to properly analyze network performance, it requires the collection and evaluation of entire service flows for each and every user. For example, in order to determine the service quality that a subscriber is experiencing when streaming videos, mobile operators need to know how various elements of their 5G networks, including RAN and Core, are operating together, and whether any issues have arisen. This is no small task. Because the sheer amount of raw data from each element is so massive, analyzing that data requires an extremely powerful AI tool.

To aid this process, Samsung and Zhilabs, a Samsung Company, created CognitiV Analytics. This powerful solution collects data from various sources from networks and uses that data to create a big-picture snapshot of the network’s status.

The solution offers comprehensive analysis, making it easier for mobile operators to evaluate and view network performance, services and other valuable information, eliminating the need to utilize multiple analytics solutions to obtain the same information. CognitiV Analytics tool offers the ability to offer fast analysis and also minimizes human error that can come with moving complex data across multiple tools.

By working closely with human counterparts and providing them with detailed explanations of its actions, our CognitiV Analytics solution offers greater transparency on how AI addresses particular problems. Over time, these interactions will help increase the tool’s accuracy and efficiency while enabling mobile operators to become more familiar with and trusting of AI.

The Importance of Strengthening AI Tools

CognitiV Analytics not only showcases what our AI technology is capable of, but it also demonstrates how AI can be used to solve important issues, and proves just how easily it can be incorporated into commercial networks. Included among the solution’s key features are its abilities; to learn using diverse data sets; to apply rule-based analysis; and to implement automation.

CognitiV Analytics’ AI has proven capable of quickly ascertaining important information about mobile operators’ networks even at the initial stage of its implementation, when only small data sets have been available. In order for AI to learn, it must be able to work with both labeled and unlabeled data. A typical data label might indicate whether a photo contains a horse or a cow, or what type of action is being performed in a video. Labeled network data, however, is expensive to obtain, since a few highly trained engineers can perform sophisticated labeling process. Therefore, in order for AI analytics tool to offer meaningful insights even at the initial stage, its AI must be capable of learning from unlabeled data. Our AI has the capability to learn from both labeled and unlabeled data, being able to support mobile operators from day one.

While most 5G network data sets can be analyzed with AI, some data features distinct characteristics that make it unsuitable for AI-based analysis. Such cases require users to apply their own rules, based on their experience and expertise, to assess their data. This is called rule-based analysis. CognitiV Analytics incorporates this analysis by enabling users to mix and match AI-based and rule-based analysis. This streamlines connections by offering mobile operators more accurate evaluations of network performance.

When we talk about automation in 5G networks, we’re talking about a process that typically features four phases: (1) discover the problem, (2) identify the root cause, (3) find the solution, and (4) apply the solution to the network. Some mobile operators tend to prefer to take some time to understand how AI-based analytics tools manage issues in each phase. Those of us in the industry believe this boils down to the familiarity and reliability of AI. Our CognitiV Analytics solution is designed to address the issue by applying each phase in steps, so mobile operators can take time to understand the AI in managing their 5G networks.

Samsung’s CognitiV Analytics is already being utilized in commercial networks that enable connections for hundreds of millions of mobile users. What is notable about this is the fact that our solution supports closed-loop automation, automatically offering recommended configurations for each element of a particular network. It features automatic KPI monitoring and fallback functions to guard against KPI degradation, which helps keep service levels constant across entire networks. In addition, based on its analysis of real-time data, CognitiV Analytics automatically adjusts network configurations to better manage fluctuations in traffic patterns and environmental changes.

Harnessing AI for Future Networks

For today’s mobile operators, proper network management is a complicated and essential part of keeping the world connected. It’s also an aspect of their operations that features no room for error. As the number of connected devices increases and more immersive use cases are introduced, mobile operators require simple tools that aid managing commercial networks and allow them to quickly respond to pressing issues. Powerful, AI-based management tools working closely with human counterparts make this possible.

We look forward to creating a future in which fully automated mobile networks behave like living organisms, promptly identifying issues and resolving them like our body would heal a wound. This means that if, for example, we found ourselves unable to stream a movie on our smartphone, the network’s AI-based management tool would fix the issue on its own. When AI expects an increase in traffic, it would expand network capacity by automatically adding network resources. While it will take some time to make these experiences a reality, we can make them possible by continuing to advance AI the right way.

CognitiV Analytics is a reflection of Samsung’s ongoing commitment to harnessing AI, which will bring incredible opportunities to enrich our everyday lives. Combining the power of AI and human creativity can provide mobile operators with the solutions they need to simplify operations and better manage network resources.

The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), a group of standards organizations that developed the 5G telecommunications standards already commercialized worldwide, plans to develop 5G-Advanced (Rel-18*) from 2022 to enhance 5G performance including increased telecommunications coverage, and to expand new 5G services, such as Extended Reality (XR) media and integration with satellite communications.
* Rel-18 (5G-Advanced Standard; from March 2022): 5G evolution standards before moving into 6G

Jaeyeon Song, Principal Engineer at Samsung Research (the company’s advanced R&D hub that leads the development of future technologies for its Consumer Electronics division and IT & Mobile Communications division), and Narendranath Durga Tangudu, Staff Engineer at Samsung R&D Institute India-Bangalore, were elected as vice-chairs of 3GPP SA WG4 (Service and System Aspects Working Group 4) and 3GPP CT WG3 (Core Network and Terminals Working Group 3), respectively.

3GPP SA4 is a Working Group that develops technologies for 5G-based video streaming and delivery of immersive media, such as XR. Dr. Jaeyeon Song was elected as vice-chair in recognition of her activities and expertise associated with MPEG (which develops video codec and media systems standards) and ATSC (which develops digital broadcasting standards), both of which work closely with 3GPP SA4.

The 3GPP CT3 Working Group focuses on open interface standards that open up 5G networks to third parties, such as Internet service providers (ISPs). The Working Group recognized Narendranath Durga Tangudu’s achievements in edge computing standards, which enables low latency transmission when 5G networks are connected to ISPs.

“In order to enable 5G-based differentiated services, mobile communication systems should evolve in such a way that it can support new media such as XR, and also that it can closely interact with external services,” said Sunghyun Choi, SVP & Head of the Advanced Communications Research Center at Samsung Research. “Along with the reinforcement of our leadership within 3GPP this year, we will continue to strengthen our efforts in developing next-generation mobile communications technologies as well as technologies that will expand the 5G ecosystem’s horizon.”

In addition to the appointments of vice-chairs in the SA4 and CT3 Working Groups, Samsung had earlier secured the chair position in the RAN1 Working Group in May this year. Samsung is set to be at the forefront of technological innovations that will improve 5G performance as well as technological developments that will help expand the 5G ecosystem. Based on its leadership established in 3GPP, Samsung is planning to lead 5G-Advanced (i.e., next-generation 5G) standardization, while preparing to take the initiative in future 6G standards.

Next-Level Capabilities With a Wide Range of Support

Leading global operators choose Samsung’s vRAN for its ensured quality, credibility and robustness, delivering performance similar to that of traditional hardware-based equipment. The company’s vRAN is primed to support mobile operators and enterprises with its ability to cover a wide range of spectrums—from low-band to mid-band—as well as its flexibility in terms of supporting solutions for both outdoor and indoor environments.

“Using the company’s own independently developed end-to-end vRAN software stack, Samsung’s solution boosts network performance and brings agility to the network. This in-house technology is the key feature of Samsung’s vRAN that distinguishes our solution from others in the industry,” said Junehee Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of R&D, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “As a global leader in vRAN technology, we will continue to strengthen our vRAN capabilities, while aiming to maintain strong leadership in virtualized networks and redefining what is possible for 5G networks.”

Technological innovation has been key to Samsung’s leading advancement of virtualized solutions. The evolution of the company’s vRAN solution can be broken down into three different phases, which are outlined below.

□ First-Generation Virtualized RAN – The Virtualized Central Unit (vCU), Commercialized in 2019

Samsung successfully developed its vCU in 2016 to initiate virtualization in mobile networks. The vCU addresses upper layer processing functions in the RAN. It is generally installed in a centralized location of an operator’s network to reduce the number of anchor point handovers, improving network quality and reliability.

The company carried out multiple trials in Korea, Japan and the U.S. using its vCU and in 2019, successfully deployed this solution for the world’s first 5G commercial networks in Korea and the U.S.

□ Second-Generation Virtualized RAN – The Virtualized Distributed Unit (vDU), Commercialized in 2020

Harnessing its decades of experience and long-standing leadership in RAN technology, Samsung developed a vDU using its independently developed software stack to deliver outstanding performance.

The vDU is responsible for real-time processing functions, and can either reside with the vCU, or on-site with the radio. By allowing the vCU and vDU to be placed in different locations, vRAN offers cost-effective deployment and operation that meets a range of speed, latency, throughput and quality requirements.

In 2020, Samsung introduced its fully virtualized end-to-end 5G RAN solution, comprised of a vDU and vCU, which was later rolled out in collaboration with a leading U.S. operator. The solution’s launch made it the first technology of its kind to achieve wide-scale commercialization. Shortly after that, Samsung expanded its vRAN capability to become the first in the industry to provide support for the Massive MIMO radios on mid-band, demonstrating top 5G vRAN speeds. In this trial, Samsung’s vRAN achieved commercial network performance that was on par with traditional hardware-based equipment.

□ Next-Generation Virtualized RAN With Enhanced Capabilities – Increased Capacity With Hardware Accelerators, To Be Commercialized in 2022

This year, Samsung has taken vRAN to the next level with its own software stack along with a hardware accelerator, which further increases the capacity of its vRAN to support more cells. The hardware accelerator is a dedicated device that works with the CPU in COTS server to improve processing capacity.

Recently, Samsung completed the industry’s first vRAN data session over C-Band spectrum in a live network, leveraging its software-based vRAN running on COTS servers with the hardware accelerator. In this trial, which was conducted with a prominent U.S. operator, Samsung achieved speeds close to the theoretical peak.

Samsung’s journey to highly capable vRAN has been a long and challenging one. But now, with the company having delivered vRAN with C-band Massive MIMO support and having conducted a successful live network trial in the U.S., the future of vRAN looks bright.

SDN is a network architecture approach that enables the network to be centrally and intelligently controlled using software solutions. This centralized approach will offer greater automation and programmability in the entire network from access to the core, increasing operational efficiency. With architectural shift from a hardware-based deployment to software-centric network design, SDN is highly secure, scalable and adaptable, especially helpful in advancing private networks.

Samsung’s SDN portfolio covers all layers of the SDN architecture including controllers, orchestrators, switches and routers. Key benefits of Samsung’s SDN include:

• “SDN In-a-Box”: Samsung’s SDN solution can serve multiple purposes in a single box, including data center SDN, enterprise SDN and mobile access (xHaul) SDN.
• User-Friendly: This SDN delivers a user-friendly, award-winning 3D-based UX design.¹ With high accessibility and usability, this solution provides a simplified view of an end-to-end network, enabling more unified and consistent management.
• Openness: The company’s cloud-native, open source-based SDN solutions can integrate seamlessly with third-party switches and routers. Samsung’s SDN is based on the Open Network Operating System (ONOS), supporting various types of open interfaces to enable multi-vendor interoperability.
• End-to-End Network Slicing: SDN technology can automate network slicing end-to-end, which will help fulfill service-level agreement (SLA) requirements, even at the transport level. Combined with its RAN and Core, Samsung’s SDN solution will enable mobile operators to offer optimal networks for various business models through company’s end-to-end network slicing capability.

“Networks are becoming more agile with SDN technology in the 5G era. Samsung is proud to take part in this network evolution by offering a full lineup of SDN solutions and bringing more operational flexibility to 5G network management,” said Sohyong Chong, Senior Vice President and Head of Software R&D, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung’s SDN will help operators and enterprises rapidly introduce new 5G applications, services and infrastructures, driving faster time to market.”

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

¹ International Design Excellence Award in 2018; Pin Up Design Awards in 2017; Good Design Awards in 2017

For this collaboration, Samsung will supply its commercial vRAN solutions and O-RAN compliant radios, covering both low-band and mid-band spectrum. The company’s fully virtualized RAN is software-based and runs on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) servers, offering features and performance that are equivalent to traditional hardware-based equipment. Using a cloud-native and container-based architecture, Samsung’s vRAN enables more flexible deployments and efficiency in network management for mobile operators.

Among the key benefits of the revolutionary architecture is its automation capabilities, which simplify end-to-end network management. With Samsung’s vRAN, operators can quickly meet the evolving demands of new and existing services with minimal impact on deployment. Samsung will also deliver to Vodafone UK its market leading O-RAN compliant 5G radios, including the latest Massive MIMO radios.

“Vodafone is committed to leading the next wave of digital transformation across Europe, ensuring fast and reliable connectivity for all,” said Johan Wibergh, Chief Technology Officer, Vodafone. “Open RAN, built on strong partnerships, is key to realizing this ambition. Samsung’s innovative solutions and expertise are part of the foundation that is creating this network of the future.”

This collaboration with Vodafone marks a first for Samsung, as the company brings its cloud native virtualized RAN technology to a leading operator’s network in Europe. As acknowledged by many in the industry, virtualized RAN and O-RAN technologies will be important to helping evolve network architectures to power the next generation of 5G applications and services. To this end, Samsung has been continuously leading in vRAN innovation, most recently showing the capability to support the multi-gigabit speeds of Massive MIMO radios on COTS servers (Link).

“We are proud that this collaboration with Vodafone—one of the premier carriers in the world—will be the first scaled deployment of our pioneering 5G technologies in Europe, including vRAN and O-RAN,” said Paul Kyungwhoon Cheun, President and Head of Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “This is a major step forward, as more operators are transitioning into new RAN technologies to prioritize user experience and efficiency. We look forward to continue leading the way in 5G innovation to meet our customer’s highest standards of performance, functionality and reliability.”

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

About Vodafone

Vodafone is a leading telecommunications company in Europe and Africa. We are the largest mobile and fixed network operator in Europe and a leading global IoT connectivity provider. Our M-Pesa technology platform in Africa enables over 48m people to benefit from access to mobile payments and financial services. We operate mobile and fixed networks in 21 countries and partner with mobile networks in 49 more. As of 31 March 2021, we had over 300m mobile customers, more than 28m fixed broadband customers, over 22m TV customers and we connected more than 123m IoT devices.

This private 5G network will support 4K Ultra HD-based live-streaming videos, transmitted from multiple devices, including cameras located throughout the plant. The video is transmitted to a remote maintenance system, which will be used to conduct site inspections from a control center. This will eliminate the need for technician visits to inaccessible locations and allow early detection of failures, improving productivity, efficiency and safety at the facility.

Samsung’s industry-leading 5G solutions will offer a resilient backbone for the plant’s private network. The company will provide its end-to-end 5G solutions—including its latest radios, baseband unit and Compact Core. Samsung’s cloud-native and fully containerized Compact Core is built to provide enterprises an advanced 5G core solution, which can run on single server hardware and is ideal for deployment environments with limited resources and footprints.

“Samsung is proud to leverage our private 5G network solutions to provide a solid foundation for new 5G use cases and services, boosting productivity and safety for various enterprises,” said Satoshi Iwao, Vice President and Head of Network Division at Samsung Electronics Japan. “We believe that private 5G networks have immense potential and are ready-made to transform the enterprise landscape. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with OPTAGE to support its private 5G network expansion in Japan.”

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.

3GPP is a consortium of seven regional telecommunication standards organizations established in 1998 to develop a unified global standard for mobile telecommunications. RAN WG1, the largest working group within the project with more than 600 delegates, is responsible for the development of the physical layer specifications of the 3GPP radio access technology. The working group has been overseeing the development of wireless communications technologies such as OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing), MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output), cellular IoT (Internet-of-Things), and V2X (Vehicle-to-everything) for LTE and 5G specifications.

The working group is currently working on several technical areas to evolve 5G. Such technical work includes improvement of 5G coverage, reduction of power consumption in 5G devices, and enabling of new 5G-based services over satellite link and unlicensed spectrum.

Younsun Kim brings 20 years of experience in the field of wireless communications standards. Since 2017, he has been serving as the Vice-Chair of RAN WG1.

Samsung Electronics currently holds a total of five Chair and Vice-Chair positions in 3GPP (two Chairs, three Vice-Chairs). In addition to Younsun Kim, Suresh Chitturi, a Principal Engineer at Samsung R&D Institute India-Bangalore is currently the Chair of SA WG6 (Service and System Aspects Working Group 6). The company will continue its contribution to the wireless industry with its leadership in wireless technical standards and by driving the next stage of innovations for 5G-Advanced standards.

As a leading mobile network operator in Poland, Play provides mobile voice, messaging, data and video services for both consumers and businesses. By taking an innovative approach and implementing an effective execution strategy, the company has acquired over 15 million subscribers across the nation, covering 99 percent of the Polish population.

For the trial, Samsung will provide its latest 4G and 5G solutions—including 4G radios, 5G Massive MIMO radios and baseband units—on low and mid-band spectrums. Samsung’s 5G Massive MIMO radios have been commercially deployed since 2019 and are currently in operation across the globe. Slim and lightweight, Samsung’s Massive MIMO radios ensure easy installation and quick deployment for mobile operators and also increase coverage, boost data speeds in order to enrich 5G experience for users. The company’s baseband unit offers improved performance with enhanced capacity and throughput, while supporting both 4G and 5G frequencies in a single unit. With this solution, operators can increase flexibility in network management and achieve cost efficiency.

“At Play we are open to the innovative technologies offered by our partners. The partnership with Samsung is another initiative that allows us to choose the best solutions for the rollout of our network. It is its extension and modernization that have a direct impact on the comfort of our customers,” said Michał Ziółkowski, Management Board Member and Chief Technology Officer at Play.

“Samsung is pleased to work with Play in delivering 5G services, and excited to demonstrate our network capabilities in Poland. This trial will serve as a meaningful milestone for the two companies’ collaborative efforts in Poland,” said Thomas Riedel, Head of Europe, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “Leveraging our advanced 5G solutions and technical leadership, we will continue to expand our global and European presence with leading operators like Play to take 5G user experience to new heights.”

Currently, Samsung operates its R&D centers in Warsaw and Cracow, Poland. This is where Samsung’s highest-quality software is created. Here, Samsung researchers and engineers continue to lead technology innovation, advancing its 4G and 5G solutions including Radio Access Network (RAN), core, analytics solutions for self-organizing networks (SON) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) cloud solutions.

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 deployment includes Samsung’s Mission-Critical Push-to-Talk (MCPTT) with multimedia broadcast capabilities, known as evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (eMBMS). This enables simultaneous transmission to up to 2,500 user devices per cell, which is more than twice the volume of devices supported by previous-generation technologies.

In this buildout, the PS-LTE network was also interconnected with the existing LTE-Maritime (LTE-M) and LTE-Railway (LTE-R) networks that were already operating in the 700MHz spectrum.

With nationwide coverage, the network serves as a unified platform that helps ensure interoperability among various public safety institutions. This delivers real-time accessibility and enhanced communications capabilities among public safety agencies and personnel in emergency situations.

“Samsung is proud to take part in building the world’s first nationwide PS-LTE network based on 3GPP standards in Korea, leveraging our end-to-end PS-LTE solutions,” said Seungil Kim, Vice President and Head of Korea Business, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “A reliable network is critical for real-time communication among multiple institutions in case of emergencies. We will continue to offer advanced PS-LTE solutions to bolster Korea’s PS-LTE network, meeting the highest standards for reliability, performance and security.”

Samsung was selected as a provider of end-to-end PS-LTE solutions, from infrastructure to devices, supporting the PS-LTE network buildout beginning in 2018, and completing deployment in March 2021.

With a proven track record of successful network deployments, Samsung continues to lead the advancement of next-generation public safety networks. Last year, Samsung demonstrated the world’s first Mission-Critical Push-to-X (MCPTX) video call on a cloud platform. The company is also leading the standardization of MCPTX over 5G.

For more information, please refer to Samsung’s whitepaper and infographic on mission-critical networks:

• Infographic: Mission-Critical Network in Korea – Captures the current mission-critical network landscape in Korea.
• Whitepaper: Mission-Critical Network Solutions – Highlights the key network components and features of mission-critical networks—including MCPTX, eMBMS and Land Mobile Radio (LMR) and MCPTX interworking function—all offered by Samsung.

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

In July 2020, Samsung unveiled its fully virtualized 5G RAN (vRAN) and earlier this year, announced the successful commercialization of its 5G vRAN for a Tier One U.S. operator.

Samsung vRAN is hardware-agonistic—where the baseband functions are decoupled from the underlying hardware and can operate over a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) server. With its cloud-native and container-based architecture, Samsung vRAN enables operators to freely allocate resources and automatically scale its components depending on network traffic patterns. Operators can also add new features and introduce next-generation technologies with ease. Another benefit of its cloud-native architecture is its automation capabilities, which dramatically simplify end-to-end network management. With Samsung vRAN, operators can quickly meet the evolving demands of new and existing services with minimal impact on deployment.

For additional information on Samsung vRAN, refer to our whitepapers: Virtualized RAN Vol. 1 and Virtualized RAN Vol. 2

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.

Samsung also ranked second in two other categories: share of 5G granted³ and active patent⁴ families,⁵ and share of 5G granted and active patent families with at least one of them granted by the EPO (European Patent Office) or USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office).

Last year, Samsung also led in 5G patents as a result of its research and development of 5G standards and technologies.

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 connectivity to hundreds of millions of users around the world.

¹ “A patent that protects technology essential to a standard”, European Commission report – “Setting out the EU approach to Standard Essential Patents”, p1, November 2017.

² “IPlytics derived the “essential rate” by creating a random data set of 1,000 5G-declared patent families (EPO/USPTO granted) and mapping it to 5G specifications.” [Online]. Available: https://www.iam-media.com/who-leading-the-5g-patent-race-patent-landscape-analysis-declared-seps-and-standards-contributions

³ “a patent that is granted by at least one of patent offices”, IPlytics report – “who is leading the 5G patent race”, p5, November 2019.

⁴ “in active status, which means it has not lapsed, been revoked or expired”, IPlytics report – “who is leading the 5G patent race”, p3, November 2019.

⁵ “a collection of patent applications covering the same or similar technical content”, [Online]. Available: https://www.epo.org/searching-for-patents/helpful-resources/first-time-here/patent-families.html