The telecommunications industry is rapidly evolving, with a strong emphasis on sustainability, enhanced user experiences, and energy efficiency. These priorities are now considered as crucial as the traditional focus on improving data transmission speeds. Consequently, technologies that blend communication with artificial intelligence (AI) are capturing significant attention.
Samsung Electronics is at the forefront of this transformation, actively incorporating AI technology throughout the Radio Access Network (RAN) infrastructure. This includes integrating AI into radio units, which handle the conversion between analog and digital signals at base stations and antennas, as well as digital units that encompass modems for digital signal modulation and demodulation, and schedulers for resource allocation. Through these efforts, Samsung is propelling the convergence of telecommunications and AI technologies.
In mobile communication networks, the RAN serves as a vital component that links mobile phones to the core network. It plays a critical role in determining the user experience, particularly regarding transmission speed and communication quality. Notably, the RAN consumes the most energy within the entire communication network, which includes core networks and data centers. This highlights the pressing need for energy-efficient technologies.
Samsung has undertaken extensive research on AI-RAN technology, which involves incorporating AI into the RAN. A notable demonstration of these technologies occurred at the Silicon Valley Future Wireless Summit held last November. During this event, AI-RAN technologies were showcased in collaboration with industry partners. The demonstration illustrated the potential to enhance base station data throughput, improve communication coverage, which refers to the geographical area where services are available, and increase energy efficiency.
One of the key breakthroughs involved using AI technology to enhance channel estimation technology. This technology is used to assess the state of wireless channels where data is transmitted between base stations and mobile phones. The outcome demonstrated a significant improvement in downlink data throughput, which is the data sent from the base station to the mobile phone, as well as uplink data throughput, which is the data sent from the mobile phone to the base station, compared to existing 5G RAN systems.
Furthermore, energy efficiency was notably improved through adaptive power application based on the strength of transmitted signals. These pioneering demonstrations, which were presented to telecommunications operators, included Proof of Concept (PoC) results that applied AI across the entire RAN. They underscored AI’s capacity to significantly elevate communication performance, user experience, and energy efficiency in future communication networks.
Charlie Zhang, Senior Vice President at Samsung Research America (SRA) and Head of the 6G Research Team at Samsung Research, expressed gratitude to partners for their collaboration on these groundbreaking AI wireless innovations. He affirmed that Samsung Electronics is committed to working with ecosystem partners to make AI-RAN a reality in the coming years.
Global wireless operators were impressed by the promising results of integrating AI technology into the design of future RAN systems and appreciated Samsung’s leadership in advancing AI-Native wireless technology. Steven Rice, Vice President of Network Planning at Verizon Wireless, emphasized the importance of continually improving network performance to enhance customer experiences. He praised Samsung Research for showcasing meaningful research through demonstrations that drive the industry forward.
Satoshi Konishi, Executive Vice President and Head of Advanced Technology Research Laboratories at KDDI Research, Inc., lauded Samsung’s demonstrations for highlighting AI’s significant potential for RAN. He expressed eagerness to further develop the integration of communication and AI technologies.
Takehiro Nakamura, Chief Standardization Officer at NTT DoCoMo, expressed his admiration for the AI-RAN demonstrations, noting their substantial gains over existing solutions. He believes Samsung’s advanced AI-RAN technologies can facilitate early commercial deployment of AI-RAN in the 5G network and initiate discussions in preparation for 6G.
Ryuji Wakikawa, Vice President and Head of the Research Institute of Advanced Technology at SoftBank Corp., acknowledged the anticipated improvements in uplink link budget and communication stability using Samsung’s AI technology. He expressed optimism that this AI-driven approach will evolve further and become a cornerstone of 6G technology. Wakikawa recognized the pivotal role of AI-based technology in transforming the future of the telecom landscape and eagerly anticipates its commercialization.
Samsung’s global partners, who collaborated on these demonstrations, were thrilled to be part of the collective effort to lead the way toward an AI-Native next-generation network. They shared their vision on how AI can shape the future of wireless communications. Ronnie Vasishta, Senior Vice President of Telecom at NVIDIA, emphasized the role of AI in bringing necessary improvements in RAN performance and spectral efficiency. He highlighted the deep collaboration with Samsung and other global research partners in demonstrating that AI-RAN infrastructure, accelerated by the NVIDIA AI Aerial platform, can deliver significant performance gains in radio signal processing.
Giampaolo Tardioli, VP of 6G Strategy at Keysight, expressed honor in working closely with Samsung Research to showcase AI’s powerful impact on improving cell capacity in future networks. He emphasized the importance of collaborating with world-class partners to address some of the toughest wireless challenges using AI.
Dr. Ian Wong, Senior Director of RF and Wireless Architecture at VIAVI, acknowledged the strategic collaboration with Samsung in showcasing AI’s potential to significantly improve the spectral and energy efficiency of 6G. Christina Gessner, Executive Vice President of Rohde & Schwarz Test and Measurement Division, highlighted the potential of machine learning-driven signal processing to push wireless performance beyond current possibilities. Her collaboration with Samsung Research on a neural receiver utilizing non-uniform constellation transmission marked a milestone in confirming AI’s role in future 6G wireless communications.
Ritu Favre, President of Test and Measurement Business Group at Emerson, expressed satisfaction with working alongside Samsung and the industry to explore how generative AI can transform 5G and 6G networks. She reiterated Emerson’s commitment to innovation and industry collaboration to advance AI-native networks, working toward a smarter, more sustainable future for global communications.
The successful demonstrations are widely recognized as a promising starting point for industry collaboration to bring AI-Native Wireless to future radio access networks. Samsung plans to build on this innovation momentum and continue collaborating with partners through industry associations such as the AI-RAN Alliance, where Samsung is a founding member. This collaboration aims to enhance user experiences by making the promise of AI in RAN a reality.
For more information, you can refer to the official website where these developments are discussed in detail.
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