By Yoon Sung-won
KT, the nation’s second-largest mobile carrier, said Tuesday it has demonstrated key technology for a fifth-generation (5G) mobile network for the first time in the world in cooperation with Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson.
The mobile carrier said the new technology will contribute to significantly reducing unnecessary overlap and interference of frequencies in the 5G mobile network.
“We have obtained a cost-efficient wireless network establishment and management technologies for the 5G network through technological cooperation with Ericsson,” said Jeon Hong-beom, head of KT’s Infrastructure R&D Lab and Institute of Convergence Technology. “This new technology will help us to establish the next-generation long-term evolution network and the 5G network base stations to ultimately provide the best wireless connection.”
The new technology is used to maintain aggregation of frequencies between high capacity base stations, dubbed “macro cells,” and ones with low capacity called “small cells” under a network infrastructure named “HetNet.”
HetNet is a network technology that makes a macro cell include multiple small cells in it to significantly boost data transfer capacity and speed. This technology has been considered as one of the most effective tools for the 5G network environment, which is expected to handle a greater amount of data traffic.
KT said it has confirmed in a demonstration at its research and development facility in Umyeon-dong, southern Seoul, that the technology contributed to a 20 percent improvement of data transfer stability. It explained the new technology removes interruption of carrier aggregation when a device moves from the coverage area of a small cell to another.
This will guarantee a more stable quality of mobile network in places with high data traffic such as downtown areas, large stadiums and plazas, the company explained.
“We have tapped into KT’s wireless network management capability with our leading network equipment technologies. We are hopeful that we can create synergy in leading the 5G mobile network in the future,” said Ericsson-LG CEO Martin Wiktorin.