By Yoon Sung-won
SK Telecom said Monday that alongside Intel it has showcased a mobile network technology that dramatically enhances data transmission capacity at the ongoing Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2015 in Barcelona, Spain.
“Together with global network companies such as Intel and Kumu, we have reached an important milestone in commercializing a fifth-generation (5G) mobile network,” said SK Telecom Chief Technology Officer Choi Jin-sung. “We plan to further cooperate in establishing a 5G network system and demonstrating related services for the first time in the world.”
The technology that SK Telecom and Intel have demonstrated at the MWC 2015 is called “Anchor-Booster Cell,” which is a preceding technology for 5G mobile networks.
The nation’s largest mobile carrier said the technology is designed to use the next-generation wireless local area network over the long-term evolution (LTE) network as a catalyst for seamless data transmission. With this technology, users can transfer multiple gigabytes per second, the company said.
The company said Choi is scheduled to meet Sandra Rivera, a senior executive of Intel’s network platform and data center division, at the MWC 2015 to discuss future cooperation in developing 5G mobile networks, network function virtualization technology and cloud based station technology.
“We expect to create values by jointly researching the 5G base station technology with SK Telecom,” Rivera said. “With the cooperation, we vow to provide high-speed and low-delay data and voice transmission services in the future.”
Besides the cooperation with Intel, SK Telecom said it will also demonstrate another key technology for 5G mobile networks with global technology developer Kumu Networks and sign a memorandum of understanding at the event.
This technology, dubbed “In Band Full Duplex,” enables base stations to recognize interfering signals and remove them to allow two-way data transmissions, even when the stations transmit download and upload signals using the same frequency.
SK Telecom said the technology is capable of doubling network transmission capacity. Considering that the use of upload frequency is far less than that of download frequency, this technology will significantly improve data transmission capacity and efficiency, the company added.