S. Korea deploys 5G tech in airport virus check

Incheon International Airport / Korea Times file

The government said Wednesday it has introduced mobile edge computing (MEC) technology at Incheon International Airport to operate an artificial intelligence (AI) system that screens potential COVID-19 patients in a move to step up preventative measures against the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Ministry of Science and ICT said the system will check for passengers without masks or with possible COVID-19 symptoms, such as a high temperature, at the arrival and departure halls of the country's main gateway, located west of Seoul, using digital kiosks and video surveillance. The system can also send out autonomous robots to disinfect specific areas.

The ministry said the incorporated MEC technology minimizes latency by sending data to nearby small-scale data centers, rather than to a centralized one.

SK Telecom, the country's largest wireless carrier, has installed millimeter wave (mmWave) band 5G base stations at the airport to operate the service, which will also use the company's new SAPEON X220 AI chip.

The ICT ministry said it will provide more support for MEC-based 5G services, with 120 billion won (US$108 million) set aside for projects using the technology up to 2022.

While 5G users have reached around 10 million in South Korea since the commercialization of the latest generation network in April last year, the country is in the early stages of rolling out mmWave 5G services that take full advantage of the network's high speed and low latency.

Rival carrier LG Uplus is currently testing mmWave 5G at the Kumoh National Institute of Technology in Gumi, about 200 kilometers south of Seoul. (Yonhap)