Technology has been developed to optimize smartphone antenna transmission performance in real time using on-device AI and improve quality, which is expected to increase domestic communications competitiveness in the future.

SK Telecom (CEO Yoo Young-sang) announced on the 6th that it has successfully developed and verified a technology to improve communication performance by increasing the number of antennas built into a smartphone together with a research team led by Professor Hong Won-bin of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at POSTECH (Pohang University of Science and Technology).

The technology developed this time has proven the possibility of improving data transmission quality by increasing the number of antennas typically installed in smartphones from four to up to eight while maintaining the same frequency environment and smartphone size as before by utilizing on-device AI.

In particular, this technology can stably respond to various variables in over 1 million smartphone usage environments by utilizing artificial intelligence. It is expected to have high usability as it provides a clue to solving problems such as antenna performance that changes depending on the user's posture and environmental changes.

While previous attempts at multi-antenna expansion have been hardware-centric, this study opens up new possibilities by utilizing AI.

SKT used AI in the verification phase to solve the problem of increasing mutual interference as the number of antennas installed on mobile devices increases. Based on the information learned by the on-device AI, we were able to minimize mutual interference and optimize antenna performance in real time.

In this demonstration conducted in a laboratory environment, SKT used measuring equipment from Anritsu, a global communications measuring equipment company, to confirm that data transmission speeds were significantly improved under the same conditions as existing smartphones.

SKT plans to advance this technology and promote standardization with 3GPP, a mobile communications standardization technology cooperation organization, while also developing a roadmap for commercialization through cooperation with chipset, component, and smartphone manufacturers.

In addition, SKT is continuing to conduct research on on-device AI in line with the era of artificial intelligence. Through these efforts, it won the ‘Excellent AI Utilization Case’ category for its on-device AI-based smartphone power consumption reduction technology at the ‘Leading Light Awards 2024’ in September last year.

Ryu Tak-ki, head of SK Telecom’s infrastructure technology division, said, “This is a meaningful achievement that has confirmed that smartphone performance and communication technology can be further developed with on-device AI,” and added, “We will continue to secure core 6G and AI infrastructure technologies to increase customer satisfaction and strengthen competitiveness in the global market through innovative research on prior technologies.”

Hong Won-bin, a professor at POSTECH, said, “Although the number of antennas is an important factor in communications competitiveness, technological advancement has been difficult due to various practical constraints.” He added, “By integrating on-device AI and antenna expansion technology, we will be able to overcome existing limitations and create various added values.”