Samsung Electronics and Japanese mobile carrier KDDI have completed verification of network slicing, a key 5G technology.

Samsung Electronics announced on the 20th that it has successfully verified 'Network Slicing' technology in a 5G standalone (SA) commercial network environment with Japanese mobile carrier KDDI since September of last year. In particular, in this verification, the necessary technology requirements (SLA, Service Level Agreement) for each service were successfully demonstrated in various real-life environments for users, such as walking and driving.

'5G network slicing technology' is a technology that divides a physical mobile communication network into multiple independent virtual networks. By implementing 5G, we can achieve ultra-low latency and ultra-high speeds, providing customized communications for various services.

The test was conducted by linking smartphones currently sold in Japan to 5G SA base stations and 5G SA core equipment supplied by Samsung Electronics.

Through this test, Samsung Electronics said it has succeeded in verifying network slicing using the RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) defined by the OpenRAN Alliance in a commercial network for the first time in the world.

The base station intelligent controller is a 5G software-based component that optimizes radio resources according to the user service situation of the RAN to improve overall network quality.

Samsung Electronics said its network slicing technology will help enable a wide range of services that require high performance and low latency.
When network slicing technology is commercialized in earnest in the future, it is expected to contribute greatly to the expansion of 5G services as it will be possible to simultaneously provide multiple services requiring different technical characteristics on a single network.

For example, it will be possible to simultaneously provide services that require ultra-low latency and high reliability, such as autonomous driving and cloud gaming, and services that require high communication speeds, such as AR/VR streaming and high-definition live broadcasting of sports games, while guaranteeing the quality of each.

Lee Jun-hee, Vice President of the Strategic Marketing Team at Samsung Electronics' Network Business Division, said, "Network slicing is a diverse technology that can be used in 5G and next-generation communication networks.“Its importance will gradually increase as a key technology that will enable innovative services,” he said.

“Successfully verifying services for general consumers and enterprises by applying network slicing technology to our 5G commercial network is an important step forward in KDDI’s 5G journey,” said Toshikazu Yokai, General Manager of KDDI’s Mobile Technology Headquarters. “KDDI will continue to work with Samsung Electronics to provide customers with the latest 5G services based on more advanced communications technologies.”

Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics succeeded in demonstrating 5G network slicing technology for the first time in the world at the KDDI Research Institute in 2020, and Samsung Networks has been providing KDDI with 5G network solutions including various wireless base stations supporting mid-band (3.7-3.8). Samsung Electronics said, “With the successful verification of the technology in the 5G commercial network in downtown Tokyo, Japan, we have come one step closer to full-scale commercialization.”

Last February, KDDI launched the world’s first commercial 5G standalone (SA) Open RAN network in collaboration with Samsung Electronics and Fujitsu. It used Samsung Electronics’ Open RAN-compatible 5G virtualized CU (vCU) and virtualized DU (vDU) and Fujitsu’s MIMO radio unit (Open RAN-compatible).