Estimating angle and height using AR technology and smartphone IMU
When measuring the information value of a base station at a distance of 30m
Deviation of 1 degree inclination and 7 degrees in direction


KT announced on the 19th that it has developed "Base Station Twin," a solution that uses augmented reality (AR) technology to measure the construction information of remote 5G base stations (antennas). Now, engineers can determine the angle of a base station without having to climb to the rooftop.

Base station twin is a technology that analyzes the AR screen (image) of a 5G base station and the 'Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU)' sensor values installed on a smartphone with a 'Pose Estimation Server' to derive the inclination angle, direction angle, and installed height values of the base station installed in the field.

In order for telecommunication companies to provide wireless services to customers without interruption, construction information such as the angle and height of base stations must be managed considering the surrounding environment. This is because if the location or direction of the base station changes due to external factors, the wireless communication service radius may overlap with or narrow to that of the adjacent base station, resulting in a shadow area.

Currently, engineers directly access the equipment to measure base station construction information. This method is time-consuming and, due to the nature of base stations being installed in high locations such as building rooftops, carries the disadvantage of requiring work in hazardous environments.

Base Station Twin also has the ability to automatically update 5G base station construction information extracted in real time to a data storage server. Engineers can handle everything from measurements to documentation on-site, without having to return to the office.

KT announced that, as a result of the base station twin field verification, when engineers measured the construction information values of base stations located more than 30 meters away, the inclination angle only had an average deviation of 1 degree and the direction angle only had an average deviation of about 7 degrees.

He also explained that while it takes about 10 minutes for an engineer to climb to the roof of a building and measure the construction information of a 5G base station with a compass and angle gauge, it is possible to measure and store all values in an average of 3 minutes using the base station twin.

Meanwhile, this technology was developed through collaboration between domestic small and medium-sized enterprise ‘VIRNECT’ and KT.