ETRI and Cisco, using a gigabit mobile backhaul network
AR Demonstration on Subway Line 8 Records 1.9Gbps
'Korean Technology's Overseas Expansion' Scheduled for Demonstration in UK in April


The Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) announced on the 10th that it successfully demonstrated a 5G service using an ultra-high frequency wireless backhaul system inside the Jamsil-Songpa section of Seoul Subway Line 8 in late February. During the demonstration, a speed of 1.9 Gbps was achieved, which is 30 times faster than existing speeds. This is sufficient for 190 people to simultaneously use AR immersive multimedia services.

Currently, the average download speed of wireless LAN services provided by mobile carriers in the subway is 58.50 Mbps, and the speed drops further during rush hour when passenger traffic is high. The research team utilized millimeter wave frequencies from the Unspecified Frequency Band (FACS) to supplement the ultra-high frequency wireless backhaul system connecting to the internet and applied it to the Seoul subway.

ETRI created a communication demonstration environment by installing base station systems in five sections inside the subway tunnel, gateways and servers in the communication room at Jamsil Station, and terminal systems in the subway driver's cabin. The demonstration site was selected as the Jamsil-Songpa section of Line 8, which has the most severe curvature among domestic subways, to verify whether it can produce sufficient performance beyond the limitations of frequency characteristics with strong directional properties.

The demonstration involved measuring transmission speeds inside a moving subway train and experiencing immersive multimedia services at the Songpa Station platform. This demonstration utilized a new advertising service model in which advertising content is broadcast to allow users to receive personalized content.

The research team successfully demonstrated trying on shoes using AR technology by connecting a smartphone app and AR glasses with a signage monitor advertising the latest sneakers. While a transmission speed of approximately 10 Mbps is required to implement this, the ETRI research team stated that the maximum transmission speed between the base station system and the terminal reached 1.9 Gbps.

The research team explained that the key to this achievement lies in beamforming technology, which concentrates transmission signals on the necessary terminals, and handover technology, which maintains a seamless connection without data loss even when the base station connected to the terminal changes as the subway moves.

Meanwhile, this achievement is the result of the '3rd Korea-UK ICT Policy Forum' held in February 2018, and was accomplished over two years starting from April 2019. In Korea, a high-frequency-based subway wireless backhaul system was developed, and in the UK, a 5G-based immersive multimedia service was developed.

"Through this demonstration, we have confirmed that high-speed wireless LAN services can be provided in public transportation," said ETRI President Kim Myung-joon. Simon Smith, the British Ambassador to South Korea, stated, "This 5G technology will also enter the demonstration phase in the UK this coming April."

This achievement was pursued as a Korea-UK international joint research project within the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Industry Technology Development Program jointly promoted by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). In Korea, ETRI led the research, while Willers Standard Technology Research Institute, Dankook University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation, CleverLogic, and Seoul Metro participated as joint and commissioned research institutions. In the UK, Cisco led the project, with Sublime, Amplespot, the University of Strathclyde, and Glasgow City Council participating as joint research institutions.