SK Telecom (CEO Yoo Young-sang) has developed the world's first glass technology applying RIS (Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface) to 6G candidate frequencies, and quality improvements, such as enhanced indoor 6G quality, are expected.

SK Telecom announced on the 9th that it has succeeded in developing RIS technology for 6G candidate frequencies through research cooperation with chemical materials company Dongwoo Finechem (CEO Line Ho).

RIS (Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface) is a technology that adjusts transmission power according to radio wave characteristics to reflect or transmit radio waves.

Through this research, SKT has developed, for the first time in the world, a technology that applies RIS to Low-E glass, which is widely used as a building exterior material, to allow 6G candidate frequencies in the high-frequency band to pass through.

Low-E glass is widely used as a building exterior material due to its excellent thermal insulation properties, but it also has the characteristic of blocking radio waves, making it disadvantageous for the transmission of mobile communication frequencies.

On the other hand, SKT's development of RIS application technology has made it possible to produce 6G RIS glass that transmits light and radio waves while maintaining thermal insulation performance.

SKT expects that commercializing the newly developed 6G RIS glass will contribute to improving wireless communication quality, such as expanding 6G indoor coverage.br />
SKT's RIS applied to Low-E glass is attracting attention as an important technology for preparing for the 6G era.

In this study, SKT measured the penetration characteristics of the Upper Midband (7–24 GHz) and Sub-THz (92–300 GHz) bands, which are being discussed as new frequency bands among the various bands being considered as 6G candidate frequencies, and conducted comparative tests with commercial 5G frequencies.

High-frequency bands, including the upper-midband and subterahertz, are suitable for ultra-high-speed, high-capacity wireless services due to their wide bandwidth; however, they have limitations in that service coverage is reduced because their short wavelengths cause significant transmission loss when passing through obstacles and their diffraction properties are poor.

Therefore, it is essential to conduct proactive research and development on technologies to overcome high-frequency limitations and determine how to utilize the corresponding bands through the study of radio wave characteristics according to frequency bands.

RIS is a technology that helps to pass through obstacles by reflecting these high-frequency bands, or to enter indoors by transmitting them. Test results showed that while signal loss was about 4 to 2,000 times greater than that of commercial 5G frequencies, it was confirmed that it was improved by about 40% when RIS was applied.

SKT developed transparent antenna and RIS technology for the 5G and LTE bands last August and successfully commercialized the application of transparent antennas to LTE modems used for public Wi-Fi on some city buses in the metropolitan area.

We plan to secure key technologies ranging from 5G Advanced to 6G through technologies that overcome the limitations of high-frequency bands, such as innovative antenna technologies.

Ryu Tak-ki, Head of Infrastructure Technology at SKT, stated, “The development of this 6G RIS technology is a meaningful result achieved through the natural evolution of technological capabilities secured through 5G/LTE into 6G, and it will serve as an exemplary case for 5G advancement and preparation for the 6G era,” adding, “We will continue to do our best to develop technologies for the continuous evolution and advancement of mobile communications.”