KT has succeeded in developing technology that enhances compatibility between equipment from different manufacturers.

KT announced on the 15th that it participated as a host in 'Plugfest Spring 2023,' a global Open RAN demonstration event hosted by the international Open RAN standardization organization 'O-RAN Alliance,' and succeeded in multi-vendor interoperability of Open RAN virtualized base stations.

Open RAN is an open wireless network technology that enables the interoperability of base station equipment from different manufacturers. A virtualized base station is a technology that implements various network functions in the form of software.

At this event, KT connected its OpenRAN virtualized base station to the test network of the Pangyo 5G Testbed Center, operated by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Information Society Agency (NIA). We successfully demonstrated an OpenRAN virtualized base station in accordance with the OpenRAN Alliance standards together with various partners including NTT Docomo, Fujitsu, Solid, Keysight Technologies, and the Korea Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute.

The demonstration consisted of a conformance test to verify whether the equipment was properly implemented according to standard specifications, an inter-operability test to verify the interoperability of interfaces between multi-vendor equipment, and an end-to-end test to verify performance by configuring an end-to-end system.

"This demonstration is significant as it demonstrates the success of multi-vendor interoperability of 5G virtualized base stations using Open RAN technology on the global stage," KT said. "We expect that this will increase compatibility between equipment from different manufacturers and reduce equipment installation costs and time."

KT's virtualized base station radio unit (DU) consists of off-the-shelf (COTS) servers equipped with hardware accelerators. This virtualization of wireless network equipment is considered a key technology for future 6G networks.

Going forward, KT plans to actively participate in the domestic Open RAN consortium, the 'Open RAN Industry Alliance,' to share 5G virtualization base station technology accumulated through multi-vendor interoperability, and to conduct commercial network demonstrations of Open RAN technology.

Lee Jong-sik, Senior Vice President and Head of the Infrastructure DX Research Institute at KT Convergence Technology Institute, stated, “As the technological goal of Open RAN is to build an open ecosystem involving various telecommunications equipment manufacturers, it is significant that we have successfully demonstrated Open RAN virtualized base stations with multiple manufacturers.” He added, “Going forward, KT will continue to build the domestic Open RAN ecosystem by sharing its technological capabilities and know-how.”