Introduction to Autonomous Driving Demonstration Complex Project Plans in Pangyo, Daegu, and Others

KT held the '2018 1st Future Forum' at the KT WEST building in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, and announced that it is developing a commercial autonomous driving platform (5GaaVP: 5G as a Vehicle Platform) based on KT's innovative 5G technology verified in PyeongChang.

On this day, KT emphasized autonomous driving through 5G as a core technology to lead the Fourth Industrial Revolution and unveiled 5G infrastructure, 5G-V2X (vehicle-to-everything communication) technology, precision positioning, and an intelligent control system that it has been preparing since 2015.

Furthermore, KT stated that it intends to emerge as a '5G autonomous driving platform' operator based on these technologies, and introduced the autonomous driving demonstration complex projects currently underway in Pangyo and Daegu, as well as plans to create an open ecosystem through them.

Targeting the autonomous driving market opening in 2020
In an announcement on this day, KT cited the results of market research firm Navigant Research, stating that it expects the autonomous driving market to blossom starting in 2020 to solve traffic social problems, and that it is beginning full-scale preparations to enter the market.

According to the survey, existing vehicles will be gradually replaced by autonomous vehicles, and it is projected that approximately 75% of vehicles on the road will be autonomous by 2035. Furthermore, if 50% of existing vehicles are replaced by autonomous vehicles, it is estimated that there will be an annual global economic effect of approximately 250 trillion won. In particular, as global companies have recently entered the autonomous driving market and the scale is expected to grow even larger, KT plans to target the relevant market in advance through innovative 5G technology.

Presenting 4 Differentiating Technologies to Complete Safe Autonomous Driving
Until now, autonomous vehicles have relied solely on their own detection capabilities, such as sensors and LiDAR, so there have often been instances where they were inadequate in responding to unexpected situations. However, KT stated that once '5G autonomous driving' technology, which incorporates four core technologies, is commercialized, vehicles and infrastructure will be simultaneously connected, allowing for proactive responses to risks and preventing accidents caused by autonomous driving.

1) [KT 5G Infrastructure] providing stable coverage and mobility
Based on its experience operating the Pyeongchang 5G pilot service, KT is building a 5G network to lay the foundation for an autonomous driving platform. It plans to establish nationwide coverage using the 3.5GHz band, which has a wide radio wave range, and additionally utilize the faster 28GHz band in urban areas. In areas where 5G has not yet been deployed, the existing LTE network is used to provide seamless network services.

As a result, since the network connection environment changes moment by moment in moving vehicles, we plan to complete total network coverage optimized for autonomous driving by utilizing 5G's 'beam tracking' technology and '5G-LTE interoperability' technology, which can provide stable autonomous driving services in all situations.

2) [5G-V2X] technology providing ultra-low latency vehicle connectivity
Through KT's 5G network, vehicles and traffic infrastructure are connected with ultra-low latency of 1 to 7 ms (millisecond: 1/1000 second), enabling safer autonomous driving than conventional sensor-based autonomous driving. In addition, by providing a dedicated virtual network for vehicles through 5G 'network slicing' (virtual segmented network), it guarantees the security and stability required for autonomous driving.

In particular, during the last PyeongChang Winter Olympics, 5G cooperative autonomous driving using three vehicles was conducted in the Gangneung area, and information was exchanged between each vehicle and traffic signals to successfully complete platooning autonomous driving.

3) KT's [Precise Positioning] technology, identical anywhere in the country
KT has developed precision positioning technology capable of accurately determining the current location with an accuracy of up to 30cm and provides it in the form of a platform. When this precision positioning technology is utilized in a 5G autonomous driving platform, it can even distinguish the lane being driven in, enabling stable vehicle control.

This precision positioning solution from KT has been under development since 2015 and has recently completed real-world verification after being applied to autonomous vehicles. In the future, we are advancing our technology to enable more accurate and seamless location information to be calculated anywhere in the country by utilizing various KT infrastructures, including not only GPS satellites but also LTE and 5G base stations, repeaters, and WiFi APs.

4) Realization of [Intelligent Control] through the establishment of a vehicle communication big data-based platform
KT's autonomous driving platform enables intelligent control, such as traffic signal control, by collecting vehicle location and sensor information in real time and analyzing big data at the control server to predict situations.

In particular, if the autonomous driving platform is developed for Edge nodes in about 50 regions nationwide, it is expected that ultra-low latency control with faster response times than a centralized system will become possible.

Based on these four core technologies, KT is developing a '5G as a Vehicle Platform' that provides infrastructure for safe driving and convenience of vehicles. This platform will be built as an open platform to encourage the participation of various third parties and contribute to the revitalization of the related ecosystem.

Meanwhile, KT plans to unveil a 5G autonomous bus starting next month at Pangyo Zero City in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, the nation's first autonomous driving demonstration complex. To this end, it is building an autonomous driving infrastructure based on 5G and LTE. This infrastructure collects and shares traffic signal and pedestrian information, road event information, and vehicle and shuttle operation information, enabling intelligent control of autonomous vehicles through big data analysis.

As such, KT plans to participate in C-ITS (Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems) autonomous driving demonstration projects in various local governments, including Seoul, Daegu, and Jeju, to verify the core technologies of its 5G autonomous driving platform. In addition, we plan to continue discussions with automobile and parts manufacturers to ensure that 5G technology is applied to autonomous vehicles at an early stage.

Jeon Hong-beom, Executive Vice President and Head of the Infrastructure Research Institute at KT's Convergence Technology Institute, stated, "KT has demonstrated that autonomous driving performance can be significantly improved by connecting 5G to the field," adding, "Going forward, KT will complete an open autonomous driving platform based on 5G technology to revitalize the ecosystem and lead the upcoming autonomous driving market."