SK Telecom and Samsung Electronics made an announcement on Nov. 8 that they have developed core technologies of exchanger and prototype equipment based on "standalone" (SA), which is more advanced 5G technology standards. It has been five months since the 5G SA standard was announced in June.
5G international standards are divided into two categories: SA and NSA. NSA is a form of connecting 5G wireless base station with 4G (LTE) wired Internet network. 5G at the time of commercialization is largely based on NSA standards.
However, SK Telecom is also going to replace NSA wired Internet network with one step further developed one from the current LTE network. SA specifications are more difficult to develop than NSA standards, but can provide faster and more reliable services.
5G SA exchanger, which was developed by SK Telecom and Samsung Electronics, is an equipment that connects wireless base stations with wired Internet network. According to SK Telecom, parallel data processing technology that processes multiple transmission stages at once, data acceleration technology that compresses similar data, and modular technology that can detach ancillary equipment such as building blocks are used for the first time.
If SA exchanger is applied to a site, speed of data processing will be twice faster than initial 5G and communication delay will be minimized.
SK Telecom is preparing to build 5G and easily upgrade to the next level considering future performance improvements. To that end, it has developed '5G NSA exchanger', which is free to switch to SA, and is currently constructing it on site.
"We were able to start developing technologies quickly after 5G SA standards were announced in June. 5G is used as a core national infrastructure for a long time, so that we will prepare for its commercialization with mid- to long-term perspective," said Park Jin-hyo, head of SK Telecom ICT Technology Institute.