At MWC Shanghai 2015, SK Telecom announced that it extended its strategic collaboration with Intel for 5G technologies.
Under this partnership both companies plan to jointly develop 5G chipset and device prototypes, as well as Anchor-Booster Cell and Massive MIMO technology.
The two companies will work together to develop and verify 5G devices that are similar size to the existing LTE devices for frequency bands that are highly likely to be used for pre-5G demonstrations and 5G commercialization.
Anchor-Booster Cell is one of the core 5G technologies that enables seamless transmission of massive amounts of data via a combination of an LTE network and next-generation wireless LAN called WiGig.
WiGig (Wireless Gigabit Alliance), also implemented in IEEE 802.11ad, enables multi-gigabit speed wireless communications over the unlicensed 60 GHz frequency band. The WiGig specification not only allows devices to communicate at multi-gigabit speeds, but also consumes much less power to prolong battery life. WiGig is expected to support about 10 times faster speeds than Wi-Fi, allowing users to download a full HD movie (4-10GB) in just one to two seconds, the company said.
In addition to these, the companies will apply Mobile Edge Computing technology on the Anchor-Booster cell to further enhance 5G by improving QoE(Quality of Experience), and developing new business models for enterprises and key verticals.
SK Telecom and Intel also agreed to develop and verify ‘Massive MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output),’ a multiple antenna technology that dramatically increases base station capacity for both transmission and reception of data.
Under this partnership SK Telecom will establish a 5G test bed at its Bundang Building, where the corporate R&D Center is located, to research and develop core 5G technologies with Intel.
“This new MOU deepens the cooperation between SK Telecom and Intel to develop and secure key enabling technologies for 5G,” said Alex Jinsung Choi, chief technology officer of SK Telecom. “We will continue to make efforts to provide customers with unprecedented value through innovative 5G services.”
Asha Keddy, vice president, Platform Engineering Group and the general manager, Next Generation and Standards, Intel Corporation, said, “Intel and SK Telecom share a commitment to the success of 5G networks and have the experience and resources needed to solve the technology challenges involved with advancing 5G networks to commercial deployments.”
Rajani Baburajan
editor@telecomlead.com
