[E-Daily Reporter JAEMIN SONG ] SamsungElectronics and KTCorporation have validated autonomous operation technology—which uses artificial intelligence (AI) and digital twins to independently assess network status and optimize settings—on an actual commercial network. The companies explained that this brings them one step closer to implementing a network that actively responds to changing telecommunications environments while minimizing human intervention.

SamsungElectronics announced on the 2nd that it has completed a field trial on a commercial network of the AI and digital twin-based autonomous network operation technology jointly developed with KTCorporation. A digital twin is a technology that replicates real-world physical environments and objects in a virtual space to predict the outcomes of changes in advance.

Previously, specialized personnel analyzed field data and manually adjusted base station settings. Since the results of these changes could only be verified after they were applied to the actual network, there were limitations in responding in real time to situations where user locations and data usage fluctuate rapidly.

The technology developed by the two companies uses AI to learn from commercial network data, analyze the interactions between base stations, and propose multiple operational scenarios that adjust factors such as the direction and width of antenna beams. The digital twin verifies each operational scenario in a virtual environment, after which the AI selects the optimal solution and applies it to the actual network.

The network digital twin, which serves as the foundation for autonomous operation, was built as a 3D space that reflects actual topography and building structures. It simulates not only user distribution and movement, radio wave environments, and traffic characteristics but also the operational characteristics of base stations and devices, enabling the prediction of performance following configuration changes before applying them to the actual network.

The two companies conducted a field trial of this technology at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, for approximately three months starting in July. The baseball stadium is an environment where user locations and traffic volumes change rapidly due to the movement of large crowds before and after games, as well as increased video streaming and social media usage during games.

The pilot results showed that traffic, which had previously been concentrated on certain base stations, was distributed to adjacent base stations, improving the efficiency of network resource utilization. The communication load variance—which indicates traffic imbalance between base stations—decreased by up to 34%, and the communication load concentrated on specific base stations decreased by up to 16%. The digital twin’s predictions also closely matched the actual performance measured on the commercial network.

Jeong Jin-guk, Vice President and Head of the Next-Generation Communications Research Center at Samsung Research, said, “We have developed technology that allows us to pre-validate optimization plans derived by AI using digital twins before applying them to actual commercial networks,” adding, “We will continue to drive technological innovation that simultaneously enhances network operational efficiency and the quality of experience for users.”

Lee Jong-sik, Executive Vice President and Head of KTCorporation’s Future Network Lab, stated, “We have confirmed the feasibility of applying AI cell twin-based autonomous operation technology to commercial networks.” The two companies plan to expand their digital twin-based pre-validation technology to various network environments in the future to accelerate the realization of autonomous networks in the 6G era.