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SK develops core 5G network technologies

November 26, 2014

SK Telecom employees demonstrate the new network virtualization technology “Orchestration.”
(Courtesy of SK Telecom)

By Yoon Sung-won

SK Telecom, the nation’s largest mobile carrier, has developed two core technologies for the fifth-generation (5G) mobile network, the company said Tuesday.

It says that the development of the network virtualization technologies will support the move towards the next-generation mobile network.

“We anticipate that the development of two new technologies will expedite network innovation,” said Park Jin-hyo, senior vice president of SK Telecom’s network technology R&D center.

One of the new technologies is called “Orchestration,” which helps engineers design, develop and establish mobile services on a cloud network. This supports mobile services such as long-term evolution (LTE) based on virtualized networks ― an improvement on existing technologies which only work on a practical hardware server, according to the company.

The company said that the other technology, “Cloud virtualized Radio Access Network,” or Cloud vRAN, worked to build base stations for the 5G mobile network. Co-developed by SK Telecom and global telecom equipment maker Nokia, this technology can put into virtual space not only invisible networks but also base stations using cloud computing technology.

The company said that the two technologies could dramatically reduce time and resources needed to develop network technologies and services because extra hardware infrastructure is not required.

The telecom company said that it had discussed how to evolve the next-generation mobile telecom at the European Tele-communications Standards Institute Network Functions Virtualization Industry Specification Group, a global standardization agency, based on the two new technologies.