Samsung noted that the 5G core will enable KDDI to optimize network slicing
Samsung Electronics announced the company has been selected by Japanese telco KDDI to provide its cloud-native 5G Standalone (SA) core for the operator’s commercial network across Japan.
Samsung’s 5G core solution supports both 4G and 5G networks and the company highlighted that it has features meant ensure the “stability and reliability of the network,” such as geo-redundancy support and an overload control feature to counteract sudden traffic spikes. For geographic redundant deployment, Samsung and KDDI will operate multiple cores in various locations, with each core ready to pick up loads in case one of the other, active cores becomes unavailable.
“We strive to provide the best mobile experiences to our customers through network innovation and our advanced 5G SA network will offer immense capabilities,” said Toshikazu Yokai, general manager of mobile network technical development division at KDDI. “With Samsung’s 5G SA core, we will offer unprecedented speed, instantaneous connectivity and high reliability which could bring numerous new experience value for consumers and enterprises.”
“KDDI has been at the forefront of opening up the next frontier of 5G services and we are proud to see our long-term collaboration deepen with new opportunities as we drive continuous innovation and realize technology vision together,” said Junehee Lee, EVP, head of global sales and marketing of Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “We look forward to continuing our collaboration with KDDI to reshape the 5G services landscape in Japan and achieving new 5G milestones.”
Samsung noted that the Standalone architecture will enable KDDI to create an independent 5G network, enabling lower latency capabilities that are essential to high-performance use cases such as smart factories, automated vehicles, cloud-based online gaming and multi-camera live streaming at sporting events.
Samsung’s 5G core will also enable KDDI to optimize network slicing, the vendor added.
In their collaboration, Samsung has been providing its 5G network solutions which support the operator’s low-, mid- and mmWave spectrum bands — including Massive MIMO radios.
Recently, KDDI and Samsung announced what they claimed to be the industry’s first demonstration of Service Level Agreements (SLA) assurance network slicing using a RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) on a live 5G SA network.
Also, KDDI recently announced that, in cooperation with Samsung Electronics and Fujitsu, it initiated commercial deployment of O-RAN-compliant 5G Open Virtual Radio Access Network (Open vRAN) sites in Osaka, Japan.
For the new sites, KDDI updated the software of an O-RAN-compliant 5G Open vRAN site it had successfully turned on in February 2022. Samsung’s 5G virtualized CU (vCU) and virtualized DU (vDU) and Fujitsu’s radio units are interconnected with an open interface. Also, wireless controllers are equipped with fully-virtualized RAN software on general-purpose servers to realize network functions, the Japanese telco said.
KDDI also said that core functions are implemented as software to enable flexible and efficient management of network resources. KDDI further updated the software of the new sites to support the 5G NSA solution connected to existing 4G sites and functions that were realized in conventional sites using dedicated equipment including Multi-User MIMO (MU-MIMO).
