In the photo, SKT representatives are preparing to present at Plugfest.

• Participated in 'Plugfest' organized by O-RAN Alliance to present results of Open RAN-related technology tests
• Collaborating with various global and local companies to showcase Korea's Open RAN technology to the world
• Expanding the ecosystem by hosting the O-RAN Alliance Standardization Meeting in Korea next June

SK Telecom (www.sktelecom.com) today announced that it participated in the 'PlugFest' event hosted by the O-RAN Alliance, a global Open RAN standardization organization, as an organizer and presented the results of Open RAN-related technology tests and the direction of technology evolution.

PlugFest is a global event organized by the O-RAN Alliance to share the results of its members' technical tests on the openness, interoperability, and functionality of base station equipment and solutions that comply with the O-RAN Alliance's specifications in order to expand the Open RAN ecosystem.

This year's Plugfest was held online and offline from November 27 to December 1 at seven locations around the world, including Korea, Japan, the United States, and Europe, with 76 global companies and organizations participating.

 
Together with eight companies and organizations that are collaborating to develop Open RAN technologies, SK Telecom presented the results of the following tests: ▲ Open fronthaul-based base station equipment test, ▲ Virtualized base station power consumption reduction technology test, and ▲ Open RAN power consumption measurement test.

First, SKT, together with HFR, ETRI, Keysight, Nokia, and others, released the test results of open fronthaul-based base station equipment.

SK Telecom said it has confirmed performance levels compared to existing single-manufacturer base station equipment through open fronthaul conformance technical tests on individual base station equipment, as well as interworking between base station equipment from different manufacturers and end-to-end technical tests in indoor and outdoor environments.

Next, SK Telecom announced the results of the 'Power Consumption Reduction Technology Test for Open RAN Virtualized Base Station' conducted in collaboration with HPE, Intel, Samsung Electronics and Viavi Solutions.

SK Telecom virtually built its commercial network environment using Viavi Solutions' terminal emulator. Samsung Electronics' virtualized base station software effectively controlled the C-State of Intel CPUs mounted on HPE general-purpose servers to reduce power consumption for virtualized base stations.

In November, SK Telecom also announced test results on AI-based technology to reduce power consumption of virtualized base stations in cooperation with Intel. This time, in cooperation with Samsung Electronics, a manufacturer of actual commercial base stations, SK Telecom succeeded in confirming the power consumption reduction effect, suggesting a direction for the evolution of Open RAN technology to improve power consumption, which is a major technical challenge for virtualized base stations.

In addition, SK Telecom, together with Nokia and Keysight, presented the results of a power consumption measurement test for Open RAN base stations, showing the need and direction for standardization of related technologies to effectively measure the power consumption and savings of Open RAN equipment.

SK Telecom explained that the test results unveiled at the Plugfest were significant in that players from various areas of the Open RAN ecosystem, including mobile operators, government-funded research institutes, base station manufacturers, Korean mid-sized companies, and global ICT companies, worked closely together to showcase Korea's Open RAN technology to the global ecosystem.

In addition, SK Telecom will host the first O-RAN Alliance standardization meeting in Korea next June. SK Telecom's hosting of the June 2024 standardization meeting was confirmed at the regular standardization meeting held in Phoenix, U.S., last October, and the company is preparing to cooperate with related organizations such as the TTA to help revitalize the Open RAN ecosystem through this meeting.

"This is a meaningful participation to showcase Korea's Open RAN technology on the global stage and provide direction for technology evolution," said Ryu Tak-ki, Head of Infrastructure Technology at SKT. "We plan to continue active research and development in key areas of Open RAN to prepare for 5G evolution and the 6G era."