<AI-RAN-Based Private 5G Testbed in the International Terminal of Gimpo Airport>

<Conceptual Diagram of the Gimpo Airport Demonstration Network, 2025. Source: Ministry of Science and ICT>

On August 22, Newgens announced that it had been selected on July 30 as the lead organization for the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT)–affiliated National Information Society Agency (NIA)’s project on “Open and Intelligent Solution Service Validation.”

Under this initiative, Newgens is building a testbed in the international terminal area of Gimpo International Airport to preemptively verify the effectiveness of AI-RAN, which is emerging as a key infrastructure in the 6G era.

MSIT, together with NIA, is actively supporting AI-RAN validation to help domestic SMEs and mid-sized companies with open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) equipment take the lead in the next-generation network market.

The project aims to establish an AI-converged Open RAN-based 5G private network optimized for public safety and security sites. At Gimpo Airport, it will enable immediate detection and rapid response to passengers entering restricted areas or security blind spots.

By applying AI algorithms to the network, the project seeks to improve signal quality between 5G cameras and base stations, ensure stable transmission of high-quality and large-capacity video, and validate integrated security services where AI-powered CCTVs can detect and analyze intrusions, reverse movement, and abnormal behavior in real time, automatically linking to alarm systems.

This marks Korea’s first project to validate an AI-converged Open RAN 5G private network that integrates virtualized base stations (vRAN) and AI-enabled base stations (AI-RAN) based on Open RAN (O-RAN) standards.

Newgens is carrying out the project at Gimpo International Airport’s international terminal as its test hub.

Through this demonstration, Newgens plans to implement an intelligent Open RAN-based 5G private network that supports AI-on-RAN, AI-for-RAN, and AI-and-RAN structures.

AI-RAN is a new concept of communication infrastructure that applies AI technologies to RAN in order to maximize autonomy, efficiency, and flexibility of networks. It combines NVIDIA’s GH200 Grace Hopper AI server with LG CNS’s 5G private network solution supporting Open RAN standards, SOLiD’s O-RU (O-RAN Radio Unit), and Itwon’s onVAS AI platform to develop and operate Vision AI services tailored for airports.

The 5G private network solution provided by LG CNS is developed on open standards of 3GPP and O-RAN, with AI-RAN technologies applied. It can flexibly interoperate with heterogeneous 5G private network equipment, while its network slicing capabilities allow for independent use and enhanced security.

By applying AI-RAN technologies, the project moves beyond fixed resource management and manual optimization, embedding AI deeply into channel estimation, traffic prediction, and application execution. This intelligent network environment is expected to accelerate industry-wide AX service innovation in areas such as robot control and CCTV video analytics.

Hyung-Kwan Park, Head of Research at Newgens, stated:

“An intelligent base station that combines AI edge computing with virtualized base stations not only provides site-specific AI services, but also enables AI within the base station to integrate and optimize wireless resources by zone. This will establish AI-RAN as an essential wireless communication infrastructure in the coming AI and robotics era.”