Nokia, SK Telecom, NTT and DOCOMO partner to develop 6G AI-native air interface

Nokia has teamed up with SK Telecom (SKT), NTT and DOCOMO to develop the 6G AI-native air interface (AI-AI), a critical next-generation technology with the potential to boost performance and minimize energy consumption in future 6G networks. The partnership will show an AI air interface (AI-AI) proof of concept video demonstration at SKT's booth at the Mobile World Congress 2024.

SKT has joined the existing 6G collaboration between Nokia, NTT and DOCOMO, expanding the scope and scale of its work on the 6G AI-AI technology.

The partners will combine their research efforts and bring their core areas of expertise to the table. Nokia's industrial research arm, Nokia Bell Labs, is a leader in 6G innovation, while SKT, NTT and DOCOMO are recognized worldwide for their successful adoption of every generation of networking and their ability to create new business value from advanced technologies.

"This milestone represents a significant step forward in collaborative efforts towards the development of 6G core technology involving technology leaders from Korea, Japan, Europe and the United States. SKT will maintain its momentum in its R&D efforts of applying AI technology to network infrastructure as we move forward to become a global AI company," said Yu Takki, Vice President and Head of Infra Tech at SKT.

The collaboration is focused on developing future proof-of-concept 6G AI-AI systems, which will then undergo testing using selected use cases and real environmental scenarios. These over-the-air validation tests will be conducted both indoors and outdoors to best simulate real network results.

The four partners will jointly work to improve AI model performance by utilizing data generated from real networks or through simulation. This will be instrumental in developing AI training models for a best-in-industry AI-AI solution.