2 days ago
KT partners with Nokia Bell Labs on semantic communication tech for 6G
South Korean telecommunications giant KT said Monday it is joining hands with Nokia Bell Labs Core Research to advance research and commercialization of semantic communication technology for the 6G era.
Semantic communication is a next-generation technology that uses artificial intelligence to interpret the meaning and context of data, transmitting only essential information rather than every raw data element.
This approach is expected to improve network efficiency dramatically and enable services such as fully autonomous driving, remote robotics and immersive holographic communications, KT said.
'Semantic communication is an innovative technology that will redefine the very role of networks by fusing AI and communications,' said Lee Jong-sik, executive vice president and head of KT's Future Network Research Institute.
Since October last year, KT said it has been conducting internal demonstrations of semantic communication in the high-data-consumption areas of video and voice communications, which are the most noticeable to customers.
The tests confirmed that semantic communication can deliver the intended meaning of the original data while significantly reducing transmission volume, without degrading the quality perceived by the user.
To accelerate the technology's development and commercialization, KT has partnered with Nokia Bell Labs, a world-renowned communications technology research institute.
The two firms signed a strategic partnership to collaborate on 6G semantic communication earlier this year. In May, they hosted a workshop at Nokia Bell Labs' US headquarters, sharing their roadmaps and plans for joint research, KT explained.
"Bell Labs is at the forefront of semantic communication research, and through cooperation with KT, we can validate use cases and move closer to commercialization," said Peter Vetter, president of Bell Labs Core Research.
KT's push aligns with a global trend in which telecom giants, including NTT Docomo in Japan and Ericsson in Europe, are exploring AI-powered network architecture for 6G.
