ETRI Develops Core Network Technology for '6G Ultra-Realistic Service'

Core wired network technology enabling remote meetings, collaborations, surgeries, and more in a 6G environment has been developed domestically. This technology is expected to contribute to the realization of ultra-realistic metaverse experiences in the future 6G era.

The Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) announced on the 18th that it has developed a core solution required for implementing ultra-realistic and high-precision services, and verified that its "Network Stack Technology for End-to-End Performance Customization of Terminal Networks" (hereinafter referred to as Network Stack Technology) enables delay-free remote meeting demonstrations.

Comparison data of transport layer architectures between the end-to-end performance-customized terminal network stack technology developed by ETRI and existing technologies. Provided by ETRI

Currently, network service transmission structures show limitations in precisely providing the complex network performance required by application services, such as bandwidth and latency. However, the technology developed by ETRI is expected to overcome these technical limitations and act as a catalyst to accelerate the arrival of the 6G era.

ETRI's Network Stack Technology provides ultra-realistic bandwidth performance at the level of 100 Gbps (gigabits per second) per flow and high-precision performance at the level of one ten-thousandth of a second through collaboration between applications and networks. This technology can become a core 6G terminal network solution with a new transport layer structure that optimizes service transmission quality through mutual cooperation between application services and networks.

Until now, the biggest obstacle to commercializing metaverse technologies and virtual/augmented reality has been securing guaranteed latency performance. When a user shifts their gaze on the screen, frame delay must be absent to prevent dizziness caused by smooth screen transitions and to allow proper viewing. However, due to the lack of guaranteed network latency performance, the commercialization of related services has been slow.

ETRI expects that once the Network Stack Technology is commercialized, experiences such as remote meetings, remote orchestra collaborations, remote surgeries, remote robot and smart factory control, holograms, and real-time VR will become possible.

The research team also succeeded in field verification of the developed technology by linking it with the Korea Next Generation Network Testbed (KOREN) operated by the National Information Society Agency (NIA), using a "458 km testbed network between Daejeon and Busan."

The core technologies applied to the testbed include ▲precise packet scheduling within packet delivery equipment and ▲performance-customized network stacks within service terminals.

For example, in the demonstration, the research team showcased a 3D immersive volumetric live remote conference over the Daejeon-Busan testbed network. The presenter in ETRI’s Daejeon headquarters Packet Network Research Lab and the presenter on the 3rd floor of the Nuri Building at Pukyong National University in Busan displayed materials and explained them, with no perceptible delay during the demonstration. The two participants’ discussion appeared as a natural screen, as if watching a 3D hologram. This successfully completed the verification of transmission performance for high-quality end-to-end service.

The network stack developed by ETRI consists of two modules: a High Precision Network (HPN) transport protocol module and a Network Operating System (NOS) stack. It is expected to satisfy the complex and multifaceted ultra-realistic and high-precision service quality (QoS) requirements in the 6G environment anticipated to be commercialized after 2028, and become a new terminal networking technology that can replace the Internet’s TCP-IP.

Additionally, it is expected to be widely utilized in terminal devices equipped with ▲holographic ultra-realistic communication, ▲high-precision low-latency remote control, and ▲real-time AI-based services.

The research team has also achieved results including 17 international and domestic patents related to the Network Stack Technology, two SCIE papers in the field of high-precision networks, one excellent academic conference paper, and the adoption of one international standard.

ETRI’s Network Stack Technology has been developed since 2021 as part of the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Institute for Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation (IITP)’s 6G core technology development project, specifically under the task "Development of End-to-End Ultra-Precision Network Technology." The project involves joint participation from KT Corporation, SK Telecom Co., Ltd., LG Uplus Corp., Cowiver Co., Ltd., and Woorinet Co., Ltd.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.