Samsung Electronics teamed with South Korean Internet giant Naver to switch on the nation’s first private 5G network to power cloud-based autonomous mobile robots for use in a building.

Naver Cloud, the IT infrastructure and enterprise subsidiary of Naver, worked with Samsung to develop the private 5G network that will launch later this month.

The private 5G network was designed to support and secure data-intensive mobile applications within a specific area. It will be used in Naver’s second headquarters building which is called 1784.

The service connects to 40 robots throughout three stories of building with plans to expand to hundreds of robots traveling around all 36 floors later this year.

The robots provide services, such as delivering packages, coffee and lunch boxes, to the company’s employees.

Cloud
Instead of using built-in chipsets, the cloud acts as the “brains” of the robot. The private 5G network serves as the neural network that connects the robots and the cloud, enabling the cloud to control and support tens of thousands of robots in real time.

The robots navigate throughout the building using digital twins, 3D and HD mapping and AI technologies. Digital twins create a virtual space that replicates the real world.

The commercial private 5G solutions powering Naver Clouds’ network include Samsung’s Compact Core and 5G radios supporting 4.7GHz and 28GHz spectrum, both of which are dedicated for private 5G networks in Korea.

Naver Cloud has a license for private 5G dedicated spectrum on those bands which were granted by South Korea’s Science Ministry in late 2022.

Samsung stated its private network radios feature New Radio-Dual Connectivity (NR-DC) technology which enables devices or end users to connect to mid-band and millimeter wave technology simultaneously.

Samsung Electronics and Naver Cloud signed a memorandum of understanding in March to formalise their private 5G network partnership.

Sangyoung Han, Executive Director of Cloud Strategy and Planning at Naver Cloud, stated the two companies would continue to develop new private 5G network business models.