ETRI researchers who developed the spectrum availability assessment and prediction methodology and led the approval of the new ITU-R report. [ETRI]
ETRI researchers who developed the spectrum availability assessment and prediction methodology and led the approval of the new ITU-R report. [ETRI]

The Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) announced Wednesday that a new ITU-R report it developed — titled "Methodology for Assessment and Prediction of Spectrum Availability" — has been approved at a meeting of the International Telecommunication Union Radiocommunication Sector's spectrum management study group.

The report outlines methods for assessing and predicting how much spectrum can be used at a given location and time, using machine learning, an AI technology.

Spectrum availability refers to the degree to which radio frequencies can be used for wireless communications at a specific location and time.

Demand for spectrum has been rising alongside the rapid expansion of next-generation wireless services — including AI services, 6G mobile communications and low-earth-orbit satellite communications — making assessment and prediction technologies for efficient spectrum use increasingly important.

ETRI has been researching technologies to assess and predict spectrum availability using real-world mobile communications frequency usage data.

The institute developed technologies for evaluating the balance between frequency demand and supply in LTE networks, as well as machine learning-based tools for predicting LTE spectrum utilization rates, publishing its findings in SCIE-indexed international academic journals.

Building on that research, ETRI developed a spectrum availability assessment and prediction methodology suitable for international use, which was incorporated as a core component of the new ITU-R report.

The methodology is expected to serve as an international reference technology in three areas: developing AI-based approaches to improving spectrum use efficiency, introducing data-driven spectrum management, and establishing spectrum supply strategies for the 6G era.

The achievement marks the fruition of a standardization initiative South Korea proposed seven years ago. It carries particular significance in that domestic researchers led every stage of the process — from the initial standardization proposal through technology development, international discussions and final approval.

"The approval of this ITU-R report is a meaningful achievement that demonstrates international recognition, through the ITU, of the data-driven spectrum management technology ETRI has consistently pursued," said Park Seung-geun, head of ETRI's Radio Research Division. "We will continue to advance intelligent spectrum management technologies using machine learning and data analysis to ensure that the frequencies needed for wireless AI communications can be supplied at the right time and in the right amounts."


nbgkoo@heraldcorp.com