Samsung showcased significant progress in technology and ecosystem development of AI-RAN, unlocking the full potential of software-based networks with NVIDIA’s AI platform
Samsung Electronics today announced that the company is working with NVIDIA to advance AI-RAN technologies. The collaboration underscores Samsung’s commitment to fostering a robust ecosystem and diversifying the computing platforms available. This endeavor aims to support a smooth and easy adoption of AI in mobile networks by expanding the ecosystem of Central Processing Unit (CPU) and bolstering partnerships with Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) companies.
To maximize and bring the power of AI into Radio Access Networks (RAN), Samsung has made significant technological progress leveraging its in-house AI and radio expertise since the beginning of 2024. One of the pivotal milestones achieved was the interoperability between Samsung’s O-RAN compliant virtualized RAN (vRAN) and NVIDIA’s accelerated computing, which took place in Samsung Research’s lab in late last year. Samsung has successfully demonstrated a proof-of-concept to verify how NVIDIA’s accelerated computing can be seamlessly integrated into software-based networks to help enhance AI capabilities.
This achievement further solidifies Samsung’s strides in moving ahead with its unique innovation of combining AI and RAN. With the baseline, Samsung can seamlessly deliver AI-RAN by integrating its vRAN (virtualized Distributed Unit, vDU) with NVIDIA’s accelerated computing into a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) server where Samsung’s vRAN software is installed.
▲ At Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2025, Samsung showcased its real-world vRAN combined with NVIDIA’s accelerated computing.
In addition, the companies will continue to explore the best-of-breed combinations of AI-RAN options leveraging Samsung vRAN with NVIDIA’s Grace CPU and/or GPU based AI platform using Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) technologies. All of these are optimal for each network deployment environment — from rural, sub-urban to dense urban.
At MWC 2025, Samsung presented its leadership in AI-For-RAN innovations, as exemplified through two AI-RAN demonstrations, endorsed by the AI-RAN Alliance and developed in collaboration with various members including NVIDIA. The demonstrations included AI-based physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) estimation and non-uniform modulation, showing a glimpse in innovative ways to infuse AI into mobile networks.
▲ (From left) NVIDIA Senior Vice President for Telecom Ronnie Vasishta and Samsung Electronics Executive Vice President & Head of R&D June Moon
“While AI is reshaping the telecommunications landscape, Samsung is helping operators to build the right network architecture and environment where AI can thrive, all powered by our proven and AI-powered vRAN,” said June Moon, Executive Vice President, Head of R&D, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “This collaboration with NVIDIA signifies our continued efforts to expand GPU and CPU ecosystem, and we look forward to exploring more possibilities in the future.”
“AI-RAN is a critical technology that delivers transformative gains in network utilization, efficiency and performance, while enabling new AI services,” said Ronnie Vasishta, Senior Vice President for Telecom at NVIDIA. “Samsung is a frontrunner in AI-RAN development. Their vRAN expertise and software integrated with the NVIDIA’s AI accelerated computing will accelerate the path to AI-native wireless networks.”
As one of the founding members of the AI-RAN Alliance forged in 2024, Samsung is actively participating in advancing AI-RAN technologies with academic institutions and industry leaders like NVIDIA. As an elected Vice Chair of Board of Directors as well as the Working Group #3 (AI-on-RAN), Samsung is leading industry towards AI-powered next-generation networks.
Samsung’s end-to-end software-based network architecture is the optimal foundation to easily deploy and adopt AI across every layer of the network. As such, Samsung can empower operators with its flexible networks and sharpen their competitive edge to stay at the front of the AI era. This advancement opens doors for utilizing network infrastructure not only for mobile communications but also for processing general workloads, providing a data center-like network architecture that will present new business opportunities.
Samsung has pioneered the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end solutions, including chipsets, radios and cores. Through ongoing research and development, Samsung drives the industry to advance 5G networks with its market-leading product portfolio, from vRAN 3.0, Open RAN, core to private network solutions and AI-powered automation tools and applications. The company currently provides innovative network solutions to mobile operators and enterprises that deliver boundless connectivity to hundreds of millions of users worldwide.
