1. Korea Electric 

  Power

  Corporation

  (KEPCO)^[1]

  Substation

  in Cheongju

 4.7GHz (100MHz)

KEPCO has deployed a private 5G network at Shin-Jungbu substation and headquarters in December 2022 for predictive maintenance

KEPCO's need for a private 5G network

Preventing accidents in advance is important due to the aging of power facilities in substations: 

Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) has more than 900 substations in Korea, and most of them are aging, so it is necessary to take preventive measures  against accidents.

In the event of a substation equipment (gas insulated switchgears, main transformers) failure, a large-scale power outage would occur, causing serious damage (for example, In 2021, a fire at KEPCO's Daejeon substation caused a power outage of 67,000 households).

In December 2022, KEPCO introduced IoT sensors, quadruped robots, AI, and a private 5G network to Shin-Jungbu substation to establish a smart equipment management system that monitors substation equipment in real time and predicts and prevents failures through AI analysis.

Private 5G network built by KEPCO

• Network architecture(5G core control plane sharing type): deploy 5G core control plane at KEPCO headquarters and install 5G RAN and UPF at Shin-Jungbu substation  
• Private 5G frequency: 4.7GHz, 28GHz 
• Private 5G vendor: Samsung Electronics

KEPCO's Private 5G applications

① IoT-based predictive maintenance: A service that detects potential defects in real-time by monitoring, collecting, and analyzing fault signals and operating conditions generated inside transformers and GIS via multiple sensors.

② Maintenance inspection using quadruped robots 

• Unmanned human inspection using robots and AI
• Using a quadruped robot and a camera, video of field equipment is captured and sent to a video analytics server through a private 5G network, where the status value is read by AI.
• Replacing existing human inspections (work efficiency)
• Prevent safety accidents by unmanning substations

   Netmanias One-Shot, Case study on Korea Electronic Power Corporation (KEPCO) 's private 5G network deployment in Korea: Substation,

        2023.05.09

   KEPCO, "Establishment and demonstration of private 5G-based substation task service (Korean)," Private 5G Convergence Service

        Performance Sharing Conference^[7], Ministry of Science and ICT, 2022.12.20

  2. Republic of

  Korea Navy^[1]

  Republic of Korea

  Navy

The Republic of Korea Navy deployed a private 5G network and MEC (Unmanned patrol, remote driving and AI Vision) at the second fleet in December 2022.

Why did the Republic of Korea Navy build a private 5G network?

• Security: a closed network fully independent from the commercial communication network is required to prevent external leakage of internal data.
• Low-latency: the Navy deploys a 5G network and MEC on-premise to support ultra-low latency applications such as remote driving (vehicle control via remote cockpit). 
• Full Control: applications utilized by the Navy, such as remote driving and AI Vision, necessitate a substantial uplink capacity. Because MNOs' public 5G networks are intended for services such as video streaming and gaming, they feature high downlink capabilities. Because the Navy is unable to adjust the uplink/downlink ratio of public 5G, it cannot implement a private 5G network based on the public network. A private 5G network deployed with private 5G frequencies, on the other hand, allows the Navy to boost uplink capacity by altering the uplink and downlink ratio by itself (2:8→4:6).

Private 5G network built by the Republic of Korea Navy 

• builds a full set of 5G network at the Navy site (on-premise model) : One 5G Core, 2 DUs, 20 RUs, and MEC are installed 
• The Navy was allocated a private 5G frequency (4.7GHz: 4.72-4.82 GHz) by the government in October 2022.
• The Navy begins private 5G planning in April 2022 and completes private 5G network deployment in December 2022.
• System Integration (design, build 5G network): KT
• Private 5G vendor: Nokia (5G Core, 5G RAN), Mexus (5G Router), Eluon (MEC)

Private 5G applications of the Republic of Korea Navy

① Unmanned patrol: A driverless autonomous vehicle patrols predefined routes and sends real-time driving information (location coordinates, vehicle status) and outside-vehicle video to the autonomous driving control system on the MEC through a private 5G network. The system displays the vehicle's location, vehicle status, and outside-vehicle video on the monitoring screen.
② Remote driving: If an emergency occurs during an unmanned patrol, the driving mode is switched from autonomous driving to remote driving. For example, if AI Vision detects birds, the remote driver in the remote cockpit drives the vehicle to the bird infestation area, and the vehicle emits ultrasonic waves to repel the birds (the bird repeller is mounted on the vehicle). 
③ AI Vision: CCTV camera video is streamed in real time over a private 5G network to the AI Vision application on the MEC, which detects birds, fires, and access to unauthorized areas and sends an alarm to the monitoring and control center. 

    Netmanias One-Shot, Case study on the Republic of Korea Navy's Private 5G network deployment in Korea, 2023.05.24

    KT, "Implementation of Smart Aviation Convergence Service Using Private 5G Networks (Korean)," Private 5G Convergence Service

        Performance Sharing Conference^[7], Ministry of Science and ICT, 2022.12.20

  KT Research and

  Development

  Center (Seoul)

 4.7GHz (100MHz)

  4. Korea Water

  Resources

  Corporation

 (K-water)^[3]

  Busan Echo Delta

  Smart Village

 4.7GHz (100MHz)

Implementation of an intelligent water purification plant virtual model linking intelligent CCTV and IoT sensors.

   ESE, "Private 5G-based water management specialized smart city service (Korean)," Private 5G Convergence Service Performance Sharing

        Conference^[7], Ministry of Science and ICT, 2022.12.20

  5. Korea Hydro &

  Nuclear Power

  (KHNP)^[4]

  Hanul Nuclear

  Power Plant

  (Uljin)

Why did Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) build a private 5G network?

• Security: There have been 1,463 hacking attempts to KHNP in the last 10 years, and a closed network completely separate from the commercial communication network is needed (such as the leak of internal data at KHNP in 2014).
• Disaster response: Even when nuclear power plants are isolated from public networks due to natural disasters such as forest fires, typhoons, and earthquakes, a stable private network that operates normally without being affected by them is needed(in 2022, a large wildfire in Uljin caused the loss of some sections of the public mobile communication network near the Hanul nuclear power plant).
• Full Control: If KHNP uses the MNO's private 5G service, the MNO's public 5G network is managed by the MNO, so KHNP cannot change the 5G network configuration.

KHNP's Private 5G applications

① Transmission equipment redundancy: Automatically switches to the private 5G network when the wired network between the main communication room and the power plant is disconnected. Automatic switching within 50ms
② Emergency command communication (MC-PTT): Uses the private 5G network as a stand-alone, autonomous command network for the Hanul nuclear power plant in the event that the commercial mobile communication network is down.
③ On-site Situation Relay: In a disaster situation, mobile 360° cameras installed near the disaster site and VR (3D) and AI (object recognition) are applied. Commander can monitor and direct disaster situations from the communications room in the main building without going to the field.

Private 5G network built by KHNP

• KHNP builds a full set of 5G network at Hanul nuclear power plant (on-premise model)
      - 5G Core, CU/DU, MEC, and application server are installed in the  
        communication room of the main building of Hanul Nuclear Power Plant.
      - RU is installed in the main building and power plants 1, 2, and 3
• KHNP was allocated a private 5G frequency (4.72-4.82 GHz) by the government in November 2022.
• KHNP begins private 5G planning in July 2022 and completes private 5G network deployment in December 2022
• Private 5G vendor: HFR (Korean vendor HFR provides KHNP with service operation management platform, 5G SA core, 5G CU/DU, fronthaul mux, RU)

   Netmanias One-Shot, Case study on Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP)'s private 5G network deployment in Korea: Power Plant,

        2023.04.28

   KHNP, "Strengthening nuclear disaster response capabilities based on Private 5G networks (Korean)," Private 5G Convergence Service

        Performance Sharing Conference^[7], Ministry of Science and ICT, 2022.12.20

  UANGEL H/Q

  (Budang)

 4.7GHz (100MHz)

In-house private 5G Internet, robot inspection service experiments and demonstrations, etc.

  7. Korea

  Aerospace 

  Industries

  (KAI)^[6]

  Jongpo Business

  Site (Sacheon)

Used to digitize aviation manufacturing processes such as next-generation fighter jets (KF-21)

   KT, "The Beginning of Manufacturing Innovation Based on Cybersecurity (Korean)," Private 5G Convergence Service Performance Sharing

        Conference^[7], Ministry of Science and ICT, 2022.12.20

  8. Government

  Building

  Management

  Office^[6]

  Government 

  Complex

  Sejong (Sejong)

 4.7GHz (100MHz)

Integrated building management through the operation of patrol robots, IoT detectors, and intelligent cameras using private 5G networks.

  9. LG

  Electronics ^[6]

  LG Digital Park

  (Pyeongtaek)

Applied to intelligent factory services through factory guidance robots, logistics automation robots, etc.