SKT Develops Smartphone Power Consumption Reduction Technology... "To Be Unveiled at MWC"

MediaTek and Nuta Research
On-Device AI Response Technology
Focus on AI Model Lightweighting

SK Telecom has succeeded in developing technology to reduce smartphone power consumption in response to the on-device AI era. The research results will be unveiled at 'MWC 2024' held in Barcelona, Spain, at the end of this month.

On the 15th, SKT announced that it has succeeded in the early-stage development of technology related to reducing device power consumption based on on-device AI. This achievement is the result of collaboration with global mobile AP manufacturer MediaTek and AI lightweight startup Nota.

This technology aims to minimize the power used to maintain the connection with the base station for a certain period after the transmission and reception are completed when the device exchanges data with the mobile communication base station.

SKT, Nota, and MediaTek selected AI models suitable for device power efficiency and then focused on lightweighting the AI models so they could operate with low latency and low power consumption on smartphones.

Additionally, the lightweight AI models were implemented in modems embedded in actual smartphones to verify real-time operation. It was also confirmed that securing a certain level of data occurrence prediction accuracy can lead to reduced smartphone power consumption.

This research is significant not only as a pioneering R&D case in the communication field for on-device AI but also because it shows that, when combined with manufacturers' efforts to increase battery capacity and reduce component power consumption, it can practically improve battery life.

SKT plans to disclose detailed R&D results at MWC 2024 in Barcelona at the end of this month. Going forward, they intend to enhance technical completeness through further AI model advancement and network integration testing.