The RAN intelligent Controller (RIC) is cloud-native, and a central component of an open and virtualized RAN network. The RIC aligns with 3GPP release 15 and beyond. It is foundational to enabling network programmability, intelligence, and disaggregation in a modern network. It is an essential component of the Open RAN architecture. The RIC architecture includes […]

First, We need to know that the most important functional components introduced by O-RAN are the non-real-time (non-RT) radio intelligent controller (RIC) and the near-RT RIC. While the former is hosted by the service management and orchestration (SMO) framework of the system (e.g., integrated within ONAP), the latter may be co-located with 3GPP gNB functions, […]

Virtualized radio access networks (vRANs) are a way for telecommunications operators to run their baseband functions as software. One of the primary benefits of virtualizing radio access networks (RANs) is that RAN functions no longer require special proprietary hardware to run, and can instead be run on standard servers. This is achieved by applying the […]

OpenRAN based on legacy compute architectures utilizes an excessively high number of CPU cores and energy to support 5G Layer 1 (L1) and other data-centric processing, like security, networking, and storage virtualization, and this leaves very few hosts to compute resources available for the tasks the Server was originally designed to support. Why 5G Physical […]

Open RAN disaggregates the RAN into main 3 components as below: 🧧 Upper Layer Split Central Unit (CU) • Logical node that includes a portion of the eNB/gNB functions as defined by split option 2 (PDCP RLC). • CU can support many O-DUs. 🧧 Lower Layer Split Distributed Unit (DU) • Logical node that includes a […]

O-RAN’s proposed concepts and architectures use a split-RAN concept. There are 8 known ways to functionally split the RAN, and each one proposes splitting the processing so that different parts of the protocol stack process on different hardware. The below Figure summarizes the eight options. O-RAN has specified a version of the 7-2 split. The […]

For the introduction of RAN functions disaggregation and open interfaces in 5G, 3GPP has in Release 15 specified a Higher Layer Split (HLS) option of the gNB, which is also known as the Option 2 NR-PDCP split option. In this option, the gNB may consist of a Central Unit (gNB-CU) and one or more gNB […]

First, We need to understand the most important question, Why do we need to change our RAN from a traditional setup to a more flexible one? The Answer is: Heavy Data Growth Each new mobile technology generation has delivered greater data rates to mobile devices, and mobile users have moved more and more of their […]

O-RAN’s proposed concepts and architectures use a split-RAN concept. There are eight known ways to functionally split the RAN, and each one proposes splitting the processing so that different parts of the protocol stack process on different hardware. The below figure summarizes the eight options: O-RAN proposes using option 7-2 which splits the physical layer […]

The O-RAN ALLIANCE e.V. specifies profiles for 3GPP RAN interfaces to achieve interoperability among different vendors. So far, profiles for open X2, open Xn, and open F1 interfaces have been published. Open X2 enables operators providing 5G Non-StandAlone to introduce 5G NR base stations (gNBs) independently of the vendor providing 4G LTE base stations (eNBs). Open Xn […]

O-RAN Alliance came up with RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) to enable AI/ML-based RRM optimization, and which is expected to be merged with the existing central Self-Organizing Network (SON) function. Traditional RAN can’t achieve the next-generation RAN activities from operational efficiency, automation of configuration and optimization activities, and customer level-specific service assurance. As next-gen RAN will […]