Layer 1 Network Functions are The Challengers of vRAN and Open RAN!
June 7, 2023

When we’re discussing vRAN and Open RAN topics, we’ll find ourselves facing some questions about the performance and cost. The highly common question is ” Can virtualized RAN deliver the same performance as traditional RAN? ” I see it’s a valid and logical question especially since no one will invest with at least a guaranteed […]

The Evolution from SIM-> eSIM -> iSIM
June 5, 2023

SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) is a reliable method of identifying users, checking the authenticity of endpoint devices, and securing their data. 📗 Over the years, SIMs have shrunk from the original plastic card to Mini-SIM, Micro SIM, and finally Nano-SIM. Regardless of the packaging, all SIMs are built on smart card (UICC) technology similar to […]

The Road from CPRI to eCPRI/ORAN Fronthual
May 31, 2023

As we know that RAN, Radio Access Network, is divided into two main components: -> Baseband Unit (BBU). -> Radio Unit (RU). The move from D-RAN to C-RAN then v-RAN and O-RAN depends on how to deploy these two RAN components. MNOs want to #centralize the RAN control functions to improve overall performance, gain efficiencies, and reduce […]

5G mmWave Spectrum Notes
May 21, 2023

All notes you should know about 5G mmWave Band. 🔋 5G mmWave refers to the higher range of radio frequencies (above about 24 GHz) supported by 5G. Also, it’s called FR2 or Frequency Range 2. 🔋 5G mmWave provides a significant capacity increase with an additional spectrum. 🔋 5G mmWave FR2 Frequency rand is FR2-1 […]

SMS Evolution from 2G to 5G
May 13, 2023

SMS, Short Message Service, is a secure system that helps protect your customers’ and employees’ data and allows you to contact all users who have a mobile phone. 📕 In 2G and 3G, MAP protocols have been defined to support the SMS. MAP interface is built on top of SS7 (TDM or SIGTRAN) using the following layers […]

Open RAN Main Elements
May 8, 2023

The open radio access network or Open RAN can be broadly divided into the following three elements: Open interfaces that combine RAN equipment from a variety of vendors. Virtualization (i.e., virtualized RAN (vRAN) that enables hardware and software inside RAN equipment to be separated. Intelligent control that optimizes and automates RAN operation. Open RAN can […]

3GPP RAN Technical Specifications Groups (TSGs)
April 12, 2023

3GPP consists of three Technical Specifications Groups (TSGs) where TSG RAN (Radio Access Network) is responsible for the definition of functions, requirements, and interfaces of the Radio Access. TSG RAN consists of six working groups (WGs): RAN WG1, dealing with the physical layer specifications. RAN WG2, dealing with the layer 2 and layer 3 radio […]

What is The Relation between eCPRI, Option 7, Option 7-2x and Split E?
April 4, 2023

The increase in data rates in 5G makes it impractical to continue with the conventional CPRI fronthaul implementation. Moving towards a higher layer split would relax the latency and bandwidth requirements, but then fewer processing functions can be centralized. It is thus critical that the new functional-split architecture takes into account technical and cost-effective trade-offs […]

Why CPRI is not used in 5G Network?
April 3, 2023

As I received many messages during the last week about the eCPRI topic in 5G and OpenRAN, I prepared some notes about this. eCPRI is replacing the CPRI protocol in 5G to reduce the bandwidth BW requirements of CPRI transport and making Fronthaul affordable and available for all mobile network operators. It improves transport efficiency to match the Speed and […]

Energy Usage Resources in Mobile Network Operators (MNOs)
March 29, 2023

There’re many factors that impact the energy consumption in the mobile network operators, some of them related to climate, population density, and data consumption levels, while others are related to the network operators themselves or under its control. So there’re two groups as per GSMA benchmarking: Non-network-related variables – those outside the operator’s control (e.g. […]

The Role of Hardware Security Module (HSM) in 5G Security?
March 26, 2023

Security is a driving factor in how 5G networks are built and operated – every element of a 5G network is required to have security controls in place for the purpose of delivering confidentiality, integrity, and availability so that the network can provide users with a secure communications platform. What is HSM? ​HSM (Hardware Security […]

What is the Roaming? How It works in 2G Network?
March 12, 2023

Recently, I received many questions and inquiries about the meaning of Roaming and some interesting questions: What is Roaming? What is the difference between National Roaming and International Roaming? First, all of us know that mobile communication networks and services have become an integral part of everyday life. People are now more and more reliant […]

Why RAN Must Be OPEN?
March 7, 2023

RAN (Radio Access Network) is the main telecommunication network component that is located between the core network and users’ equipment (such as a mobile phone). RAN is constituted of a Radio Unit (RU), which is the antenna visible on top of a cell tower, and a Baseband Unit (BBU), a set of devices linking the […]

What is Distributed Unit (DU) in Open RAN?
February 24, 2023

3GPP defined a new RAN architectural in Release 15, where the gNB (Site Name for 5G) is logically split into three entities denoted as: CU: Centralized Unit. DU: Distributed Unit. RRU: Remote Radio Unit. The RAN functions that correspond to each of the three entities are determined by the so-called split points. After a thorough […]

Time Synchronization is Critical in 5G Open RAN Network
February 20, 2023

In order to meet the 5G network timing requirements, there is a significant challenge. The challenge is 5G performance requirements driving precise timing needs from cloud to edge. The legacy proprietary solutions rely on high-cost, purpose-built appliances, and specialized network interface cards. 5G deployments demand high timing synchronization across the network and affordable infrastructure costs. […]

eNB/gNB Architecture with O-DU and O-RUs
February 13, 2023

The architecture of eNB or gNB with O-DU and O-RUs has some important definitions here: O-DU: O-RAN Distributed Unit: a logical node hosting RLC/MAC/High-PHY layers based on a lower layer functional split. O-RU: O-RAN Radio Unit: a logical node hosting the Low-PHY layer and RF processing based on a lower layer functional split. LLS: Lower […]

What is Precision Timing Protocol (PTP)?
February 9, 2023

What is PTP? Precision Time Protocol (PTP), defined in the IEEE1588-2008 standard, is a protocol that uses a master-slave hierarchy to synchronize clocks on network devices. PTP uses hardware time stamping to achieve submicrosecond synchronization. PTP defines how real-time clocks in a network synchronize with each other. A network where PTP operates is called a […]

What is The M-Plane in Open RAN?
January 31, 2023

First, to understand the function of the fronthaul M-Plane, let’s remember the Fronthaul Planes, Please read this and continue.  What are C/U/M/S Fronthaul (FH) Planes in ORAN ? What is the M-Plane?  Management Plane: refers to non-real-time management operations between the O-DU and the O-RU like:  Performance Management (PM). Configuration Management (CM). Fault Management (FM). […]

Call Session Control Function (CSCF) in IMS
January 23, 2023

The Call Session Control function (CSCF) is the heart of the IMS architecture and is used to process SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) signaling. The main function of the CSCF is to provide session control for terminals and applications using the IMS network. Session control includes: The secure routing of the SIP messages. Monitoring of the […]

What is 5G Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP)?
January 12, 2023

The Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP) is a proxy that sits at the perimeter of the PLMN network and enables secured communication between inter-PLMN network messages. It protects the home network and acts as a security gateway. Located at the edge of the network, it polices connections between the home network and the visited networks. […]

Are 5G and WiFi6E Friends or Competitors?
January 10, 2023

When it comes to questioning, Are 5G and WiFi6E friends or competitors, I prefer to answer “They Should be Friends” 5G (cellular technology) and Wi-Fi 6E (wireless LAN) use similar technical methodologies to provide high-end user experiences. Both 5G and Wi-Fi 6E are the latest versions of their respective technologies. Two common approaches being used […]

3GPP Releases, Main Features from 3G to 4G
January 7, 2023

3GPP specifications cover cellular telecommunications technologies, including radio access, core network, and service capabilities, which provide a complete system description for mobile telecommunications. In general, there are many wireless technologies categorized as 3GPP technologies and non-3GPP technologies as below:  If we studied the 3GPP releases from 2G to 4G, we’ll see different releases from Rel […]

The Best Analogy for OpenRAN is IKEA
January 6, 2023

For example, if we are looking at 5G RAN which is composed of a variety of subsystems including network elements such as the baseband unit (BBU) and remote radio Unit (RRU), and low-level software such as the operating system OS, containers, hardware including servers, Ethernet adapters and more. All of these elements in the OpenRAN […]

Why 5G needs moving from CPRI to eCPRI?
December 11, 2022

📗 CPRI is standardized by the Common Public Radio Interface forum with the first specification in 2003 with some features It is based on functional split 8 (Split E in eCPRI Specs.) between RF and Physical layer which means the legacy one. It covers user plane data, control plane transport mechanisms, and means for synchronization. […]

What is Control and User Plane Separation (CUPS)
November 30, 2022

Problem Statement As applications based on 5G become more widespread, the need for EPC to achieve higher speed and capacity communications, lower latency communications, and simultaneous connection of many terminals than ever have become urgent. So It needs to understand the main idea of the Separation between the Control and User plane in the EPC. […]

RIC Main Components: Non-RT RIC and Near-RT RIC
November 25, 2022

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 […]

What is the difference between look-aside Acceleration and inline Acceleration ?
November 24, 2022

Open RAN by disaggregation involves CU (Centralized Unit) and DU (Distributed Unit) virtualization. By decoupling hardware and software, Open RAN makes it possible to select different vendors and solutions for hardware and software and to manage their lifecycles separately. More specifically, this makes it possible to use COTS (Commercial off-the-shelf) general-purpose hardware in the RAN […]

How To Start Your Open RAN Career?

The Open RAN concept is based on open and standardized interfaces, which grant interoperability. Thus, it enables multiple vendors to provide different parts of hardware and software. 🧧 Although various network elements come from numerous vendors and are pro vendors to proprietary, they are designed to work together with other vendors’ products. In addition, open […]

How to Prepare for VoLTE Interview?
November 23, 2022

How to Prepare for VoLTE Interview? 📗 Start Slowly with the Basic information of what is VoLTE, its Benefits, and its use cases. Also needs to understand the difference between CSFB and VoLTE -> which may take around 1 week if you dedicated 1 Hour per week. 📗 Advanced Level, Here you need to understand […]

What is the difference between Non-RT RIC and Near-RT RIC?
November 8, 2022

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, […]