**Roberto Kompany**, Principal Analyst, Service Provider Networks
The open radio access network (RAN) has made significant progress over the last year, with several mobile network operators (MNOs) investing in lab trials and field deployments. Some of the drivers for these MNOs are:
Currently, MNOs depend on operational support systems (OSS) for network management and two classes of self-organizing networks (SON) for optimization of their purpose-built RAN: centralized and distributed. In the era of open RAN, however, MNOs will need to create efficiencies by using a common management (service management and orchestration – SMO) framework as per the O-RAN Alliance architecture for both RANs.
The number of 5G network-configurable parameters will reach into the thousands, especially when orchestration of multiple network slices and beamforming from massive multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) antennas are taken into consideration. MNOs will consider relying on the RAN intelligent controller (RIC) to serve as the underlying platform, on which rApps and xApps applications based on open APIs will be built. These will address automation and optimization use cases and bring competition to an area of RAN that has been proprietary.
Apart from Rakuten Mobile, which deployed open RAN in 2020, the number of MNOs that are trialing these new networks is still limited, with many of those trials still small in scale. Several MNOs have either already implemented field trials or have plans to do so in 2022. Other MNOs, however, are taking the “wait and see” approach as the technology and the standards mature.
MNOs are looking to open virtual RAN (vRAN) to deliver more flexibility in their networks, as well as to diversify the supply chain and offer the ability to deploy multi-vendor-based solutions. For network management, it will not be practical or efficient for the MNOs to operate two separate management systems. For this, they will require a common management system for both open vRAN and RAN delivered from their traditional vendors.
The O-RAN Alliance is developing the standards for the SMO component of the O-RAN architecture. Many MNOs want the SMO to form the umbrella system for RAN management.
For the RIC to deliver value, the O-RAN Alliance should complete the specifications for the interfaces. The E2 interface, between the near real-time RIC and the RAN’s centralized unit (CU) and distributed unit (DU) components, will be key. For a true multi-vendor ecosystem to flourish and for app developers to be able to build the needed functions into the xApps, much closer collaboration between the MNOs and vendors will be required, including the large RAN vendors.
Many of the base station resource management algorithms are vendor proprietary and without collaboration between the parties, app developers will need to build up their radio optimization know-how – skills that large vendors have built over several decades.
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