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The Ultimate Guide to Open RAN: OpenRAN Integration - Part 1: Challenges, Opportunities and Deployment Examples

The Ultimate Guide to Open RAN: OpenRAN Integration - Part 1: Challenges, Opportunities and Deployment Examples Image Credit: arwiyada/Bigstockphoto.com

Software has been “eating the world” for a while now: from consumers to enterprises, and now to even telecom value chains. Open RAN is a great example of how software is “eating” telcos. What we have learnt from the data center approach is that after creating reference designs (blueprints which took a little bit more time), there was no additional complex integration needed - software took over, making the integration of the physical components and any upgrades easy. Yes, the hardware components still needed to be placed in the data center, cabled together, etc., but the initial integration was as simple as loading the software and/or powering on the hardware. Let’s call it the “software integration nirvana” which happened in the enterprise market in the 2000s. Open RAN is becoming a disruptive trend that moves the telco infrastructure from a static, vertically integrated one with few players using proprietary solutions to a dynamic, horizontal architecture with many hardware and software players, like the innovative, dynamic, and software-driven personal computer and enterprise market.

Challenges of Open RAN integration

“The elephant in the room with regards to open RAN is, of course, integration,” Patrick Filkins, senior research analyst at IDC, said in a recent interview. He compared the journey to the NFV experience during its early days 12 years ago.

A question many people have with regard to Open RAN is: who would do all the integration between different Open RAN vendors - and with the incumbent vendors - in the network in the case of brownfield deployments? With more than 60 deployments and trials worldwide, we will explain this based on our experience.

In a traditional network, there are many different components and vendors. You have vendors for different kinds of applications; OSS/BSS vendors, one or more core network vendors, depending on the network configuration, many different vendors for transport networks, RAN and small cell vendors, RRH, antennas, etc. There are, of course, a lot more vendors not even listed here.

Service providers and mobile operators have to ensure that their networks continue to operate smoothly with all these different players in their network.

Source: Parallel Wireless

To integrate Open RAN, a new approach is needed, not from vertically integrated and hardware-centric companies, but from a software-driven, open and open-minded ecosystem of hardware vendors, software vendors, system integrators, tower companies, real estate owners, regulators, industry bodies and mobile operators. Integration of Open RAN needs to be built for a software-centric world where software talks to all physical components, at any time, to deliver scalability, innovation and changing the game for how open networks are integrated.

Source: Viavi

What is not going to change is how physical components (towers, antennas, batteries, servers) are installed. What will change is that software will make those components smarter and interoperable and will help those components to be integrated and maintained, in most cases remotely with just a software upgrade, no tower climbing required. As we can see, integration principles that are applied to traditional RAN cannot be applied to a software-driven one.

Integration opportunities

Nokia’s view on Open RAN integration is to "Integrate what you have to, open what you can." The industry’s consensus is that interfaces between RU and DU/CU need to be open. We anticipate that open radios will be very capable within the next two years; DU infrastructure will evolve to be cost-effective as well.

Open RAN is of course about horizontal openness - with open interfaces enabling functions of the RAN to connect with other functions, from a radio unit to a baseband hosting DU/CU, or to the RIC (controller) element to the NMS/orchestrator and then to OSS/BSS system. Physical components will be located on-site and in the data center. What will make this horizontal system work is open interfaces between different components.

Source: Parallel Wireless

If we look at how RAN has been historically integrated, we can see three clear models: 1. Integrated and managed by an operator themselves, 2. Integrated and managed by one of the leading RAN hardware vendors (an example in the enterprise world would be IBM) and 3. Integrated and managed by a system integrator.

The RAN market in recent years has consolidated, and the three legacy vendors are not only dictating the hardware strategy, but also whether an operator decides to go with model 2, the integration strategy.

There are two levels of integration required when integrating Open RAN networks:

Open RAN ecosystem integration - the actual integration of the hardware and software with site and data center infrastructure. In this case, the systems integrator will be responsible for integrating across the entire solution, including integrating open radios and the BBU software. The old model of RAN hardware vendors like Ericsson and Nokia being integrators might not work in the new world. “Asking vendors to integrate on behalf of their competitors did not pan out,” Filkins said in the same above-mentioned interview. The bulk of the system integration for the RAN is between the radio and the baseband, and if it comes from two different (competing) vendors, it might create issues. This is where TIP, the O-RAN Alliance with lab testing, and PlugFest will come in - a true community effort. To ensure the ecosystem thrives, if an MNO decides to go the system integrator route, a chosen system integrator (SI) must be impartial and not aligned or associated with a specific hardware or software vendor.

System integration of the Open RAN software on COTS hardware. This level of integration is similar to what happens in the data center environment. In fact, many of the same DevOps tools and CD/CI principles are used, which further simplifies Open RAN integration through automation. This can be done for an MNO itself or a main SI that is responsible for a site build out. While some global system integrators are ready to become neutral integrators, the responsibility between different vendors still needs to be figured out.

Source: TIP

In the past, software was tied to a physical element from a particular vendor, which created a vendor lock-in and required a hardware swap with any vendor changes. Today, hardware is COTS-based, and software can be not only remotely upgraded, but also swapped. So, ease of integration is enabled through open interfaces.

Open RAN integration real life examples

Are we there yet? To quote Santiago Tenorio, Head of Network Strategy & Architecture, Vodafone who said in a recent webinar, “We haven’t even scratched the surface of system integration challenges.” Furthermore, a GSMAi mobile operator survey stated that 55% of responders see integration issues as the second largest challenge when asked about the major obstacles to introducing OpenRAN. This playbook on OpenRAN Turkey deployments released recently by TIP provides a look in more detail on how to integrate Open RAN solution successfully and what pitfalls to avoid.

Open RAN is being currently deployed in multiple markets by multiple MNOs around the world and is entering the commercialization stage. The pattern of innovation in Open RAN is similar to the Netflix model (below) - it puts the industry adoption of Open RAN at stage 2 - iterate and improve – and this is where integration comes in.

Source: Netflix

Here’s how are some of the early adopters of Open RAN have evolved traditional integration models:

Model 1 (MNO integrates themselves): Rakuten and Vodafone have proven to the world that overcoming Open RAN challenges is possible but requires strong and active operator involvement - the in-house vision, skills and capabilities are necessary for integrating new technologies successfully.

Model 2 (a hardware vendor integrates): Dish expects Fujitsu to provide support for radio and antenna integration and to ensure that the radio units and distributed units are fully interoperable.

Model 3 (using a system integrator): In Peru, Telefónica has relied on a Spanish systems integrator called Everis, which has a major presence in Latin America. In the future, the in-house resources will be implementing virtualization based on Whitestack for DevOps style with Continuous Development and Continuous Integration of the software to enable automation. The question is whether all this entails an increase in operational expenditure, especially if problems arise. "That is not the plan," said del Val Latorre, Telefónica's CEO of research and development, at TIP Summit 2019.

Source: ABI Research

It is important to note that even when an operator has the skills to integrate Open RAN, or has SI partners to help, hardware and software vendors need to implement their products as a solution, just like enterprise vendors currently do. This when Open RAN will reach the economics of scale.

In our next installment on integration, we will look in more detail at different integration models and their benefits.

Author

Eugina, a female executive and an immigrant, started her telecom career as a secretary and now has gone on to become the CMO of the prominent industry organization, Telecom Infra Project (TIP).

She has over 20+ years of strategic marketing leadership experience, leading marketing and communications for small and Fortune 500 global technology companies like Starent and Cisco.

Previously, she served as the VP of Marketing of the major telecom industry disruptor Parallel Wireless and was instrumental in creating the Open RAN market category.

She is a well sought-after speaker at many technology and telecom events and webinars. She is a well-known telecom writer contributing to publications like The Fast Mode, RCR Wireless, Developing Telecoms and many others.

She is also an inventor, holding 12 patents that include 5G and Open RAN.

She is a founding member of Boston chapter of CHIEF, an organization for women in the C-Suite, to strengthen their leadership, magnify their influence, pave the way to bring others, cross-pollinate power across industries, and effect change from the top-down.

Her passion is to help other women in tech to realize their full potential through mentorships, community engagement, and workshops. Her leadership development book “Unlimited: How to succeed in a workplace that was not designed for you” is due for release in May 2023.

Ms. Jordan resides in Massachusetts with her husband, teenage son, and three rescue dogs. She loves theater and museums. She volunteers for dog rescues and programs that help underprivileged children and women.

Ms. Jordan has a Master’s in Teaching from Moscow Pedagogical University, and studied computer undergrad at CDI College in Toronto, Canada.

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