NTT DOCOMO announced that in collaboration with Fujitsu, NEC and Nokia, it has successfully achieved multi-vendor interoperability across a variety of 4G and 5G base station equipment compatible with Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) standards.
The O-RAN standards include fronthaul specifications and X2 profile specifications. This is believed to be the world's first realization of this level of multi-vendor interoperability in 4G and 5G base station equipment conforming to O-RAN specifications; DOCOMO will deploy the equipment in the pre-commercial 5G service it plans to launch this week in Japan.
Signal transmission and reception specifications between base station equipment have not been fully internationally standardized until now, and have not been fully consistent among vendors. To ensure the quality of mobile communications, network operators have therefore typically utilized base station equipment from the same vendor, and the choice of equipment has therefore tended to be limited.
The ability to deploy and interconnect base station equipment from different vendors will make it possible to select the equipment most suitable for deployment in any given environment, such as base stations offering broad coverage in rural areas or small base stations that can be deployed in urban areas where space is limited. This will in turn allow more rapid and flexible expansion of 5G coverage.
Concurrent with the pre-commercial launch of its 5G services, DOCOMO will expand 5G coverage by combining 5G networks with existing 4G networks using equipment from diverse vendors. The international standardization of signal transmission specifications that will enable this follows lengthy discussions within the O-RAN Alliance, which DOCOMO is chairing.
