NTT DOCOMO and NEC this week announced that they have expanded multi-vendor interoperability by interconnecting a new 5G base station baseband unit (5G-CU/DU), developed by NEC and Samsung and compliant with O-RAN Alliance specifications, with 5G base station remote radio units (5G-RUs) of other vendors on DOCOMO's commercial network.
Expanding multi-vendor interoperability based on O-RAN open interface specifications will enable the most appropriate base stations to be used depending on deployment scenarios and taking advantage of specific vendor and equipment characteristics. This will drive the rapid and flexible development of 5G service areas.The new 5G base station baseband unit from NEC realizes multi-vendor interoperability and is the result of a partnership between NEC and Samsung. It is interoperable with all existing vendors' 5G base station remote units in DOCOMO's network owing to its adoption of O-RAN open fronthaul specifications; it is also compatible with all existing 4G base stations in DOCOMO's network thanks to its adoption of O-RAN open X2 specifications.Multi-vendor interoperability using O-RAN open fronthaul specifications was also confirmed for NEC's macro-cell 5G-RU, which provides wide area coverage, and for NEC's fronthaul multiplexer (5G-FHM), which copies and combines the fronthaul signals to and from multiple 5G-RUs to form a single area; both are new 5G base station equipment offerings.
During their collaboration, DOCOMO selected the test items, executed the multi-vendor interoperability tests and analyzed the results; NEC and Samsung Electronics supplied the 5G base station equipment and analyzed the test results.
1The O-RAN Alliance is an international industry group working to create more open and intelligent radio access networks, including 5G networks.
Going forward, DOCOMO, NEC and Samsung will continue testing 5G base station equipment and communication systems scheduled for use in DOCOMO's 5G commercial network, aiming to expand area coverage and achieve ultra-stable network connections.
Naoki Tani, Senior Vice President of DOCOMO
The widespread adoption of O-RAN-compliant products will enable DOCOMO to build highly flexible networks and provide 5G services that meet customer needs. The realization of multi-vendor interoperability with this new equipment developed by NEC and Samsung Electronics represents a significant step in the expansion of the O-RAN ecosystem.
Atsuo Kawamura, Executive Vice President at NEC and President of the company's Network Services Business Unit
We are very pleased to have cooperated with Samsung Electronics in developing an O-RAN-compliant 5G base station that enables multi-vendor interoperability.
