What is Open RAN? | TechRepublic

If you have been following the news about 5G, you may have come across the term Open RAN. Open RAN, or open radio access network, is a new technology that helps mobile carriers open up their networks and share spectrum resources. This open sharing can help reduce the costs of deploying 5G and 6G infrastructure and create more efficient spectrum use for all telecom operators.

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What is Open RAN?

Open RAN is a critical component of any mobile network, as it utilizes cellular radio connections to connect our devices with the rest of the network. Open RAN allows us to mix and match components, enabling us to use a variety of vendors for the radio and baseband unit, components that are traditionally provided as an integrated hardware and software package.

The technology goes a step further by providing open and interoperable interfaces into the base station within the RAN. By introducing Open RAN, operators have more choice and flexibility regarding vendor selection and can customize their setup to achieve their desired outcomes.

Open RAN is revolutionizing the mobile communications sector, enabling new technological capabilities while reducing costs associated with conventional solutions.

Benefits of Open RAN

Open RAN provides several advantages to mobile carriers that open up their networks.

Supply chain diversity

Open RAN offers a real solution for creating greater supply chain diversity by allowing telecom providers to disaggregate their network hardware and software components. This lowers the entry barrier for onboarding new suppliers, giving carriers access to an array of options so they can choose those that have the right combination of quality, cost and resilience depending on their specific needs.

Solution flexibility

Providers can customize their network setup according to their specific needs, enabling them to optimize the performance of their wireless networks. Solution flexibility also allows organizations to easily upgrade or switch out components to keep up with changing demands or take advantage of new technological advancements, providing them with increased returns on their investments in the infrastructure. Open RAN thus provides telecoms with increased control over their operations, leading to greater efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

Innovation catalyst

Open RAN technology encourages increased competition between providers. This prompts innovation and allows communication providers to mix and match components from different suppliers, creating a broader marketplace of cost-effective solutions that can ultimately drive down prices. With Open RAN technology, network flexibility increases while infrastructure costs are reduced, improving value for money and creating positive business opportunities for all stakeholders involved.

Opportunities for niche/specialist suppliers

Telecoms can access a broader range of specialized suppliers and enhance their choice of solutions for the network. By decoupling the hardware and software components of RAN, entry barriers are lowered, and telecoms gain more flexibility when selecting solutions that are tailored to support the “intelligent” needs of the network. The availability of more niche suppliers with more focused expertise makes it easier for telecoms to procure solutions that are better aligned with their specific requirements.

Energy efficiency gains

By breaking down the different components of a RAN, organizations can take a granular approach to improve energy utilization through targeted programs. This distributed efficiency has the potential to add up to significant cumulative energy savings compared to traditional practices. Thus, Open RAN is a convenient and forward-thinking practice for organizations aiming to become more conscious of their energy use with minimal effort or disruption.

Focus on software operations

Open RAN’s promise of hardware and software vendor-agnostic components simplifies the complexity of managing and operating RANs. By facilitating interoperability across different vendors and operators, enterprises can benefit from improved agility in rolling out and upgrading the orchestration, management and automation software within their network infrastructure. This provides significant advantages for those IT teams responsible for operations, as updates do not necessarily mean replacing existing hardware components.

Drawbacks of Open RAN

Despite its many benefits, Open RAN also has some disadvantages.

Latency issues

Although Open RAN is successful when tested in a contained environment, it is not guaranteed to perform consistently without latency issues across all sorts of terrain and networks.

Operations and maintenance complexity

Setting up an open network requires substantial technical expertise, which may not be readily available to all carriers. In addition, servicing and maintaining a multi-vendor architecture presents additional difficulties that can impede its deployment within carrier networks.

Security concerns

Open networks may pose security risks as they allow anyone who gains access to the network to potentially exploit any potential vulnerabilities.

SEE: Mobile Device Security Policy (TechRepublic Premium)

Features of Open RAN

The O-RAN Alliance is a group that is defining specifications for RANs. Their mission is to bring about greater flexibility and scalability to how telecom networks are built, managed and operated.

They’ve outlined several features for the ideal Open RAN model to achieve this goal. Let’s dive into what these features are and how they work.

Cloudification

Cloudification is one of the critical features of Open RAN. It ensures that hardware and software components can be used together in different ways and from different vendors. This disaggregation makes it easier to customize network solutions and allows more efficient use of resources across the board.

Another benefit of cloudification is that it allows RAN applications to run as cloud-native functions which can be accessed remotely by users. This provides an extra layer of convenience when it comes to managing networks and reducing costs associated with hardware deployment and maintenance.

Intelligence and automation

Intelligence and automation play a crucial role in Open RAN’s success. Using open management and orchestration techniques, telecom managers can ensure that their network runs smoothly without needing manual intervention or constant oversight from engineers or IT personnel. Additionally, by using external artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities, Open RAN can provide real-time insights into how the network performs and predict potential issues before they arise.

Open internal RAN interfaces

O-RAN has defined new and existing internal interfaces for its RAN solution as part of its design process. These include Higher Layer Split, Inter-Node Communication, O-RAN Lower Layer Split and Near-Real Time Remote Interface Controllers. Each interface serves a specific purpose within the overall architecture of O-RAN’s design, but collectively they enable managers to build more reliable networks with greater scalability than ever before.

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