Openness and Programmability

in the RAN

Marcin Dryjański, Ph.D.

WWRF’49, Panel Session

Introduction

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Network Complexity: HetNet

FDD+TDD
Dynamic CA
Wi-Fi TDD
DC LWA

LAA D2D

Relay

Heterogeneous Networks

A big challenge for Radio Resource Management of Multi-RAT/HetNet!

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Open RAN Concept
Core
Network CN
(CN)

Open RAN

CU

RIC
Traditional RAN • Disaggregation
DU
• Open Interfaces
• Decoupling HW from SW Open FH
• Intelligent management
RU/RRH

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Open RAN Advantages and Challenges

Advantages Challenges

Avoid vendor lock-in Technology maturity

Enable faster innovation Interoperability and integration
Open industry to new players Complex automation
Reduce CAPEX Security
Quick Time-to-Market ”Price” (Opex?)
Enable design flexibility Performance
Enable new services and applications Inertia

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6G

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Selected Potential Technologies for 6G

Reconfigurable
In-band full-duplex
AI-native design Open RAN Intelligent
communication
Surfaces (RISs)

• Predict anomalies • Open interfaces for • Doubling spectral • Better planning:

in network interoperability efficiency When placing new
operation -> take • Open ecosystem • Use of relays to RAN nodes is
corrective action • Innovation extend the difficult or costly
on time coverage of • Deployment cost:
• Quick Time-to-
• Optimized network Market mmWave Accelerating the
slicing -> can use of mmWave in
• Intelligent
accommodate new a cost-effective
Management
network slices for manner
additional industry • Reduction in OPEX &
• Sustainability:
verticals CAPEX
Lowering energy
consumption

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6G within Open RAN
O-RAN next Generation Research Group
Focus on research of open and intelligent RAN principles in 6G and future network standards

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Challenges and Lessons Learnt

O-RAN Alliance’s defined use cases are based on prioritization from the operators and are defined as
frameworks for xApps/rApps. The current focus is on energy efficiency and security.

Currently, the xApps and rApps address separate use cases. Cooperation between them is
limited

One of the challenges and research topic for the RIC is the conflict mitigation. Another one is the
use of digital twin and automation of the xApp testing and deployment.

Open source RICs require more knowledge on the whole environment, while commercial ones with
SDKs allow for focusing on the xApp development

Current RICs have their own APIs/SDKs, thus xApps need to have dedicated „surroundings”

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Openness and Programmability in the RAN
Panel Session

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Michele Polese, Ph.D.
Northeastern University

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 Next-generation Wireless Networks
with Open and Intelligent Spectrum Systems

Michele Polese
Institute for the Wireless Internet of Things, Northeastern University
m.polese@northeastern.edu
What's wrong with 5G?

• Many promises – maybe under-delivered?

• mmWaves are not there
• URLLC? V2V?
• Gap between standardization and deployments

Business/economic reasons Technical reasons

What's wrong with cellular?
Limited options for deployments
Focus on broadband
• Monolithic hardware
• Limited support for other kinds
• Hard to update, improve,
of traffic (URLLC, MTC)
reconfigure
• Business case for deployment
• Vendor lock-in Limited flexibility mostly for broadband
• Low resiliency
• Control only what vendors
expose
• Manual configuration
(theory/application gap)
• Spectrum

There is a gap between principles and implementations especially

on the control plane
Toward next-generation spectrum systems

• make mmWave and terahertz

New spectrum for wireless networks networks robust and viable
• end-to-end optimization

• dynamic spectrum sharing (also

Coexistence in the same spectrum above 100 GHz w passive sensing)
• neutral host for cellular

• intelligent, open RAN

More efficient spectrum systems • AI/ML that is actually deployable
• end-to-end AI and ML orchestration

Foundation: analysis, open-source simulation tools, experimental testbeds

Toward next-generation spectrum systems

• make mmWave and terahertz

New spectrum for wireless networks networks robust and viable
Rethink cellular • end-to-end optimization
• agile spectrum and infrastructure sharing
• system-level design • dynamic spectrum sharing (also
• open,Coexistence
heterogenousin the same spectrum
deployments above 100 GHz w passive sensing)
• neutral host for cellular
• AI/ML and orchestration
• closed-loop control • intelligent, open RAN
• best practices
More efficientfrom cloud
spectrum security
systems & software
• AI/ML that is actually deployable
• end-to-end AI and ML orchestration

Foundation: analysis, open-source simulation tools, experimental testbeds

Melike Erol-Kantarci, Ph.D.
University of Ottawa

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Melike (Mel) Erol-Kantarci, PhD Melike.erolkantarci@uottawa.ca

Chief Cloud RAN AI\ML Data Scientist @ Ericsson

Canada Research Chair in AI-Enabled Wireless Networks
& Associate Professor @ University of Ottawa

Resource allocation
Beam management
Intelligent spectrum use
Closed loop control in O-RAN

Coordinated Intelligence for xApps and rApps

 Team Learning-Based Resource Coordination in O-RAN
xApps and rApps:
• Conflicting configurations may cause performance degradation.
• Distributed and mixed behaviors.

Coordination via Team learning:

• xAPPs will include the actions of other xAPPs in its own state.
• Information exchanging and intention informing.

H. Zhang, H. Zhou, and M. Erol-Kantarci. "Team learning-based resource allocation for open radio access network (O-RAN),”
IEEE ICC, 2022.
© 2023 Dr. Erol-Kantarci
 Federated Deep Reinforcement Learning in O-RAN Slicing

• Federated DRL for network slicing

• Two xAPPs as agents: power control xAPP and a hierarchical radio
resource allocation xAPP.
• Add global inference to mitigate conflicts between xAPPs.
H. Zhang, H. Zhou, and M. Erol-Kantarci. "Federated deep reinforcement learning for resource allocation in O-RAN slicing,”
IEEE GLOBECOM 2022.
© 2023 Dr. Erol-Kantarci
Hamed Ahmadi, Ph.D.
University of York

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Hamed Ahmadi
Academic:
● Senior Lecturer (Associate professor), School of Physics Engineering and
Technology, University of York, UK – Institute for Safe Autonomy
● Adjunct Assistant professor, University College Dublin, Ireland
Background:
● PhD from National University of Singapore - A*STAR awardee at Institute for
Infocomm research. (2008-12)
● Worked at CONNECT centre (CTVR), Trinity College Dublin, University College
Dublin, Sheffield Hallam University, University of Essex.
Service:
● Network layer working group chair COST Action 20120, INTERACT.
● Associate Editor: IEEE Systems, IEEE Comms Standards Magazine
Research:
● Modern AI for Open-RAN
● UAV & NTN communications and networking
● Digital Engineering & Digital Twins
● Spectrum management

23
Thoughts on: Importance of Digital Twins
within Open RAN testing and deployments
▪ DT requires connectivity and reliable data.
▪ O-RAN facilitates the creation of DT of a network
▪ O-RAN may address data and knowledge ownership!?
▪ DT a realistic environment to test O-RAN intelligent components.

H. Ahmadi, A. Nag, Z. Khar, K. Sayrafian and S. Rahardja, "Networked Twins and Twins of Networks: An Overview on the Relationship Between
Digital Twins and 6G," in IEEE Communications Standards Magazine, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 154-160, December 2021..
24
Navid Nikaein, Ph.D.
BubbleRAN // EURECOM

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$whoami
navid nikaein
▪ Academic
➢ Ph.D. EPFL – Eurecom (2000-2003)
➢ Professor at Eurecom (2009-present), HDR(2015)

▪ Open-Source
➢ Board member of OpenAirInterface Software Alliance (2019-present)
➢ Co-founder of OpenAirInterface (2010-present)
➢ Founder of Mosaic5G (2016-present)
– FlexRAN: World 1st 4G SD-RAN platform
– FlexRIC: 4G/5G SD-RAN platform

▪ Research Infrastructure
➢ 4G/5G Open Source Platform Providers
➢ 4G/5G Open5GLab at SophiaCampus
➢ 4G/5G DevOps Platform

▪ Startup
➢ CEO of BubbleRAN.com (2021-present)
– Cloud-Native Open RAN Studio → https://openran.studio/
– Private 5G
Few Thoughts on Next-Generation
RAN Programmability and Openness
Compatibility
• Standardized RAN Function API
• Standardized xApps/SDK APIs
• Programmable Service Models
• Abstraction on
• Transport Protocols
• Enc/Dec Schema
• Protocol semantics
Key Considerations
• Ultra-Flexible and Ultra-Lean
• Support Realtime & Time-Aware
• Virtualized RAN Resources
• Cloud-Native
• Others:
• Separation of concerns between
control and management subsystems
• Resiliency and Control Delegation
Lars Lindeberg
TietoEvry

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Lars Lindeberg – Tietoevry
• RAN architect and business development
• Market insights
• Forward looking activities
• Research and PoC activities
• Customer interface technical discussions
• Three decades of RAN R&D experience
• From PoC to commercial product

We’re building next

generation products and
solutions such as 5G
Networks, Cloud and IoT
Telecom R&D countries, where percentage of global Platforms
experts world wide our customers are delivery
Industry enablers and key technologies

New
Internet of User Service Service
revenue Things proximity deployment enablement
streams

Network Evolution IT & Communication convergence Intelligence & automation

TECHNOLOGY Evolved NW Network Container- Edge Machine Autonomous
5G New Radio Big Data
architectures slicing ization Computing learning / AI Network

Optimize Intelligent Energy Std. HW &

Densify
operations operations efficiency Virtualization

OPEX CAPEX
Internal 30
 Open RAN Integration
Interoperability and full automation is somewhat contra-dictionary
to innovation

• Standardization vs Innovation
• Acknowledge differences as we want
innovation
Market Unique
Innovation Difference • Integration becomes the key to enable
Competition Features
innovation
• I.e. stiching a selected set of products,
and their differences into one solution
• Amara’s law still valid

Confidential 31
Alex Jinsung Choi, Ph.D.
O-RAN ALLIANCE

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Panel Discussion

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Key Panel Topics

Future of Open RAN standardization

Applicability of the Open RAN networks for Private Networks

Open RAN within 6G and related research topics

Open RAN challenges and maturity

xApps, rApps, Conflict Mitigation, Testing and Deployment

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Your trusted partner in: Let’s keep in touch!
O-RAN, 5G & Beyond,
RRM, and Private Mobile
RIMEDO Labs
ul. Polanka 3

Networks.
61-131 Poznan, Poland

info@rimedolabs.com
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Marcin Dryjanski
marcin.dryjanski@rimedolabs.com
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