The
OpenRAN
Project Group is an initiative to define and build 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G RAN solutions based on general-purpose vendor-neutral hardware, open interfaces and software.









OpenRAN’s mission is to accelerate innovation and commercialization in RAN domain with multi-vendor interoperable products and solutions that are easy to integrate in the operator’s network and are verified for different deployment scenarios. TIP’s OpenRAN program supports the development of disaggregated and interoperable 2G/3G/4G/5G NR Radio Access Network (RAN) solutions based on service provider requirements.


Key OpenRAN tenets include:
- Disaggregation of RAN HW & SW on vendor neutral, GPP-based platforms
- Open Interfaces – Implementations using open interface specifications between components (e.g. RU/CU/DU/RIC) with vendor neutral hardware and software.
- Multiple Architecture Options, including
- An all integrated RAN with disaggregation at SW and HW level
- A split RAN with RU, BBU (DU/CU)
- A split RAN with RU, DU and CU
- A split RAN with integrated RU/DU, CU
- Flexibility – Multi vendor solutions enabling a diverse ecosystem for the operators to choose best-of-breed options for their 2G/3G/4G and 5G deployments
- Solutions implemented on either Bare Metal or Virtualized or Containerized Platforms
- Innovation via Adoption of New Technologies (AI/ML, CI/CD…)
- Supply Chain Diversity
Northstar for OpenRAN is to drive abundant last mile wireless connectivity. OpenRAN plans to achieve this through developing a vibrant ecosystem that is:
- Rapidly innovating at every layer, every component of the RAN technology stack, and
- Continually improving the performance of RAN through innovation, automation and competition
TIP OpenRAN Liaisons
TIP OpenRAN seeks strong partnerships across the industry with organizations having a similar vision and working to accelerate disaggregation and innovation in RAN technologies . The goal is to bring the ecosystem together to take a holistic approach towards building next-generation RAN. TIP OpenRAN will continue to collaborate with other industry organizations, including GSMA, ONF , and O-RAN ALLIANCE, through established liaison agreements.
Component Subgroups
RU
Led by:

Okan Ilker (Vodafone)

Neha Goel (Dish)
The goal of the RU (Radio Unit) subgroup is to develop RU white box HW built on open and disaggregated architecture. The white box RU would offer significant deployment and operational cost reduction compared to traditional proprietary base stations in mobile network. The group, in conjunction with leading global operators and OpenRAN technology ecosystem will harmonize requirement for radio units.
The deliverables include:
- Multiple RU options for various deployment use cases including single band RU, multi band RU, maMIMO RU
- Platform architecture and HW/SW Requirements
- Reference architecture and design requirements for white box RU for identified deployment use cases, defining requirements, and specifying architecture and designing requirements
*In accordance with the TIP-O-RAN Alliance Liaison Agreement, membership in this sub-group is restricted to members of the TIP OpenRAN Project Group and the O-RAN Alliance
DU and CU
Led by:

Zheng Cai (T-Mobile USA, Inc.)

Adnan Boustany (Intel)
Suren Theivendran (Vodafone)
The goal of the DU and CU subgroup is to develop DU/CU white box HW built on open and disaggregated architecture. The white box DU/CU would offer significant deployment and operational cost reduction compared to traditional proprietary base stations in mobile network. The group, in conjunction with leading global operators – T-Mobile USA, Vodafone and Dish, will develop requirement documents for DU/CU.
The deliverables include,
- Multiple DU/CU options for various deployment use cases including split DU/CU, and integrated DU/CU
- Platform architecture and HW/SW Requirements
- Reference architecture and design requirements for white box DU and CU
*In accordance with the TIP-O-RAN Alliance Liaison Agreement, membership in this sub-group is restricted to members of the TIP OpenRAN Project Group and the O-RAN Alliance
RAN Intelligence & Automation (RIA)
Led by:

Carlos Ubeda (Vodafone)

Oliver Coudert (T-Mobile)

Richard Mackenzie (BT)
Goal: Enable MNOs and OpenRAN ecosystem to collaborate on RAN use case development, testing and deployment that leverage the strength of Data Science and AI/ML technologies and open interfaces based on industry standards.
- Drive AI/ML use case productization to enable for OpenRAN ecosystem
- Enable OpenRAN ecosystem to leverage AI/ML and Data Science technologies
- Initiate testing and MNO trials and share results with the OpenRAN community
*In accordance with the TIP-O-RAN Alliance Liaison Agreement, membership in this sub-group is restricted to members of the TIP OpenRAN 5G NR Project Group and the O-RAN Alliance
ROMA
Led by:
Zheng Cai (T Mobile USA, Inc.)
Vanesa Fernandez (Vodafone)
ROMA focuses on aggregating and harmonizing MNOs requirements on Open RAN orchestration and lifecycle management automation, fostering ecosystem partners to develop products and solutions that meet ROMA requirements.
The goal of ROMA is to
- Develop a common set of use cases for OpenRAN lifecycle management automation and orchestration that are agreed across multiple MNO and OpenRAN ecosystem members
- Develop Technical Requirements on products and solutions that support the identified use cases, including interfaces and data models
- Facilitate product and solution development through lab testing, field trials, participating TIP Plugfest and badging on TIP exchange etc.
- Support large scale OpenRAN deployment with lifecycle management automation, including Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) frameworks and tool sets.
Segment – Subgroups
OpenRAN Outdoor Macro
Led by:

Benjamin Tan (TPG Telecom)

Karan Sarin (Ooredoo)

Veronica De Alba (Vodafone)

Saikat Nandi (Smartfren)

Vanesa Fernandez (Vodafone)
The goal of the Outdoor Macro sub-group is to address the challenges of large scale, outdoor OpenRAN deployments by defining requirements, aggregating technology solutions and developing playbooks for outdoor solutions based on macro OpenRAN configuration. The group will develop requirements documents for various outdoor macro segments, 1. rural 2. peri-urban and 3. urban.
- Reference architectures for RAN including the components CU, DU and RU.
- APIs and interfaces for multi-vendors’ interoperability based on industry specifications.
- Playbooks and test reports.
Indoor 5G NR Small Cell
Led by:

Rong Huang (China Unicom)

Zheng Cai (T-Mobile USA, Inc.)
The goal of the Indoor 5G NR Small Cell sub-group is to addresses the challenges of large scale, indoor 5G NR small cell deployment by defining requirements for an indoor 5G NR small cell disaggregated white box. The group will develop requirements documents that define:
- Reference architectures for 5G NR gNB, including the components CU, DU and RU.
- APIs and interfaces for multi-vendors’ interoperability based on industry specifications.
The group will work with industry partners to accelerate solution development and satisfy the 5G scaled deployment requirement.
Deliverables
The items referenced below are official contributions made to TIP from TIP Members.
OpenRAN Technical Requirements
This document describes the technical specification for an OpenRAN device that operators can deploy in current and future generations of mobile transport networks. It describes the requisite hardware, software, and regulatory requirements a device needs to meet to be deployed in networks of those operators participating in this specification.
Download Report (Available to OpenRAN TIP Members Only)
Toward OpenRAN CI/CD Automation
The document describes MNO pain points in today’s network lifecycle management, along with new opportunities brought by OpenRAN architecture. Then it presents Telefónica’s perspective, followed by a description of the platform developed in the TIP OpenRAN CI/CD project, supported use cases, overall architecture, and a typical workflow for integration and testing. The document concludes with a call for action.
TIP Test Bed Trial
Edotco and TIP were looking at ways to help MNO’s expedite their network coverage/rollout and do it based on current technology. The goal was something that was scalable and upgradable network with a long term OPEX model. This was successfully done in both a lab and field trial setting. Download the report for more details.
5G New Radio: Revenue and Deployment Opportunities
Telecommunications operators face a dilemma with the 5G business case: the deployment of 5G requires significant capital investment and the rate of return is not as straightforward despite the potential of 5G technology. RAN, the largest cost in wireless network architecture, is pushing operators to rethink their current deployment paradigms. Responding to this challenge, Telecom Infra Project (TIP) has created an ecosystem that is founded upon collectively designing and building new technologies to accelerate innovation.
OpenRAN 5G NR requirements document
This document describes the technical specifications for a white box 5G NR base station that operators can deploy in their mobile networks to provide 5G NR connectivity. The document describes the necessary requirements for deployment by participating operators.
OpenRAN: The next generation of radio access networks
Current Radio access networks (RAN) require significant upgrades to keep up with increasing data demand. Operators will be compelled to evaluate new RAN technology from various technology providers. The OpenRAN project group was created to focus on developing a vendor-neutral hardware and software-defined technology based on open interfaces and community-developed standards. Unlike traditional RAN, OpenRAN decouples hardware and software. This gives operators more flexibility to deploy and upgrade their network architecture in various deployment scenarios and geographies.
TIP OpenRAN: Toward Disaggregated Mobile Networking
As operators enter the 5G-era, the RAN is increasingly software-driven and based on open implementation and open interfaces. This white paper profiles the work of the OpenRAN Project Group, covering the following topics:
- The key achievements of the project group and the next phases of OpenRAN development
- How OpenRAN helps operators and the wider ecosystem progress their goals for low-cost, high-performance mobile connectivity.
- Open interfaces in the RAN
- TIP’s recently announced liaison agreement with the O-RAN Alliance with regard to open interfaces in the RAN
OpenRAN Turkey Trials Playbook
This playbook is developed by teams from Vodafone and Parallel Wireless to capture the learnings from this trial deployment where brownfield sites in Turkey were swapped with OpenRAN solutions for 2G/3G/4G, evaluating the technical and operational KPIs in the process.
The playbook helps the OpenRAN community members, RAN solution providers, network operators, and system integrators take an informed approach to the selection of technology and the planning of OpenRAN deployments.
Telefónica views on the design, architecture, and technology of 4G/5G Open RAN networks
This paper provides an overview of the main technology elements that Telefónica is developing in collaboration with selected partners in the Open RAN ecosystem. It describes the architectural elements, design criteria, technology choices and key chipsets employed to build a complete portfolio of radio units and baseband equipment capable of a full 4G/5G RAN rollout in any market of interest.

OpenRAN: the operator’s perspective
A survey for Mavenir
What are the mobile operator plans to deploy OpenRAN in their 4G and, eventually, in their 5G networks?
TIP OpenRAN Project Group Makes First Version of OpenRAN CI/CD Platform Available to TIP Community
TIP OpenRAN Project Group is Streamlined to Accelerate Development and Deployments
OpenRAN Begins Work on AI/ML Applications for Radio Management
TIP welcomes the launch of the Open RAN Policy Coalition
Vodafone and TIP OpenRAN trials extend to UK, DRC and Mozambique
Telecom Infra Project highlights RFIs, demos, and new project groups at MWC 2019
TIP project group feature: OpenRAN
RFIs for OpenRAN technology to help improve connectivity
Upcoming Events
There are no upcoming events at this time.Past Events
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September 7, 2020 - online
Tech UK: Diversifying Telecoms: The potential of Open RAN
Hear TIP Executive Director Attilio Zani speak about the potential of Open RAN
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June 30, 2020 - online
Light Reading: TIP OpenRAN: Towards Disaggregated Mobile Networking
Light Reading hosts a webinar highlighting TIP’s work disaggregating mobile networks
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November 13 - 14, 2019 - Worldwide
TIP Summit 2019
Telecom and internet industry leaders will gather in Amsterdam for our fourth annual TIP Summit, where TIP Members share the latest updates on TIP technology.
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June 1 - 30, 2019 - Worldwide
TIP Regional Summits ’19
TIP hosted gatherings around the world as part of its TIP Regional Summit series.