OpenRAN

Technologies

This project group’s main objective is the development of fully programmable RAN solutions based on General Purpose Processing Platforms (GPPP) and disaggregated software so they can benefit from the flexibility and faster pace of innovation capable with software-driven development.

To achieve this, the project helps enable an open ecosystem of complete solutions and solution components that take advantage of the latest capabilities of GPPPs, both at a software level and also using programmable offload mechanisms such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA).

The project complements existing TIP projects and focuses on disaggregation of virtualized RAN solutions into different components and ensuring each individual component can be efficiently deployed on GPP platforms.

Community contributions

The items referenced below are official contributions made to TIP from TIP members.

OpenRAN: The next generation of radio access networks
Radio access networks must evolve with rising data demand. Current telecommunications network infrastructure requires significant upgrades to keep up with increasing network demand. Operators will be compelled to evaluate new radio access network (RAN) technology from various technology providers.

Telecom Infra Project (TIP) has created an OpenRAN project group which focuses 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 as they deploy and upgrade their network architecture in various deployment scenarios and geographies.

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TIP OpenRAN: Toward Disaggregated Mobile Networking
Mobile networks connect over 5 billion users and generate over $1 trillion of service revenue annually. With millions of cell sites deployed globally, this makes the RAN the most important distributed network infrastructure in the world. 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:

• It identifies and explains the key achievements of the project group and looks ahead to the next phases of OpenRAN development
• It places the work of the project group in a wider industry context to illustrate how OpenRAN helps operators and the wider eco-system progress their goals for low-cost, high-performance mobile connectivity.
• On the question of open interfaces in the RAN, the paper references TIP’s recently announced liaison agreement with the O-RAN Alliance.

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