Goal is “to simplify the steps and reduce the integration effort” associated with open and virtualized RAN
Virtualization of the radio access network is and will continue to happen in the interest of making highest and best use of the 5G New Radio feature set. And, based on operator interest and vendor moves, many of these vRAN efforts will also include open interfaces wherein RAN hardware and software is disaggregated in a manner that allows operators to pick and choose suppliers in a modular way.
Nokia and Samsung have both recently made vRAN/O-RAN product announcements which makes sense in that the incumbent vendors operate at scale and have extensive carrier relationships. On the other hand, one of the key themes of Open RAN is supplier diversification which can help foster innovation and create more advantageous network economics for operators. The contra point to the reduced equipment costs is around increased integration costs. In an announcement today, Intel and VMware focused in on simplifying the integration piece.
VMware’s Sachin Katti told RCR Wireless News that the goal of an expanded collaboration with Intel is “essentially taking a lot of the integration risk out of the system and make sure these things work well before they even hit the operator. We don’t want the operators to be nervous about an Open RAN deployment.”
Caroline Chan from Intel noted “quite a bit of friction” in scaling Open RAN deployments around interoperability testing, RAN integration and integration with telco clouds. “We’re trying to remove that by working with VMware. Doing one [Open RAN deployment] is hard but a the second one, the third and fourth should not be as difficult.”
In February this year, Deutsche Telekom announced it was working with Intel and VMware to test and validate a vRAN platform that incorporates standards developed by the O-RAN Alliance. Katti said the new announcement “is expanding on this partnership and building on that to really make it a pre-integrated platform. Think of this as a natural evolution as well as quite a few new capabilities.”
For the new platform, the two companies are using Intel’s FlexRAN software reference architecture and VMware’s RAN Intelligent Controller. The RIC uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to optimize spectral and network resources based on real-time, closed-loop analysis of network traffic. VMware, in a statement, described this as enabling “development of innovative radio network functions using AI/ML learning for real-time resource management, traffic steering and dynamic slicing. This in turn will assist in optimized QoE for rollout of new 5G vertical use cases.”
As telco networks increasingly use general-purpose hardware running virtualized network functions, the concept of the RAN is shifting. When workloads can be instantly transitioned based on demand, operators gain flexibility. This comes in a tandem with a focus on edge compute as part and parcel to delivering enterprise 5G services. Edge computing, at a high-level, is exactly what it sounds like–decentralized compute power physically placed in a way that leverages the sub-10 millisecond latencies of 5G. So, in the context of distributed general-purpose compute capable of running VNFs and most any other type of workload, what’s the intersection between vRAN and edge computing?
“Edge computing and the applications people are excited about with edge computing are kind of the end goal here,” Katti explained. “We want to bring the cloud to the RAN…with the goal that eventually applications can leverage the cloud all the way to the edge to run things you cannot do today. Apart from having a cloud platform that you can run these cloud applications on at the edge, the other thing we’re focusing on is these applications don’t just sit alongside the RAN; they can interact with the RAN.”
In previous conversation, Chan has characterized 5G, AI and edge compute all as key to digital transformation. “I really see 5G connectivity as an enabler but edge compute and AI is really the angle for the operator to have that ROI. Everything that we’re building has the compute capability, has the storage capability.”
Vodafone has been bullish around Open RAN and its future role in multi-national network footprints. In a statement associated with the Intel/VMware announcement, Vodafone Group’s Yago Tenorio, head of network architecture, said, “Seeing VMware and Intel work together to enhance the performance of general purpose computing platforms to run uncompromised RAN workflows, and to help simplify the complexities of product integration, has the potential to ensure Open RAN matures more quickly. It is also an enabler for faster developments in the [RIC] area. This move is central to the Vodafone initial Open RAN vision of partners that excel in our area, as well as benefit the wider community.”
