Rakuten Symphony said that Symworld RAN Commander is a one-stop solution for all aspects of network planning and optimization
Rakuten Symphony recently announced the general availability of its Symworld RAN Commander solution for automated 5G mobile network planning and optimization.
The Japanese company, which is the network solutions arm of operator Rakuten Mobile, says that its RAN Commander can boost Radio Access Network (RAN) productivity planning by four times, compared to conventional planning and optimization methods.
“Network planning and optimization has always been fragmented, with different teams responsible for different parts of the process. Symworld RAN Commander offers an integrated approach to RF planning and optimization on a single platform, enabling planning and optimization teams to collaborate closely with advanced tools and technologies as they design, deploy and optimize networks in a more coordinated and efficient manner,” said Narendra Narayana, president of the intelligent operations business unit at Rakuten Symphony.
The company said that Symworld RAN Commander consolidates legacy PC-based tools, licenses and data into one managed, cloud-native platform operation. “This eliminates all problems with license management, single user tool installation and scattered confidential data,” the company said, adding that all calculations and simulations are performed in the cloud.
The Japanese company also said that Symworld RAN Commander provides “complete visibility and awareness of the live network, subscriber intelligence and traffic distribution” so that operators can target their investments and management to maximize returns during the network roll-out process.
The Symworld RAN Commander suite is comprised of tools for large-scale greenfield network design or optimization of the expansion and configuration of existing networks; and network monitoring and optimization via a geospatial interface that aggregates data “from highest to lowest granularity of geography and node.”
In November 2022, Rakuten Mobile and Rakuten Symphony announced plans to build an Open RAN Customer Experience Center at the Rakuten Symphony offices in the United Kingdom by March 2023. The center will offer telecom operators and industry suppliers in the European and Middle East region direct experience and testing of the latest technological advances in the field.
“In order to further develop and promote Open RAN technologies to support safe, open and transparent 5G networks, Rakuten Symphony plans to utilize the facility with partners to validate equipment interoperability, establish exhibition facilities to demonstrate the latest technologies and conduct workshops,” said Rakuten.
Rakuten also said the new offices will focus on three primary goals, starting with validating the interoperability of Open RAN devices. The facility will validate equipment interoperability in a multivendor environment by performing connection confirmation verification, it said. The second goal is to create an exhibition facility to demonstrate Open RAN hardware and software in action, giving visitors and opportunity to see how “next-generation mobile networks will be used to improve operational efficiency and new services,” Rakuten said.
The third goal, said Rakuten, is to conduct Open RAN-related workshops and events to introduce “policies, trends and initiatives to European and overseas network operators and telecommunications equipment suppliers,” it said.
Rakuten has been operating a Mobile Open Innovation Lab in Tokyo, Japan since August 2022. The company describes the facility as “a technology verification environment that utilizes the technologies and experience acquired by Rakuten Mobile through its Open RAN commercial mobile network.”
