The future of O-RAN and 5G – Part 2
06 September 2022
In the final part of this two-part feature, Analog Devices’ Dr. Greg Henderson — Senior Vice President, Automotive, Communications, and Aerospace — answers key questions on how open RAN (O-RAN) and network disaggregation will impact the 5G communications world.
3. What will be some early indicators in the ecosystem that would signal a successful O-RAN adoption?
Henderson: I think there are two areas where we can see signs of successful adoption. First, is the carrier space. It’s exciting to see that O-RAN networks are being deployed and announced, and we see more progress on this front throughout the world as carriers move towards execution. One example is the implementation of Rakuten’s 5G Open RAN network. As a Greenfield site, they are showing great success ramping the network up to scale with a virtualised core. This type of successful deployment is an encouraging sign, as other carriers like Dish Network, Telefónica, Vodafone, and Orange, among others, all have declared their commitment to making Open RAN an integral part of their networks.
The second sign of success will come from the solution and vendor community. We will see signs of success when we see more power- and performance-optimised RU and DU products using the 7.2× split. This is the equipment that does beamforming and baseband processing, where people are developing purpose-built products that are targeted to these O-RAN interfaces. Analog Devices is investing in this space to try to enable success in ORAN. For ADI, we have announced our Lower Level PHY dedicated baseband chip that will be available in 2022.
In addition, we have announced a partnership with Marvell to develop a complete massive MIMO solution and reference design using the 7.2× split. We feel these products, along with our partners, will meaningfully enable low power, cost-effective RU solutions. In this way, the market will start to see products and chipsets that are custom-built to meet these specific O-RAN requirements, but also have the high-performance level requirements that you need to meet 5G.
4. What does virtualisation mean for the radio unit?
Henderson: Much of the network can be virtualised, but not everything. If you think about the OSI protocol stack, the bottom level is called the physical layer for a reason, because that’s where the digital content connects to the physical world, and the radio unit is fundamentally in the physical layer. There are elements of the radio unit that you can’t virtualise, because that’s where you’re connecting to the physical world and the RF spectrum.
In addition, in the lower physical layers—there are functions that can be virtualised, but this will not provide an efficient implementation — and we will need to build the proper hardware to have an efficient radio implementation. While there are elements of the radio that must be hardware and can’t be virtualised, there are architectures around the radio unit that can be virtualised. Modelling for how one interfaces to that radio unit, and how the management plane can be implemented in an open software and processing architecture inside the radio unit, can be achieved through having standard and open data. So, while a lot of the radio will be hard, you can have a virtualised interface. Those data models and management planes can be virtualised and open, and this allows the radio unit to be a key part of the open solution.
5. What are some of the biggest opportunities that are enabled by disaggregation once it reaches scale in commercial networks?
Henderson: The key opportunities are really rooted in what I mentioned earlier about how networks wouldn’t be built from end-to-end by a given supplier. Instead, they’d be built on open standard interfaces, using equipment from any number of potential companies within the communications ecosystem. This creates a lot of opportunities for the end users of networks, who will have many more options to tailor networks to their needs, particularly in private networks, whether they are built by the company using them, or hosted by a carrier.
For instance, in an application like shipping port management, the network needs to cover a large open area while also overcoming interference from containers or other large, moving objects. An application like mining will have a different set of needs, since the networked environment is always changing and will often require signals to navigate a confined space with limited lines of sight. Meanwhile, in automated factory applications, latency and security may be paramount.
At ADI, we recognise that the interoperability and flexibility enabled by open networks will create more opportunities for companies to develop novel services, that are geared specifically towards these divergent application areas, and hence are engaged closely with a range of ecosystem partners to understand and offer solutions to meet their unique needs. The opportunities for companies in the communications ecosystem and the users of this technology are very exciting.
This story was adapted from the “Network Disaggregation: Disruption & Opportunities in Communications” event sponsored by the Boston Business Journal.
More on this topic here. More information on Analog Devices here.
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