Open RAN promises to add flexibility and reduce costs for wireless carriers, by enabling them to combine hardware and software from different vendors and choose best-of-breed solutions for specific network functions. By opening the interfaces between network components, vendors are giving the carriers more choice. They are also helping their radio equipment remain competitive as network architectures evolve.
In the U.S., Verizon and AT&T have publicly discussed plans to implement open interfaces, while T-Mobile has been more cautious. Meanwhile, at least two regional operators are making big commitments to open RAN. Inland Cellular has already deployed the technology in Idaho with Parallel Wireless and Triangle Communications has announced plans to deploy open RAN with Mavenir.
In theory, open RAN and 5G can go hand-in-hand. 5G networks can serve multiple use cases, which could potentially be optimized by specific hardware and software in open RAN architectures.
One challenge, however, is building open RAN networks that can actually support those use cases. 5G factories, for example, will require ultra-low latency and edge data analysis. 5G can also be used to connect autonomous vehicles, and in these use cases there is little room for lag or subpar network performance. Integrated hardware and software from traditional network equipment vendors typically offers performance open RAN cannot match.
Enter specialized hardware for open RAN. Ahead of Mobile World Congress, vendors have introduced two new solutions specifically designed to support 5G workloads in an open RAN environment.
Dell and Marvell jointly introduced an open RAN accelerator card, designed for Dell’s PowerEdge and other x86-based servers. The companies are claiming carriers will be able to have their cake and eat it too, by affordably scaling high-performance radio access networks with open interfaces.
“The promise of virtualized Open RAN platforms will be enhanced with the Dell Open Ran Accelerator Card that should offer network operators like Vodafone a less costly and more efficient path to Open RAN,” said Andy Dunkin, Open RAN RF and digital platform development manager at Vodafone, in a press release.
HPE and Qualcomm have created a similar partnership for open RAN. Their virtualized distributed unit consists of an HPE compact telco server running Qualcomm’s X100 5G RAN accelerator card. Because the interfaces are open, the server can accept cards made by other chipmakers and the Qualcomm accelerator can be used in other servers.
Both the Qualcomm/HPE hardware and the Marvell/Dell hardware use a process called in-line acceleration, which offloads some processing from the server’s CPU onto the accelerator card. This can reduce the number of servers needed to support network functions, enabling efficiencies such as “baseband hotels” that provide processing for multiple radio units.
In-line acceleration can also reduce the total power consumed by each server, explained Geetha Ram, HPE’s worldwide head of open RAN, during a press briefing. She said testing performed by HPE and Qualcomm indicated operators can reduce total costs associated with open RAN by up to 60 percent by using the purpose-built chip and compact server in place of generic hardware.
By Martha DeGrasse, Inside Towers Contributing Analyst
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