Keysight Technologies, Inc. showcased its open radio access network solutions leadership at the O-RAN ALLIANCE Fall 2023 Global PlugFest, by demonstrating test solutions for the latest concepts, features and standards that are under development within the Open RAN industry.
As wireless networks move to virtualized, disaggregated Open RAN architectures, new test requirements are constantly emerging. Keysight has continued working with its pioneering industry partners to develop and validate solutions for these latest test needs. During the O-RAN ALLIANCE Fall 2023 Global PlugFest, Keysight Open RAN Architect (KORA) solutions were used to successfully conduct 20 integration test demonstrations of multi-vendor network functions with more than 25 collaborators in 10 labs located in 7 countries across the following focus areas:
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) Interfaces and Use Cases
Solutions enabling AI/ML models training, RIC interfaces functional and conformance testing and xApps enabled use cases validation were demonstrated as follows:
- AI/ML models training for Energy Savings (O1 interface) with Offline Training with Juniper Networks Non-Real-Time RIC and Capgemini rApps in i14y lab
- O-RAN RIC Interfaces Conformance testing of the A1 interface for Near-Real-Time RIC with Rakuten Symphony at Rakuten Mobile Lab and with Juniper Networks at SoftBank Corp.
- O-RAN RIC Interfaces Functional testing of the E2 interface for O-DU/O-CU with Capgemini at Digital Catapult’s SONIC Labs
- O-RAN xApps-enabled use cases testing for Data Radio Bearer QoS Optimization (E2 interface) with OpenAirInterface Software Alliance (OSA) xApp on OAI Near-Real-Time RIC at Eurecom, Traffic Steering (E2 interface) with Juniper Networks Near-Real-Time RIC and Rimedo Labs xApps at i14y lab
RAN Sustainability (Energy Consumption and Savings)
Integrated portfolio supporting automated energy lab and field testing and benchmarking was used to demonstrate energy consumption and savings testing for O-RU, O-DU/O-CU:
- O-RU energy savings micro sleep modes characterization with NEC Massive MIMO radio with Rakuten Mobile Lab
- O-DU/CU energy savings measurements and benchmarking with Vodafone (UK Lab, Live network traffic model), Intel (processor with embedded acceleration, FlexRAN reference software for vO-DU – L1), Radisys (vO-DU/vO-CU – L2/L3), Wind River (O-Cloud), and Dell Technologies (Dell PowerEdge servers), to benchmark the 4th Gen Intel Xeon processor with Intel vRAN Boost (Sapphire Rapids-EE with integration acceleration) against the 3rd Gen Intel Xeon processor with external PCIe acceleration
- O-DU/CU energy consumption measurements with Nokia O-DU/O-CU at SK Telecom
Test Automation and Enhanced Reporting
Integrated test automation and reporting framework enabling consistent and repeatable test results based on test specifications from O-RAN ALLIANCE Working Groups (WG) were demonstrated as follows:
- O-RAN WG4 O-RU Conformance (Control, User, Synchronization and Management Planes) tests with PHYTunes in CableLabs Kyrio OTIC, HFR at SK Telecom, a domestic O-RU vendor’s radio provided by Nokia at SK Telecom, a domestic O-RU vendor’s radio provided by Nokia at LG Uplus and Analog Devices O-RU (Kerberos) at i14y lab
- O-RAN WG4 O-RU Enhanced Conformance Test Reports with NEC at Rakuten Mobile Lab
SOURCE: Businesswire