Category: Mobile Networks

The baseline 5G system was specified within 3GPP Releases 15 and 16, also known as 5G Phase-1 and 5G Phase 2. There are interesting developments within 3GPP, which evolved the system towards Rel-17. More recently, the standardization took the step towards a significant update with the so-called, “5G-Advanced” using Rel-18 for that purpose. This whitepaper provides an overview of the latest development steps along with outlining the main Work- and Study-Items of both 3GPP Rel-17 and Rel-18 within RAN and SA2 work groups.

5G standard is still evolving with new 3GPP releases issued periodically, leading to 5G-Advanced and possibly 5G-Advanced Pro in coming years. However, all major players (researchers, vendors, mobile network operators, regulators) have already started their 6G activities in line with the tradition of having G+ every 10 years. This blog post provides an overview of the current state of 5G and outlines requirements and potential technologies for 6G.

Rimedo Labs has integrated a new xApp into the SD-RAN Near Real-Time RIC from ONF to complement the previously provided algorithm by enabling control of O-DU functionality, namely scheduler. This is the second Rimedo's xApp integrated with the ONF’s SD-RAN platform utilizing the A1 interface for policy control. As part of the ONF’s SD-RAN project, the joint collaboration supports a broad range of automation services in the form of software services, called xApps by O-RAN, that run on the RIC.

This blog post covers the topic of Beamforming in the context of the Open Radio Access Network. First, we discuss the possible implementation of beamforming in 5G networks, namely Grid of Beams. Then, some challenges regarding GoB are highlighted. Finally, some ideas for utilizing O-RAN to solve them are mentioned.

Network slicing, allows to use a single physical infrastructure allowing to put the functionality where and when needed depending on the use case and application. This concept allows flexibility and tailoring of a dedicated virtual network to a specific need. In this post, we’ll discuss the overall concept of network slicing with the focus on 5G RAN aspects. This is followed up by placing the network slicing in the O-RAN context. We'll touch on the architectural aspects related to Open RAN as defined by O-RAN ALLIANCE.

In this blog post, we provide a general overview of ways to improve EE in contemporary mobile networks. This is followed up by some representative examples of algorithms aiming at EE optimization at different levels, with a focus on the utilization of ML techniques. We then put it in the context of O-RAN where the deployment of EE-focused aspects and algorithms is discussed.