Tag: OpenRAN

In this post we dig into the technical details of the Traffic Steering xApp implementation using A1 Policy Control on ONF's SD-RAN. We discuss the concept, triggers, implementation details and example operation along with a demo video.

Rimedo Labs has integrated an xApp into the SD-RAN RIC from ONF to demonstrate the operation of the A1 interface as defined by the O-RAN Alliance. This Is the first 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 RAN intelligent controller (RIC).

RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) is one of the key elements in the O-RAN architecture, which allows feeding an „external” intelligence into the operations of the radio network. It creates a platform for which the software companies could provide per-use case AI-powered algorithms to make way for, among others, radio resources usage or procedure optimizations. This whitepaper provides an overview of the RIC, discusses its functional split into Non-Real-Time and Near-Real-Time entities along with the concept and examples of rApps and xApps.

RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) is to enable abstracting out part of functionality from the eNB or gNB that was traditionally hosted at the base station in the form of xApps or rApps in the O-RAN architecture. The functions, to which we relate here in the RAN domain include e.g., mobility management or interference management. The decisions are made in the xApps, and RIC then enforces policies towards the RAN elements and controls them using the open interface, namely E2. In this post, we elaborate on the RIC, its functional split, xApps, and rApps.

The goal of Non-RT RIC is to support intelligent RAN optimization by providing policy-based guidance, model management, and enrichment information to the Near-RT RIC function so that the RAN can be optimized. Non-RT RIC works within the management plane and operates on seconds and minutes timescale. In this post, we provide the architecture of the Non-RT RIC and discuss the example applications, called rApps.

In the past couple of months, we delivered several webinars together with Intelefy University related to Open RAN. In this post, you can find the collection of them, in the particular order, where the first one serves as an overview and high-level discussion, whereas the next ones dig more and more into details of O-RAN, as specified by O-RAN ALLIANCE.