National Telecommunications and
Office of International Affairs
Information Administration
Open RAN Overview
USTTI Regulatory Best Practices, 5G Emerging
Technologies and Network Security Training
24 April 2023 | Bangkok, Thailand
Jaydee Griffith
jgriffith@[Link]
[Link]
What is NTIA?
NTIA is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce and serves as the President’s principal
advisor on telecoms and information policy issues.
Specific NTIA activities include:
• Managing Federal use of spectrum and identifying additional spectrum for commercial use;
• Administering over $48 billion in grant programs that further Americans’ access to broadband;
• Addressing 5G supply chain and competition issues through the administration of the $1.5B
Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund
• Leading Internet policy, including online privacy, copyright protection, cybersecurity, and the
global free flow of information online;
• Performing cutting-edge research and engineering; and
• Leading 5G supplier diversity through the 5G Supplier Diversity Working Group.
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Office of International Affairs
[Link]
Evolution to 5G
5G
• Move beyond
4G mobile
• Packet Switching broadband
3G • LTE • 5G NR
• Data Features
2G • EVDO
• Digital • EDGE
1G • CDMA
• Analog Cellular • GSM
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Office of International Affairs
[Link]
5G Today
5G development focused more on revolution
than evolution
• Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB)
• Ultra-reliable low-latency communication
(URLLC)
• Massive Machine-Type Communication (mMTC)
In reality:
• eMBB is the primary use case
• URLLC and mMTC are not yet as widespread
5G Varieties
• Non-standalone 5G
• Standalone 5G
Source: ITU
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Office of International Affairs
[Link]
5G Non-standalone (NSA)
3GPP Release 14
New 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) features
Leverages existing 4G core network
Stop-gap effort:
• 5G core network features were not yet ready
• Allows MNOs to leverage 5G features while waiting for 5G device availability and adoption
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Office of International Affairs
[Link]
5G Standalone
3GPP Release 15+
“True 5G”
Uses new 5G Core Network (5GCN), separated from existing 4G network
New features:
• Service-Based Architecture
• Network Slicing
• Multi-access Edge Compute (MEC)
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Office of International Affairs
[Link]
Breakdown of the 5G Stack
User Equipment (UE) Radio Access Network (RAN) Core Network (CN)
Base Band Unit (BBU)
Radio Unit (RU) Distributed Unit (DU) Centralized Unit (CU)
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Office of International Affairs
[Link]
What is your experience thus far
with 5G?
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Office of International Affairs
[Link]
Market Consolidation & Competition
2G/3G
4G
5G
Source: NetManias
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Office of International Affairs
[Link]
Market Barriers to Competition
Business Practices Technical Practices
•Regional Exclusivity Agreements •Closed, proprietary interfaces
•Intellectual Property Restrictions •Proprietary “Enhancements” to
•Price Dumping standardized interfaces
•Proprietary interfaces used in lieu of
“optional” standardized interfaces
Preventing Competition No Interoperability
The focus of today’s training
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Office of International Affairs
[Link]
5G Stack, Part Two
User Equipment (UE) Radio Access Network (RAN) Core Network (CN)
Generally Interoperable Generally Interoperable
Base Band Unit (BBU)
Radio Unit (RU) Distributed Unit (DU) Centralized Unit (CU)
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Office of International Affairs
[Link]
RAN Spend
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Office of International Affairs
[Link]
Definitions
Open RAN Virtualized RAN (vRAN)
The movement to create a market of open, Virtualized RAN, becoming less dependent on
interoperable, standards-based 5G RAN custom-designed and built hardware and
solutions using more commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS)
O-RAN computing products
Technology/specifications developed by the Cloud RAN (C-RAN)
O-RAN Alliance Cloud-based RAN, leveraging containerized
OpenRAN network functions to scale resources as-
needed on public or private cloud services
Project group in the Telecom Infra Project
(TIP), focused on testing and validation of Open vRAN/C-RAN
Open RAN solutions Application of vRAN or C-RAN in an Open RAN
environment
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Office of International Affairs
[Link]
What exposure have you had to
Open RAN?
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Office of International Affairs
[Link]
Virtualization vs Openness
Open-source RAN
Openness
Open RAN
vRAN
Virtualization
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Office of International Affairs
[Link]
vRAN & C-RAN Architecture
Virtualized RAN Cloud RAN
VM VM VM VM VM Container Container Container Container
Hypervisor Hypervisor Hypervisor Cloud Service
Server Server Server Server Server Server
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Office of International Affairs
[Link]
Virtualization Advantages
Disaggregate software and hardware
Leverage commercial off the shelf hardware
• Economies of scale
Leverage software development cycle
• Continuous Integration/Continuous Development (CI/CD)
• Faster time-to-market
“Build-to-suit”
• Purchase the resources you need, can always incrementally add more
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Office of International Affairs
[Link]
Cloud Advantages
Same as virtualization plus:
More network flexibility
• Only uses the resources you need
• Multi-use infrastructure – private cloud can be offered as MEC for customers
Network centralization in dense deployment environments
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Office of International Affairs
[Link]
Cloud and Virtualization Concerns
Energy Consumption vs Application Specific Hardware
COTS hardware requiring accelerator cards
• Open RAN specific accelerators
• GPU/FPGA acceleration
Security
• More touchpoints, more risk
Knowledge gap
• Telecom world vs IT world
Public cloud
• Cost
• Control
• Availability
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Office of International Affairs
[Link]
Organizations Involved
• Sets overall 5G NR • MNO-led • Originally setup by • Industry Organization
Specifications organization Facebook/Meta set up to work with
• Serves as overall • Sets O-RAN • Develops testing and governments to inform
baseline for O-RAN Specifications, some specifications for policies around Open
building upon 3GPP open and interoperable RAN and ways to
connectivity solutions incentivize innovation
• Focus on Open RAN and deployment
testing
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Office of International Affairs
[Link]
New Feature!
Source: O-RAN Software Community
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Office of International Affairs
[Link]
RAN Intelligent Controller
Non-Real Time RIC
• >1s response
• Part of Service Management and Orchestration Function
• rApps
• Use case example: dynamic cell loading/optimziation
Near Real Time RIC
• 10ms-1s response
• xApps
• Use case example: efficient use of spectrum and interference mitigation
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Office of International Affairs
[Link]
Challenges to Adoption
Legacy telecom approaches
• Security
• Deployment
• “The race to 2nd place”
Maturity of specifications/devices
Adoption/R&D cycle
Supply Chain Shortages
Workforce
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Office of International Affairs
[Link]
Open RAN Adoption Categories
Pilots & Trials
• Most major international carriers
Production Deployment
• New greenfield networks
DISH Wireless
Rakuten Mobile
1&1 Drillisch
• Existing brownfield networks
Vodafone UK
NTT Docomo
Tigo Colombia
Inland Cellular
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Office of International Affairs
[Link]
Open RAN Pilots & Trials
Source: Telecom Infra Project
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Office of International Affairs
[Link]
Adoption Case Study: DISH Wireless
Advantages:
• Fast deployment time & quick rollout
• Reduced physical footprint
• Better control of resources
• Equipment Source flexibility
Concerns:
• Network Performance
Unclear how much is Open RAN related vs using
bleeding-edge core network features (VoNR)
• “Early Adopter’s Tax” & Integration Difficulty
Source: Light Reading
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Office of International Affairs
[Link]
Adoption Case Study: Rakuten Mobile
Advantages
• Fast deployment time
• Reduced CAPEX and OPEX
40% Savings per site on CAPEX
30% Savings on OPEX
Reduced Staffing Footprint
• Flexible network deployment model
Concerns
• “It’s almost Open RAN”
• Self-developed solutions -> Rakuten Symphony
• Network Performance
Unclear if Open RAN related or due to spectrum availability
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Office of International Affairs
[Link]
Adoption Case Study: Tigo Colombia
Advantages
• Easier remote control and management
• More flexibility
• Performance comparable to traditional RAN
Disadvantages
• Some features not available (e.g. ICIC)
• Lack of multi-vendor certification
Netural
• Cost on-par with traditional RAN
• Power consumption similar to traditional RAN
NOTE: The Tigo deployment is a 4G Open RAN system
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Office of International Affairs
[Link]
Barriers to Adoption
Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt
• Interoperability
• Performance
• Security
Potential “interference” being conduced by traditional suppliers preventing progress
Lack of acceptance by traditional vendors -> difficult to interoperate
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Office of International Affairs
[Link]
National Telecommunications and
Office of International Affairs
Information Administration
Role of Governments in Open RAN
[Link]
Key Roles of Government with Open RAN
Regulatory
Policy
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Office of International Affairs
[Link]
Regulatory Role
Spectrum Assignments
• International Harmonization (ITU)
• Regional Harmonization (e.g. ATU, CITEL, etc.)
• Allocation (Unlicensed, Assigned Licensed, Auction)
• Flexibility in spectrum assignment
• Does the spectrum model make sense for the use case?
Device Type Acceptance
Operator Requirements
• Performance
• Coverage
• Facilities
Important to consider impacts on financial stability/survivability and flexibility for
innovation
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Office of International Affairs
[Link]
Policy
Domestic assistance in innovation and new technology
• FCC Innovation Zones
• NTIA Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund
• UK Future RAN Competition (UK FRANC)
• Tax breaks for innovators and early adopters (Japan)
International Cooperation; Examples:
• 2021 Prague Proposals on Telecommunications Supplier Diversity
Czech Republic, Australia, Canada, Japan, United Kingdom, United States, and Taiwan
• Quadrilateral Security Group (Quad; Australia, India, Japan, and U.S.)
• Bilateral Cooperation
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Office of International Affairs
[Link]