Executive Summary

As Telecom companies assess a transition from 4G to 5G, they have realized that this is more complex than previous transitions. The networks will need to be high density and require huge capital expenditure commitments and coordinated efforts to integrate the ecosystem’s components.  Apart from cost optimization, carriers should be building partnerships and strong relationships with vendors, ecosystem partners, regulators, and even competitors in order to tackle myriad operational challenges. The operating model requires reinvention. To realize their ambitions, telcos need to map the new territory and address integration challenges. In order to solve these challenges, the operator community has come together to define Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) reference architecture to enable next generation Radio Access Network (RAN) infrastructures. Empowered by principles of intelligence and openness, the O-RAN architecture is the foundation for building the virtualized RAN on open hardware, with embedded AI-powered radio control. The architecture is based on well-defined, standardized interfaces to enable an open, interoperable supply chain ecosystem in full support of and complementary to standards promoted by 3GPP as well as other industry standards.  The key objective of the O-RAN initiative is to optimize the CAPEX spend on RAN infrastructure and accelerate innovation. While O-RAN embraces disaggregation and openness, it requires strong Software (SW) & Hardware (HW) integration capabilities to create carrier-grade RAN systems. 

The impact of 5G on Telcos

RAN | Challenges for 5G Adoption

Decisions on RAN expenditures are considerable, given the large number of tower sites and the need for a revamp of current systems. According to the results of McKinsey’s 2018 5G survey of CTOs of large telcos around the world, 5G rollouts will take until 2022, largely driven by network leadership, customer experience, and capacity expansion.

The forecasted increase in capacity density of 5G networks will result in more capacity per site in RANs, and a far denser grid of 5G base stations. The denser grid allows for the wireless backhaul of data from micro to macro cells since the demand on 5G infrastructure is distributed over many base stations. Therefore, data traversing the network has a shorter distance between the user and destination. 

Despite the upside scenario of lower latency and higher throughputs, there are certain challenges that Telcos need to face:

1. Security

The projected increase in connected devices will mean an increase in potential attack vectors. Until hardware manufacturers and software vendors consolidate standards and create a more mature ecosystem, telcos must facilitate security due-diligence during procurement and patching. A key differentiation will be to guarantee users a certain level of security by collaborating with partners and suppliers.

2. Tower Proliferation

Compared with earlier generations of cellular networking technologies, 5G towers emit higher radio frequencies at shorter wavelengths, which enables greater data throughput at the expense of a more limited range of coverage. For now, service providers are attempting to offer full coverage through increased numbers of base stations and the extension of 5G licenses into lower frequencies within the 5G bands.

3. Cost

There will be a significant expense in installing and maintaining a greater number of base stations, which will in turn be passed down to the consumer. This will prevent an end user from enjoying higher expected cost savings from economies of scale, automation, and service rate competition in the near term.

Current telecommunications network infrastructure requires significant upgrades to keep up with increasing network demand and consequently, operators will be compelled to evaluate new RAN technologies from various providers. Telco companies need to take into consideration how the disaggregation of software and hardware in 5G transport networks will affect their supply chains, as well as RAN virtualization – the deployment of flexible and automated RAN networks that are software-defined and cloud-native. The overall approach will need to be enabled and open by all players for partners to build an interoperable multi-vendor RAN ecosystem.

RAN Commoditization: Industry players form ecosystems and create best practices 

Open Radio Access Network or O-RAN is one of the largest industry alliances that transforms the industry toward an open, intelligent, virtualized, and fully interoperable RAN ecosystem. The adoption of this alliance by industry players has made O-RAN the foundation for future RAN.

O-RANs are built on a foundation of virtualized network elements, white-box hardware (since 2019, 17 players have demonstrated seven sets of POCs; field trials have already been started, pushing for commercialization in 2020), AI (targeting more efficient load balancing and improved UX) and standardized interfaces that fully embrace principles of intelligence and openness. 

The O-RAN Alliance’s work embodies two core principles:

1. Openness is a prerequisite to bring service agility and cloud-scale economics. Open interfaces are essential to enable smaller vendors and operators to introduce their own services or customize the network to suit their own unique needs. Open interfaces also enable multi-vendor deployments, allowing for a more competitive and vibrant supplier ecosystem. Similarly, open source software and hardware reference designs enable faster, more democratic and permission-less innovation. In theory, every architecture component could be open in every sense imaginable, but in practice, it is likely that different components will have varying degrees of openness due to economic and implementation considerations.
2. Intelligence is the enabler for dynamic local radio resource allocation and optimizer of network-wide efficiency. Networks will become increasingly complex with 5G. Therefore, they should be able to leverage new learning-based technologies to automate operational network functions and reduce OPEX by leveraging deep-learning techniques to embed intelligence in every layer of the RAN architecture.

Deployment Challenges

The O-RAN Alliance only provides functional compliance to the specifications of components. The requirement of stakeholders is verification, integration, interoperability, and testing of the commoditized RAN components to support a plug-n-play model. Therefore, commoditization of services is not enough; efficient orchestration of the different components is necessary to guarantee stable networks.

Hence, the key success factors for a truly open RAN need to be collaboration under a strong ecosystem and multi-vendor interoperability achieved through solid integration capabilities from a player who leverages experience from RAN R&D and Open Source technologies.

Figure 1. – Summary of goals and challenges

How can Wipro help?

Wipro Value-Added O-RAN System integration service offerings

References

1. https://www.o-ran.org/
2. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/technology-media-and-telecommunications/our-insights/a-5g-manifesto-for-the-ceo

Ravi Emani

Distinguished Member of Technical Staff

Ravi Emani is a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff and is responsible for the NEPC (Network & Edge Providers and Consumer Electronics) Practice at Wipro. He has over 23 years' experience in the Telecommunications industry and is currently working on various 5G reference solutions.  He has experience in developing SW solutions in 2G/3G/4G RAN, Core, SDN, and NMS domains.

Neil Gomes

Consulting Partner, Technology Business Unit at Wipro

Neil Gomes is a Consulting Partner with the Technology Business Unit at Wipro. He has over 18 years of experience driving consulting and digital transformation initiatives, focused primarily on clients in the Hi-Tech Industry. Neil has a Master’s degree in Technology Management from Carnegie Mellon University and is also an APICS Certified Supply Chain Professional.

Themis Vagiakos

AWS Business Development Lead

Themis Vagiakos is an AWS Business Development Lead. He has been working for Wipro since July 2019, after completing his MBA at INSEAD. Prior to Wipro, Themis was engaged in initiatives across business strategy, corporate finance, and business development.

Michael Quarato

Member, Consulting, Implementation & Product Management, Wipro

Michael Quarato is part of the consulting, implementation & product management team at Wipro. Prior to Wipro, Michael was a product design engineer in the Aerospace and Defense industry, where he designed complex systems in the radar and microwave field. Michael earned his MBA from The New York University Stern School of Business in 2019, and Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology in 2007.