White Paper

Communications Service Providers

Radio Access Network

Parallel Wireless Creates OpenRAN “ALL G” Radio Access Network Architecture

Parallel Wireless’s OpenRAN solution combines an OpenRAN controller with edge core, analytics, and hardware products for open standard virtual RAN. The virtualized solution utilizes Intel® architecture-based servers for performance.

Table of Contents

• The High Cost of Proprietary Wireless Networks. . . . . . . 1
• Complete OpenRAN Solution. . . . . 2
• OpenRAN Controller and Network Software Suite. . . . . 3
• Network Intelligence Software Module. . . . . . . . . . . 4
• Edge Core Software . . . . . . 5
• Deployment Scenarios. . . . . 6

Complete OpenRAN Solution

Mobile network operators have built their wireless radio access network (RAN) using proprietary equipment that is not interoperable nor upgradable. This has made expanding the network or moving to a new wireless generation costly and difficult. Now, as MNOs move to 5G, OpenRAN is an emerging option that promises an open network that supports all wireless generations (“ALL G”) and is upgradable !.

The High Cost of Proprietary Wireless Networks

2G networks started the mobile data revolution in the late 1980s with SMS and data speeds up to 64 kbps. That was followed by 3G networks in 2000, which introduced speeds of 2 Mbps and ushered the world into the smartphone era. Now, much of the world has 4G services with multimegabit services and is anticipating the promise of 5G with tens or hundreds of gigabits of throughput.

One thing all these network generations have in common is that the transitions or expansions are difficult and expensive because of proprietary vendor designs that lock MNOs into a particular architecture and make interoperability very difficult. This is especially true in the RAN part of the network as is evidenced by radio towers filled with antennas and RAN equipment from different vendors and different generations.

Radio signal processing is compute intensive and complex, and it must be done in real-time, which has required dedicated servers with specialized ASICs and optimized software. Because of these requirements, RAN consumes most of the capital expense that goes into a wireless network.

• Some tier 2 and tier 3 MNOs in high ARPU markets need to expand, but the vendor lock-in makes it hard to price services to get a return on investment. These carriers, mostly rural, have smaller customer bases on which to amortize their network investments, but still face service pricing pressure from larger carriers.

• All carriers are facing a competitive pricing model and a demand for new services to support IoT and other 5G use cases like eMBB and URLLC. In these situations, both the cost of proprietary network architectures as well as the long timelines for upgrades cause significant issues.

OpenRAN Controller and Network Software Suite

There are two main organizations driving open RAN:

• Telecom Infra Group (TIP), whose main objective is the deployment of fully programmable RAN solutions based on GPPP/COTS and disaggregated software. The OpenRAN project group focuses on defining and building 2G, 3G, and 4G RAN solutions, while the OpenRAN 5G NR group is focusing on defining a white box platform for a 5G NR access point that is easy to configure and deploy.

• The O-RAN Alliance is the other main driver of the OpenRAN concept, focused on efforts to standardize interfaces. The alliance was founded in 2018 by AT&T, China Mobile, Deutsche Telekom, NTT DOCOMO, and Orange.

OpenRAN-based networks are built using network elements with open interfaces, white-box Intel® architecture standard servers, and standardized interfaces that deliver intelligence and openness. This architecture allows an MNO to combine baseband units, radio units, and remote radio heads from any vendor into a single network, replacing the end-to-end vendor lock-in that occurs with today’s proprietary and vertically integrated networks.

Parallel Wireless has adopted the Intel FlexRAN Reference Software architecture as its path forward to 5G and virtual Open RAN. The two companies are working together to have an available, 5G OpenRAN product within 2020.

Network Intelligence Software Module

The Parallel Wireless Network Intelligence Software Module consists of real-time SON features as shown in Figure 1 as “resource management” functionality under real-time controller supporting ALL G networks. The features of the module simplify deployment and ongoing operations via automated maintenance, network orchestration for real-time optimization, and analytics. Combined, these features provide real-time insights into network health and automated service optimization.

Edge Core Software

The Parallel Wireless Edge Core solution provides the ability to deploy distributed core with flexibility to distribute the different functions across the network as per the needs of use cases, including:

• Converged Edge solution for 4G/5G, Wi-Fi, fixed access.
• Significant latency reduction for offloaded traffic, crucial for low-latency 5G traffic.
• Value-added services, including Gi-LAN-enabled services offered at the network edge.
• Allows the launch of value-added use cases and services to end-users.

Deployment Scenarios

The overall solution is compliant with ETSI’s NFVI architecture, agnostic to the underlying data center infrastructure, so can use any Intel architecture-based server. The solution has been certified and deployed with all major market-leading hypervisors.

Examples of deployment scenarios include:

• Coverage: providing new RAN coverage to areas without mobile service.
• Capacity/Densification: adding capacity to existing 2G/3G/4G networks.
• Network modernization: replacing outdated legacy technologies with newly virtualized functions, along with newer technologies like 4G and 5G.
• Network expansion: deploying Parallel Wireless Open RAN solution to extend and expand coverage as an addition to an existing network.

Conclusion

Parallel Wireless’s OpenRAN solution combines open standards with a full range of functionality to enable a complete vRAN to support the move to 5G or the expansion of any “G” networks. The solution is able to replace the most compute-sensitive part of a wireless network with software running on general-purpose servers powered by Intel architecture CPUs for network scalability, agility, and low capital expense costs.