The O-RAN Alliance’s architecture for an open, disaggregated RAN breaks the mold for how mobile operators construct radio access networks. Instead of a closed monolithic architecture provided by a single vendor, the disaggregated design of O-RAN means that communications service providers (CSPs) can chose vendors from an open ecosystem to deliver a solution that best fits their needs. O-RAN has standardized the interfaces between RAN elements, allowing different vendors to work together while focusing on their unique strengths. Rather than being constrained by the capabilities of one vendor, telcos can benefit from the range of expertise and innovative capacity offered by multiple vendors in an open ecosystem.

VMware and IS-Wireless, a leading RAN vendor, have collaborated on a number of different projects that demonstrate the value that O-RAN brings to CSPs.

IS-Wireless develops and delivers 5G and 4G Radio Access Network (RAN) solutions. The company is engaged in multiple deployments worldwide, including at hub4industry where together with hubraum, the tech incubator of Deutsche Telekom, it delivered an industry-grade private 5G network in Poland for Industry 4.0. Other deployments include Digital Catapult, the UK authority on advanced digital technology. In November 2021, IS-Wireless was  recognized as one of a few European Open RAN vendors in a report produced by several European telco operators; see “Building an Open RAN Ecosystem for Europe.” IS-Wireless is a member of the O-RAN Alliance. VMware is also a member of the O-RAN Alliance.

VMware Telco Cloud Platform RAN is a cloud-native RAN solution that is designed specifically for running RAN functions. It provides a RAN modernization path for CSPs evolving from legacy Radio Access Networks (RAN) to virtualized RAN (vRAN) and on to Open RAN. VMware Telco Cloud Platform RAN is powered by field-proven virtualization, carrier-grade Containers as a Service (CaaS), and cloud-smart automation.

Working Together to Showcase O-RAN Programmability

By working together, VMware and IS-Wireless have drawn on the core capabilities of each company to create new solutions that illustrate how operators can benefit from the move to the O-RAN architecture.

One such solution that the companies have developed allows CSPs to offer enterprise customers RAN slices with guaranteed SLAs in a dynamic, highly efficient manner. The solution exploits the programmatic capability of an O-RAN compliant network to allocate RAN Slices dynamically based on demand from enterprise-customer users. 5G network slicing is a technology that allows CSPs to offer dedicated RAN slices to different enterprise customers. Each slice is an independent logical network sharing the same underlying resources as other slices as well as normal consumer subscribers.

RAN slices are an attractive solution for both enterprises and CSPs: Enterprises get access to a secure network with guarantees of access and bandwidth for their employees and devices; CSPs get a premium, revenue-generating service offering.

The challenge for CSPs, however, lies in how to guarantee the SLAs that enterprises demand when signing up to the service without impacting the service offered to other subscribers. Enterprises will, of course, expect full access to their slice 24/7 at the contracted bandwidth. But RAN resources are limited, and the success of a telco’s business is based on its ability to monetize resources efficiently while signing up as many enterprise and retail consumers as possible. They need to service as many customers as they can without compromising on quality.

The solution developed by VMware and IS-Wireless uses the RAN programmability delivered by VMware Distributed RIC to monitor and dynamically control resources available to RAN slices to meet the SLAs negotiated with enterprise customers. The concept is simple and effective: Based on real-time traffic conditions per cell as reported by O-RAN compliant IS-Wireless software libraries, a PRB Allocation xApp residing on VMware Distributed RIC changes allocates Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs) on each cell to deliver the per-UE minimum throughput required under an SLA while optimizing the use of resources. When enterprise users aren’t present in the coverage area, RAN resources can be reassigned for general subscriber use.

Demonstrating the Benefits of Open RAN

VMware and IS-Wireless have also been working to demonstrate the benefits of O-RAN  without any loss of efficiency or performance. The two companies have deployed IS-Wireless’ O-RAN compliant Distributed and Centralized Units on minimal hardware using a real-time operating system and then taken advantage of the orchestration and automation functionality of VMware Telco Cloud Platform RAN. The solution was based on a single node Kubernetes cluster deployed on Photon OS, with orchestration and automation for CNF lifecycle management provided by the VMware Telco Cloud Automation product. In a lab test environment, VMware Telco Cloud Automation onboarded the CNFs for the IS-Wireless Centralized Unit (CU) and Distributed Unit (DU) and instantiated them with user-supplied configurations. In our test deployments, it takes 10-20 minutes to get a fully functional RAN ready to serve end users.

VMware and IS-Wireless are demonstrating their collaborative solutions at a proof-of-concept project at a European Tier 1 carrier.

“The work we are doing with IS-Wireless is a perfect example of what can be achieved by companies that embrace O-RAN as a means of bringing combined solutions to market that leverage the unique capabilities of each participant,” said Lorcan Burke, Global Field CTO for Service Providers at VMware.

According to Rafal Sanecki from IS-Wireless, “The VMware solution including the platform and cloud infrastructure combined with our Open RAN products creates new opportunities for CSPs to monetize their RAN. Such opportunities simply do not exist in a legacy network provided by a single vendor.”

Paving the Way toward a New Era of Efficiency and Service Offerings

Find out how VMware and IS-Wireless are helping mobile operators take advantage of the open RAN ecosystem to transform their radio access networks and enter a new era of efficiency and service offerings:

• VMware Telco Cloud Platform RAN — the VMware cloud-native platform for RAN elements
• IS-Wireless product information