Open RAN without arrière-pensée
Equipment vendor Ericsson claims to have solved the age-old Open RAN systems builder’s dilemma of wasted time and energy. It has added AMD and Dell Technologies to provide tightly integrated but open systems, and created an rApp system that automatically fine tunes networks for optimum energy efficiency.
On the hardware side, Ericsson is diversifying its Open RAN and Cloud RAN smörgåsbord with ingredients from US-based AMD and Dell. Its new AMD agreement aims to strengthen the Open RAN ecosystem and vendor-embrasive Cloud RAN to give communications service providers (CSPs) high performance without compromising their flexibility.
The Ericsson-AMD pact will create more processing technologies for the Ericsson Cloud RAN with both power, capacity and security through a joint exploration of AMD EPYC processors and T2 Telco accelerator for use in Cloud RAN systems, while also investigating how future generations of these technologies may evolve. Expanding the ‘ecosystem’ with new partners and technologies is one of the key drivers in Open RAN and Cloud RAN architectures, according to Freddie Södergren, Head of Technology and Strategy for Networks, Ericsson. “We are expanding our support and add more choices for our customers looking to advance their Cloud RAN and Open RAN journey,” said Södergren.
Telcos and RAN system builders want more options over processing and accelerator technologies said Kumaran Siva, Corporate Vice President, Strategic Business Development, AMD. Ericsson is officially adding Dell as a Cloud RAN infrastructure collaborator and supplier of Dell PowerEdge servers for its Cloud RAN offering. The collaboration with Dell will give Cloud RAN customers wider choice of infrastructure while ensuring telco-grade performance at the far edge. Ericsson and Dell will work together to add more resilience and interconnectivity to their Open RAN and Cloud RAN contributions.
Dell said its PowerEdge servers for Ericsson’s Cloud RAN are specifically designed for telecom, Open RAN and mobile edge-computing workloads. They aim to widen a telco’s options for Cloud RAN, with the promise of high performance, small form factors, resilience and interconnectivity with the larger network. Expediting the adoption of open and cloud RAN networks relies on collaborating with partners like Ericsson,” says Kyle Dufresne, Global SVP and GM, OEM Solutions, Dell Technologies. “With Dell PowerEdge servers supporting Ericsson’s Cloud RAN solution, network operators have the option can realize the value of open technologies, and quickly bring innovative and revenue generating solutions to market.”
Meanwhile Ericsson has unveiled new energy efficient designs for Open RAN architecture. Ericsson’s two new O-RAN Alliance-based RAN automation applications (rApps) will address energy efficiency as 5G ushers in a new breed of data hungry network services and applications. Radio access networks (RAN) will need to cope with many diverse use cases and devices while delivering the best user experience for each of them, and Ericsson has worked on tackling this challenge for them. Again, the massive variation of configurations creates more work for whoever has to manage the power consumption of the vast diaspora of machines. To manage this complexity profitably, service providers need to efficiently use limited resources. Ericsson has unveiled rApps* as a means to provide the tools and applications to manage the complexity.
An rApp is an application designed to run on the non-real-time RAN intelligent controller (Non-RT-RIC) to realise different RAN automation and management use cases, with control loops on a time scale of one second and longer. The Ericsson RAN Energy Control rApp provides an autonomous mechanism using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies with closed-loop automation. This mechanism autonomously determines which radio power-saving features per radio unit should be activated or deactivated every 15 minutes across the whole network on a radio unit-level of granularity. It also takes traffic impact into consideration using ML to ensure network performance is protected. This reduces the daily radio network energy consumption by up to 25 percent without impacting user experience.
The Ericsson RAN Energy Cockpit rApp makes savings ‘at scale’ by monitoring the energy performance of each radio unit and for the overall network. It does this by visualising the overall network’s energy efficiency in minute detail, automating the identification and isolation of causes of inefficiencies and resolution recommendations. “The new rApps are a significant step forward in supporting our customers with any network of their choice and building resilient, open, sustainable, and intelligent networks of the future,” said Ericsson’s Södergren.
Ericsson’s new energy efficiency-focused rApps will be delivered initially in the Ericsson Intelligent Automation Platform. Both rApps are cyclopedic and work on Open RAN designs using the O-RAN Alliance’s R1 interface. This gives service providers the flexibility to choose their desired network evolution path while automating their network with greater energy efficiency.