vRAN and Open RAN - The Dawn of the Era of Open, Virtualized Networks

5G remains the most anticipated mobile communications generation till date. The potential, the allure and the feeling of being at the cutting edge of technology; nothing can beat that. 5G might be overhyped, but what is not is the way by which it is being deployed; over Open RAN and vRAN. These technologies form the heart of commercial 5G networks across the world.

These type of networks work to democratize the network equipment space for network service providers. Right now, telcos and other network service providers need fast deployment with minimal downtime. The COVID-19 pandemic has seen the demand for reliable networks skyrocket. As such, having a flexible and reliable network is key to stay competitive in the market.

Since 5G will have to support higher mobile and device density, vRAN and subsequent applications are highly important. Also, with a huge variety of use cases such as IoT, Industry 4.0 and so on, VFNs might just solve the limits that physical network functions have.

vRAN - Network on the Cloud

vRAN, or Virtualized Radio Access Network, is what makes Open RAN possible. Or, more precisely, all the virtualized RANs, which consist Open RAN, 5G RAN and C-RAN, all fall under the vRAN umbrella. Following are the key parts of any access technology:

• The hardware includes the nodes’ antennas, radio units, and baseband units.
• These antennas send data to the radio unit. The radio unit further converts the data to a digital format which the baseband unit can understand.
• Usually, RAN software includes network functions for handling data transmission. These also include applications to ensure QoS, execute signal handover and perform management.

Network Virtualizations help disaggregate functions, and where they run, making the architecture more flexible. The question that arises is, what is network virtualization?

In vRAN, a network service provider can deploy all the RAN network functions on cloud platforms by virtualizing them. As such, vRAN has the benefits of the cloud and allows network service providers to take a platform-centric approach by deploying RAN network functions on an agile, scalable and hybrid platform on common-off-the-shelf hardware. This further allows telcos to cut costs.

Moreover, most vRAN solutions come with a variety of automation software. These softwares allow the network operators to automatically monitor key performance metrics. A network operator can then rebalance the workload and simplify maintenance.

It is particularly important in the case of 5G and beyond. As demand on network capacity increases, hardware will find it harder and harder to meet the demand; vRAN moves the controller functions of today’s hardware base stations to centralized servers, bringing them closer to the edge of a network to allow operators to pool and adjust radio resources to better accommodate for user traffic.

How Does vRAN Work?

vRAN is the next logical step in the evolution of mobile networks. The networks of today are driven by hardware; vRAN will take everything to the cloud. Majority of the network functions that use hardware, can achieve more on software. This move is history repeating itself; a similar hardware-to-software shift has already come to IT networks.

Networks operators need more centralization - they seek ways to introduce new features and services faster, with an overall better, more flexible network.

Intel's vRAN Architecture

Basically, a virtualized network solution moves all the network functions to the cloud. This brings the network administrators closer to the edge, where they can use the network's scalability and flexibility to tweak network as per the demand and requirements. Cloud applications satisfy the need of centralization, while also allowing network administrators to automate network monitoring, optimization, signal handover, and performance management.

Also, by bringing everything closer to the edge, the telcos can finally use the huge amounts of data that is being generated there.

Therefore, all virtualized networks offer the cutting edge of innovation in networking to deliver massive scalability, flexibility and ease-of-use to network service providers.

What is Open RAN?

Simply put, Open RAN is RAN with open interfaces. Currently, network providers have to use all equipment and software from the same vendor across their network. Therefore, a few RAN vendors supply to every network service providers. Further, legacy RAN infrastructure lacks the necessary scalability and flexibility to support most commercial 5G networks.

In comes Open RAN. It has been designed to help provide interoperability for RAN elements, which include non-proprietary white box hardware and software from different vendors. It, then, allows the network service providers to "mix and match", in a sense, for the solutions that work best for them. Open RAN makes use of Virtualized RAN principles and moves most of its network on the cloud.

In short, the target of Open RAN remains disaggregation - opening the playing field to multiple vendors to innovate.

Recently, many of the telecom service providers, having realized the need of fast network deployment, interoperability and disaggregation, have advocated Open RAN as the preferred access technology for 5G networks. In case of India, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio already have been elected members of the O-RAN Alliance.

Sanjay Bakaya, Country Head - India & Regional Vice President- India & South Asia, Mavenir, said, "India is waiting for a new era to begin with 5G around the corner. CSP’s in India have signed up to Open RAN as it will bring flexibility and control of the network into their hands".

He added, "in addition, lower TCO and new use cases to monetize their assets more efficiently. The embracing of Open RAN architecture by the Indian market including the complete value chain will result in opening new doors for Indian software, equipment makers, and MSI’s to capture a significant size of the growing global 5G market footprint in a very short timeframe".

Open RAN Architecture by O-RAN

Saves Money, Deploys Faster - The Benefits of Virtualized Networks

Virtualized RAN technologies have become a huge disruption in the way network operators set their networks up. Existing vendors like Intel and VMware are already working to show the benefits of integrating multiple RAN elements. So far, they have shown that it leads to increased efficiency, improved performance, and lower latencies, just as a start. Intel and VMware and both working on their Open RAN solutions - Intel's FlexRAN and VMware's RAN Intelligent Controller.

Open RAN bases itself fundamentally on network virtualization. As such, these Open RAN standards bring a variety of benefits, such as:

• Increased Choice: it gives companies more choice in RAN elements. A network operator has to go with proprietary hardware and software. This usually becomes quite expensive. However, with Open RAN, operators can go with a multi-vendor catalog of equipment, which can help them tailor-make their networks. What this ultimately means is that a network operator no longer has to have a total vendor lock-in; companies now can go outside of one vendor's equipment and mix and match to what they deem the best solutions.
• Accelerates Time-to-Market: With a virtual network, network service providers can reach the market faster than ever before. Since the network is now hardware-based, it will take significantly less time; an operator can bring a new feature in minutes by updating the network's Functions remotely.
• Improved Automation and Visibility: With a virtualized network, there are several applications a network service provider can run to better automate their networks. What's more, network administrators can also take advantage of the better network visibility Open RAN architecture provides.
• Increased Competition in the Network Equipment Market: Since network operators don't have to rely on one vendor anymore. Therefore, Open RAN will attract new vendors to the market, increasing competition and ultimately benefiting the customers.

But, There's a Catch

Only a small portion of the network operators across the world use open RAN interfaces and elements. As such, before anything, these need to see widespread adoption by major vendors. Right now, the only large scale access that uses Open RAN tech is Rakuten's LTE RAN in Japan. The O-RAN alliance have pledged adoption by its founding and elected members (including Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel), however, it needs to prove itself.

Another major issue that can arise is that when anything goes wrong, network operators will have to first isolate the element that has caused the issue, and then reach out to the vendor for IT support, which costs time and money. However, if a company has a locked-in vendor, that IT support comes fast. Also, and this is something that is very possible, vendor may just cite "integration issues" to pass the blame around, further delaying support.

Thirdly, interoperability is still at a nascent stage in Open RAN and vRAN technologies. For that, it needs wide adoption and participation in open RAN elements and interfaces. In the absence of adoption, the best we can hope for is inconsistent integrations across vendors and an imperfect interoperability.

Therefore, the process is simple for Open RAN - get more companies on board to get more companies on board.

The Future of Networks is in the Cloud

It was around two decades ago when the first distributed RAN was designed. Since then, cellular industry has seen a boom that few would have foreseen. As such, this exponential growth has left current architecture feeling a bit obsolete. Although legacy network has taken measures to bring some semblance of centralization, it does not address challenges TSPs face.

Telcos across the world has seen the demand surge torrentially, largely thanks to COVID-19 pandemic and the new use cases that it brought. Telcos have to manage more devices, more data usage, and more traffic in general. Along with this, TSPs also have to maintain revenue streams, get ARPU to a sustainable level, and cut costs to protect profits.

Virtualizing network functions can help. By bringing core NFV to the RAN, vRAN can help telcos reduce cost, increase capacity and reduce time-to-market. Open RAN is one of the key applications of vRAN. Along with C-RAN, and soon 5G RAN, networks are moving to the cloud faster, reaching more people, and supporting more traffic than ever before.

We are witnessing the dawn of a new era of virtualized networks, one that will lead network innovation for decades.