Keysight P8828S RICtest - RAN Intelligent Controller Test Solutions
Highlights
The role of RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) and its applications is telemetry collection and analysis for live delivery of remediations and optimizations that improve and enhance network event outcomes. For xApps and rApps to be successful, the platform’s components must be interoperable with robust vertical integration that supports anticipated production levels of messaging. The xApps and rApps themselves also must be validated, with modeled measurements and workflow execution that proves protocol behaviors and adherence to standards.
The role of Service Management Orchestration (SMO) in this context is integral to RAN management and Key Performance Indicator (KPI) visibility. The O1 interface provides means for SMO to collect telemetry for use by rApps as well as manage the O-RAN elements’ configurations and operations. Validation of the SMO’s operations on behalf of the Non-Real-Time RIC ensures support for methods required by O1-based rApps that can optimize performance, remediate misconfigurations, and improve efficiency.
Ensuring that RIC, SMO, and Applications are ready for production deployment requires assessment in areas of performance, conformance, interoperability, and use case validation. Such assessment done at scale has challenges. It is impractical to do testing with a test bed of real UEs and RAN components connected to a core network. A test setup with real O-RAN components, UEs, and a core network to generate test data would be very expensive and difficult to operate.
- Simulate O-RAN nodes with E2 and O1 interfaces serving a large number of UEs distributed across multiple cells
- Configure traffic patterns and mobility scenarios, testing AI/ML processing of xApps and rApps through the delivery of modeled measurements
- Validate O-RAN RAN Intelligent Controller functionality and performance
- Highly scalable with support for large RAN topology (e.g. hundreds of cells, O-CUs and O-DUs, O-gNBs and O-eNBs)
- Conformance test for Near Real-Time RIC, Non-Real-Time RIC, and E2-aware O-RAN nodes
- Software-only solution (hardware optionally available)
5G functionalities like radio access network (RAN) functional splits, control plane and user plane separation (CUPS) and network slicing require advanced monitoring and analytical capabilities to configure, optimize, and control the RAN infrastructure at the edge.
The RAN intelligent controller (RIC) functional entity provides advanced control capabilities, enabling increased efficiency and better radio resource management by leveraging analytics and data-driven operations to optimize access network utilization. The RIC consists of a near-real-time controller (NearRT RIC) that implements functionalities requiring low latency and a non-real-time controller (Non-RT RIC) for operations without stringent latency needs. The Near-RT RIC software platform provides a cloudbased infrastructure to host various applications (xApps) for controlling a distributed set of RAN elements (O-eNB, O-gNB, O-CU-CP, O-CU-UP, O-DU) over the E2 interface from the O-RAN ALLIANCE. The Non-RT RIC is a component service of the Service Management Orchestration (SMO) that also hosts applications (rApps) capable of modifying operational parameters for these RAN elements.
For the RAN condition to be improved, the vertical integration - from the RAN Nodes to the SMO and Policy Management must be successful. Bringing the relevant systems into the lab for performance, conformance, interoperability, and use case validation (including use of AI/ML in applications) is a first step to addressing these challenges. A test tool which can flexibly pivot at each challenge is required.
5G functionalities like radio access network (RAN) functional splits, control plane and user plane separation (CUPS) and network slicing require advanced monitoring and analytical capabilities to configure, optimize, and control the RAN infrastructure at the edge.
The RAN intelligent controller (RIC) functional entity provides advanced control capabilities, enabling increased efficiency and better radio resource management by leveraging analytics and data-driven operations to optimize access network utilization. The RIC consists of a near-real-time controller (NearRT RIC) that implements functionalities requiring low latency and a non-real-time controller (Non-RT RIC) for operations without stringent latency needs. The Near-RT RIC software platform provides a cloudbased infrastructure to host various applications (xApps) for controlling a distributed set of RAN elements (O-eNB, O-gNB, O-CU-CP, O-CU-UP, O-DU) over the E2 interface from the O-RAN ALLIANCE. The Non-RT RIC is a component service of the Service Management Orchestration (SMO) that also hosts applications (rApps) capable of modifying operational parameters for these RAN elements.
For the RAN condition to be improved, the vertical integration - from the RAN Nodes to the SMO and Policy Management must be successful. Bringing the relevant systems into the lab for performance, conformance, interoperability, and use case validation (including use of AI/ML in applications) is a first step to addressing these challenges. A test tool which can flexibly pivot at each challenge is required.
