Project Coordinator (EU) :
Allbesmart LDACountry of the EU Coordinator :
PortugalProject participants :
EU team – Allbesmart LDA:
Paulo Marques received his Ph.D from the University of Aveiro (Portugal) – 2007 in Wireless Communications. He led the European R&D projects COGEU (Cognitive radio systems for efficient use of TV white spaces in the European context) and CRS-I (Cognitive Radio Standardization initiative). He is a coauthor of the IEEE P1900.6 spectrum sensing standard and an active member of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) in the RRS WG. He is the author/co-author of more than 70 scientific publications. Role in the project: project coordinator.
Roberto Magueta received his Ph.D from the University of Aveiro (Portugal) – 2020 in Wireless Communications. His thesis — “Hybrid precoding and equalizer techniques for 5G mmWave and massive MIMO based wireless systems” was distinguished with the Best Iberian PhD Thesis award by the Iberian Association for Information Systems and Technologies (AISTI). Since June 2019 Roberto is a software radio engineer in Allbesmart working on 5G NR projects and contributing to OpenAirInterface software developments. Role in the project: researcher, development of O-RAN interfaces in OpenAirInterface.
Luís Pereira received his MSc in Software Engineering and BSc in Telecommunications Engineering from the Instituto Politécnico de Castelo Branco (Portugal). He has more than 7 years of experience in developing software solutions for various kinds of systems, including software defined radios and deeply embedded real-time systems. In Allbesmart since 2015, he has developed a deep understating of the 3GPP protocol stack, and he is an active contributor to OpenAirInterface, especially on the MAC layer of 5G NR SA. Role in the project: researcher, test and integration of the OpenAirInterface code developed in the project.
US team – Virigina Tech:
Lingjia Liu (PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering – Principal Investigator): He is a Professor in the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech and is also the Associate Director of Wireless@Virginia Tech a university research center focuses on wireless communications. He is an Elected Member on the Executive Committee of the National Spectrum Consortium and is an expert in 5G networks and machine learning with 200+ publications in leading journals and conference proceedings. Role in the project: coordinator of the US team.
Lianjun Li received the B.S. degree in telecommunications engineering from Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China, and the M.S. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA. He is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree with Virginia Tech. Role in the project: researcher, development of near- real- time RIC Apps, powered by ML/ AI, and focusing on multi- user scheduling to improve network efficiency and resiliency.
Shadab Mahboob received the B.S. degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh in September 2017, and the M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY, USA in December 2021. He has been currently pursuing his Ph.D. degree in Virginia Tech since Spring 2022. Role in the project: researcher, experimental validation of RIC Apps powered by ML/AI in the CCI xG testbed.
State of US partner :
VirginiaStarting date :
Experimental validation of 5G Open RAN architecture evolution based on OpenAirInterface
Experiment description
The practical experimentation with cellular networks has been historically reserved exclusively to network equipment vendors and telecommunication operators, primarily due to high equipment costs and licensing constraints. In recent years, the state of play has been changing with the advent of open- source 3GPP protocol stacks based on increasingly more affordable Software-Defined Radio (SDR) systems. In this context, the OpenAirInterface project emerges as the leading open-source initiative that provides a reference implementation of 5G base station (gNB), User Equipment (UE), and 5G core network, standard-compliant with 3GPP Release 15 and that runs on general- purpose x86 computing platforms along with off- the-shelf SDR hardware platforms. OAI distinguishes itself from other similar projects through its unique open- source license, the OAI public license v1.1 which was created by the OAI Software Alliance (OSA) in 2017. OAI is completely open-source and freely available on the EURECOM gitlab server. The OAI is in its origin a European project, established by EURECOM (France) and welcomes contributions to anyone who signs the license agreement. The OpenAirInterface code can be adapted to different use cases and deployment and new functionality can be implemented, making it an ideal platform for 5G and 6G collaborative research and innovation.
As networks evolve toward more disaggregated and virtualized environments, there are significant opportunities to optimize network operations. One of the central components within Open RAN architecture is the RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC), which provides an open hosting platform and is responsible for controlling and optimizing the RAN functions.
Allbesmart, an SME from Portugal, is an associated member and key contributor of the OpenAirInterface Alliance, actively contributing to developing the Open RAN interfaces in the open-source OAI code.
Virginia Tech, a top university in the US with extensive experience on 5G, has developed scientific research on RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) applications based on ML/AI optimization. VT is a Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) member, operating a state-of-art wireless xG Testbed.
In this context, the main goal of this experiment is to integrate the Open RAN interfaces implemented by Allbesmart (EU) with the RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) applications developed by VT (US) and validate its performance on top of the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative xG Testbed (US).
The current 5G supply chain is concentrated around a small number of vertically integrated, global infrastructure vendors. At the same time, the developing global geo- political situation highlights the risks associated with the current concentration of 5G network vendors. Trade restrictions are forcing sub-optimal decisions to be made and the ongoing threat of retaliation, from China, for example, risks cutting off supplies of vital components, potentially impacting
wireless services. Recognising these threats, many governments in the EU and the US are looking to stimulate a radical re- structuring of the 5G supply chain, where Open RAN disaggregation plays a significant role. In this context, this experiment will contribute to the common goal of European and US sovereignty in 5G technologies and beyond.
Impacts :
Impact 1: Enhanced EU – US cooperation in Next Generation Internet, including policy cooperation.
The current 5G supply chain is concentrated around a small number of vertically integrated, global infrastructure of vendors. At the same time, the developing global geopolitical situation highlights the risks associated with the current concentration of 5G network vendors. Trade restrictions are forcing sub-optimal decisions to be made, and the ongoing threatretaliation, from China, for example, risks cutting off supplies of vital components, potentially impacting wireless services. Recognising these threats, many governments in the EU and the US are looking to stimulate a radical restructuring of the 5G supply chain, where Open RAN disaggregation plays a significant role. In this context, this experiment has developed open-source O-RAN interfaces contributing towards the common goal of European and US
sovereignty in 5G technologies and beyond. The new product developed by Allbesmart, the OAIBOX – a 5G test network in a box, has been marketed with the “Made EU” label.
Impact 2: Reinforced collaboration and increased synergies between the Next GenerationInternet and the US Internet programmes.
This experiment has reinforced the collaboration and synergies with the CCI (Commonwealth Cyber Initiative), a well-funded programme by the Virginia State (US). The partner VT got funded by the CCI. There was no NSF funding in this experiment. Key statistics for CCI:
- 41 Higher education institutions
- $114.5m Total sponsored programs
- 320+ Researchers
Impact 3: Developing interoperable solutions and joint demonstrators, contributions to standards.
Open RAN provides Telcos with the opportunity to reduce network costs as it maximizes the levels of flexibility of RAN deployments and operations. However, a disaggregated RAN means that Telcos can expect more vendors and products in the ecosystem. The traditional system integrator needs to evolve to tackle not only the Open RAN challenges but also to secure the delivery of end-to-end network solutions, especially in a 5G context. Interoperability is a key element of O-RAN. Allbesmart wants to exploit this emerging market by acting as a solution integrator and an interoperability tester. Access to an O-RAN setup over the CCI xG Testbed is an excellent playground for experimentation and testing.
The O-RAN features developed and tested in this experiment are royalty-free, under the OAI Public License V1.1, as an enabler to test and validate O-RAN standardised interfaces andstarting point for developing commercial solutions.
Impact 4: An EU - US ecosystem of top researchers, hi-tech start-ups / SMEs and Internet related communities collaborating on the evolution of the Internet
The NGI Atlantic project has given the opportunity to Allbesmart to collaborate with Virginia Tech, a world-leading university in wireless communications. The expertise of the VT team in RIC ML/ AI applied to 5G network optimisation helped Allbesmart define the OAIBOX product roadmap.
The interaction with the vibrant ecosystem in VT and CCI has triggered EU-US collaborations and new business opportunities for Allbesmart, contributing to a long-term economic impact. The participation in the NGI Atlantic project has triggered several contacts with US companies such as Qualcomm, NVIDIA, AMD, NI and BATSWireless.
Moreover, thanks to the participation in NGIAtlantic.eu, Allbesmart has access to the state-of-art testbed provided by the CCI in the US. The 5G network and testing equipment availablethe CCI testbed is not usually available for an SME like Allbesmart.
Results :
In the following list we provide details on the results achieved in terms of KPIs.
- Number of functional O-RAN interfaces deployed in the CCI xG Testbed: 2.
- Minimum throughput of the 5G O-RAN implementation on top of the CCI xG Testbed: 350Mbit/s
- Number of new RIC applications (Appx) available in the OAI public repository: 2
- Number of joint scientific research papers submitted (experimental work): 1
- Number of hands-on workshop in VT dedicated to OAI and O-RAN demonstration of the experiment results: 1
- Number of participations and demonstrations in OpenAirInterface workshops: 2
- Number of business meetings between Allbesmart and companies from the CCI/VT (US) wireless ecosystem: 3.
The project’s outcome has reached the market of 5G testing solutions and, therefore TRL 9. The OAIBOX website (www.oaibox.com ) was launched on 8th Nov. It provides technical details of the OAIBOX product line and allows potential customers to ask questions and put orders. In the follow-up to the visit to the US for the OAI Workshop, the company BATSWireless (www.extendingbroadband.com) becomes the first client of the OAIBOX40 product.
Future Plan :
This experiment has integrated the Open RAN interfaces implemented by Allbesmart with the RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) applications developed by VT (US) and validated its performance on top of the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative testbed (US). The outcome of this experiment has contributed to the publicly available open-source OpenAirInterface software library with new O-RAN features and software tools towards an open and renovated 5G architecture. Thanks to the support of NGI-Atlantic, Allbesmart has developed the open-source 5G test network OAIBOX(www.oaibox.com). The OAIBOX product was launched in the OpenAirInterface Noth America workshop at Qualcomm in San Diego (California). The first client is the US company BATSWireless.
Allbesmart and the CCI will continue cooperating, using OAI as a platform for collaborative research in 5G and beyond. The OAIBOX product will continue to be validated by the CCI team as early adopters, and suggestions will be integrated into the new releases. Collaboration with a top university as VT was instrumental for the scientific credibility of the
OAIBOX product and in reaching the US market.
Key Results