O-RAN: Analysis of Latency-Critical Interfaces and Overview of Time Sensitive Networking Solutions
Creators
Description
5G and B5G/6G foundations heavily rely on virtualization technologies, and virtualized Radio Access Networks (vRANs) are one of their major keystones. However, while vRANs have been traditionally suffering from significant hardware/software coupling, next generation vRANs aim for open, standardized interfaces and multi-vendor, interoperable components to enable truly flexible deployments following the cloud-native principles. In this line, the O-RAN Alliance is promoting a novel Open RAN architecture to further boost flexibility and cost efficiency. In order to reduce costs and effectively achieve the promised disaggregation levels, O-RAN must ensure shared, integrated transport networks in opposition to dedicated, over-provisioned links from traditional approaches. However, keeping deterministic performance requirements in such cost-effective networks (i.e., general-purpose Ethernet networks), especially in those interfaces that are time-critical, is a challenge. In this article, we review the most relevant Time Sensitive Networking (TSN) standards that may bring compelling benefits to O-RAN, (i.e., IEEE 802.1CM, IEEE 802.1Qbu and IEEE 802.1Qbv) for providing determinism over cost-efficient networks. We explore the design space for a TSN-enabled O-RAN architecture, reporting on the requirements and deployment options and finally, we discuss on the opportunities and challenges that O-RAN will face when adopting TSN technologies to fully open the vRAN ecosystem.
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oran_tsn_emunicio_COMSTD_Sept2023_authorVersion.pdf
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Additional details
Related works
- Is published in
- Journal: 10.1109/MCOMSTD.0001.2200041 (DOI)
Funding
- BeGREEN – Beyond 5G Artificial Intelligence Assisted Energy Efficient Open Radio Access Network 101097083
- European Commission
- DAEMON – Network intelligence for aDAptive and sElf-Learning MObile Networks 101017109
- European Commission
- Open6G: Open RAN Networks for Revolutionary 6G Systems TSI-063000-2021-3- Open6G
- European Union
Dates
- Accepted
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2022-12-23
- Available
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2023-10-19