Evolving Open RAN Interoperability: A Large-Scale Definition

Published

August 12, 2024

Author(s)

Azizollah Kord, Jason Coder, Vu Le

Abstract

Open RAN technology has tremendous potential to spur innovation, increase competition and flexibility, and reduce the cost of cellular systems. Today, the interoperability of the Open The RAN ecosystem is one of the most significant challenges facing this technology. It is potentially keeping it from being accepted by cellular providers and businesses. This paper intends to define Open RAN interoperability scientifically and comprehensively. This new definition of interoperability aims to help consolidate the numerous definitions that exist today and lay the groundwork for new measurement methods that can be used to quantify the interoperability of hardware and software. We leverage pieces of definitions from existing Open RAN sources and then expand the definition to promote large-scale testing. Ideally, the community will develop interoperability definitions and test methods that enable vendors to assess the interoperability of their devices independently of other parts of the network. For example, vendor "A" could determine its ability to interoperate with Vendor "B" without touching Vendor "B's" device. The definition of interoperability in Open RAN should rely on measurable key performance metrics to quantify the level of interoperability between different components and systems within an Open RAN network by varying parameters within the system. The definition presented here will reduce the misunderstanding among Open RAN commercial entities, standards bodies, and researchers and provide a foundation for new measurement methods.

Proceedings Title

IEEE Globecom 2023

Volume

1

Issue

Print on Demand(PoD) ISBN:979-8-3503-0406-0

Conference Dates

December 4-8, 2023

Conference Location

Denver, CO, US

Pub Type

Conferences

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1109/ICCWorkshops59551.2024.10615745

Local Download

Keywords

Open RAN, Inter operability, 5G, TIP Group, O-RAN alliance, Base station, O-DU, O-CU, O-RU

Citation

Kord, A. , Coder, J. and Le, V. (2024), Evolving Open RAN Interoperability: A Large-Scale Definition, IEEE Globecom 2023, Denver, CO, US, [online], https://doi.org/10.1109/ICCWorkshops59551.2024.10615745, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=956261 (Accessed October 7, 2025)