NIST says it will ‘enhance U.S. leadership in wireless technologies’ by joining O-RAN Alliance
Amid U.S. government interest in boosting the Open RAN ecosystem and diversifying telecom supply chains, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has joined the O-RAN Alliance.
“By joining the O-RAN Alliance, NIST will enhance U.S. leadership in wireless technologies and promote stable and diverse supply chains, which are a priority for this administration,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Laurie Locascio. “NIST will also promote open and transparent standards for 5G and other next-generation  wireless technologies to help ensure data privacy and protect against cyber threats.”
NIST, which supports research, development and testing across a variety of technological fields, already has an Open RAN program of its own and an Open 5G testbed at its Gaithersburg, Maryland campus, as well as an interoperability-focused testbed in Boulder, Colorado that had Open RAN capabilities added last year. Project research areas of focus for NIST include interoperability and optimization, such as developing machine-learning algorithms that will support network automation and RAN optimization and other tools to “enable network operators to optimize a multi-vendor Open RAN system and maximize performance.”
“NIST has unique capabilities for measuring the performance, security and interoperability of Open RAN systems,” Locascio said. “By participating in this alliance, NIST will help the community bring these standards to market more quickly.”
The U.S. government has sought to bolster the Open RAN ecosystem on a variety of fronts, including funding for Open RAN initiatives. The CHIPS and Science Act passed last year that was intended to support domestic tech development and manufacturing also included $1.5 billion for “promoting and deploying wireless technologies that use open and interoperable radio access networks.” The Biden administration has also worked to strengthen cooperation with allies on Open RAN support, such as the joint affirmation with the “Quad” countries (the U.S., Australia, India and Japan) in May of last year that included specific mention of 5G and Open RAN as areas of cooperation in the form of a Memorandum of Cooperation on 5G Supplier Diversification and Open Radio Access Networks. According to a joint U.S.-Australia statement in September 2022, that partnership includes “developing and strengthen practical cooperation in open, interoperable, and disaggregated telecommunications approaches, including as pertains to testing-related activities for Open Radio Access Networks (Open RAN)” and information-sharing on 5G testing-related efforts, potential joint activities and “increased collaboration on progress and findings in relation to the technical security of Open RAN.”
