Rakuten Mobile will share results from its RIC experimentation with the O-RAN Alliance and the Open Test and Integration Centre (OTIC) in Japan
Rakuten Mobile has announced plans to conduct R&D on RAN intelligent controllers (RICs) at Japan’s Yokosuka Telecom Research Park to advance the development of open telecom technologies.
Specifically, the facility — which is set up with Rakuten Mobile’s fully virtualized cloud-native mobile network — will be used to verify improvements in network efficiency, power saving and security enhancements, according to the company. The facility, it continued, will provide equipment manufacturers from around the world remote access to verify open RAN integration and conduct RIC proof-of-concept testing. Further, because the facility’s Open RAN integration emulator software runs on a general-purpose server, other research facilities worldwide will be able to access it.
The RIC is an essential component of the Open RAN architecture and it includes a Distributed Unit (DU) software function, multi-RAT CU protocol stack, a near-real time RIC and orchestration/NMS layer with Non-Real Time RIC. The functionality of the RIC is implemented as Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) or containers in cloud computing. These software functions interact with Radio Unit (RU) hardware for maximum RAN optimization and efficiency. The RIC comprises both non-real-time (non RT) and near-real-time (near RT) components, both of which manage separate functions of the RAN. While the non-RT RIC manages events and resources with a response time of one second or more, the near RT RIC manages and events and resources requiring a faster response down to 10 milliseconds (ms).
For further background on the role of the RIC in an Open RAN architecture, read the following:
- What is the RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC)?
- What is the innovative potential of Open RAN? It’s all about the RIC
- Open RAN—near-real-time RIC vs. non-real-time RIC
Rakuten Mobile said it will share what information it gathers from its testing with the O-RAN Alliance and the Open Test and Integration Centre (OTIC) in Japan.
