Category: Trends

This blog post discusses in detail two options for notification of the TS-xApp on the ES actions from the O-RAN specifications perspective. The first option is to utilize the A1 interface to send policies with a “FORBID” clause for cells that will be switched off, to indicate TS-xApp that users should be removed from this cell. The second approach is to utilize the E2SM-CCC, where the TS-xApp listens to the changes in O-CES Management Function.

3GPP Release-19 is the second release of the 5G-Advanced standard. Early workshops on this release were held in June 2023 discussing hundreds of submissions. The original assumption was that 3GPP Rel-19 would primarily focus on investing in the 5G-Advanced commercial deployments to further improve performance and address critical needs. In this post, we’re elaborating on the contents of the selected WIs and SIs to be incorporated within 3GPP Rel-19 as of December 2023.

In this blog post, we show how the utilization of both Traffic Management rApp and Traffic Steering xApp could help in V2X scenarios. We also emphasize the use of enrichment information, made available through O-RAN, that suits specifically to vehicular services, such as car platoon geolocation or emergency situation notifications. The flexibility offered by the O-RAN architecture allows for optimized resource management through policy control in companion with EI when dynamic changes occur on the road. This is analyzed within the context of specific O-RAN use cases related to V2X.

Recently, security has been pointed out as one of the critical aspects moving forward within the O-RAN domain. Expanded threat surface, as well as specific security challenges and opportunities, have been identified. This whitepaper provides an overview of security topics in O-RAN, specifically in 5G/6G mobile radio networks. We also consider artificial intelligence embedded in the network edge as a great tool to support security. We present some xApps applied to detect and mitigate example attacks. Conclusions and a discussion on the directions of future developments follow this.

Deployment scenarios that the O-RAN ALLIANCE specifies, define how to compose the elements of O-RAN architecture in the actual deployment in the network within the cloud and physical locations. One of the key aspects is that the general split from the deployment perspective is the open Fronthaul, with the the separation between O-Cloud deployed entities, and the PNF, for O-RU component. In this blog post, we are providing an overview of different scenarios and deployment options as presented in the O-RAN resources.

This year, the most crucial topics for further development in O-RAN are security and energy efficiency. In this blog post, we investigate how different players of the O-RAN ecosystem look at the security topic. Those include O-RAN ALLIANCE, the telecommunication business (including operators and providers), governmental bodies, IEEE, and academic researchers.