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04) JMA 5G Virtualized Control & User Plane CU, 5G mmWave solution with F1 interface, and 7-2x Open Fronthaul testing

Companies Participating
in this Scenario

JMA

SoftBank

MTI

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Testbed setup

The connection details of the hardware in the lab are here in the below network topology diagram.

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Device Under Test

  • Scenario 1: 5G Virtualized Control & User Plane CU testing

  • JMA fully-virtualized XRAN CU-CP and CU-UP connected through the 3GPP & O-RAN E1 interface
  • Scenario 2: 5G mmWave Solution with F1 Interface

  • JMA fully-virtualized XRAN CU-CP and CU-UP with F1 Interface
  • JMA IOTA mmWave Integrated RU/DU with F1 Interface
  • Scenario 3: 7-2x Open Fronthaul testing

  • JMA fully-virtualized XRAN LTE eNB
  • MTI 7-2x O-RU

Test scenarios introduction

Scenario 1: 5G Virtualized Control & User Plane CU testing

5G NR Control-User Plane Separation (CUPS) according to 3GPP & O-RAN E1 interface specifications, leveraging fully-virtualized XRAN 5G NSA CU-CP & CU-UP that abstract from any specific hardware, running with standard off-the-shelf servers.


R15 3GPP compliant NETCONF/YANG Management Interface and Data Model for seamless integration in EMS.


Demonstrated as part of end-to-end EN-DC call using LTE and 5G mmWave to commercial 5G UE


Full EN-DC 5G NSA end-to-end configuration including:


Virtualized XRAN 5G NSA CU-CP (E1, F1-C, X2-C)

Virtualized XRAN 5G NSA CU-UP (E1, F1-U, X2-U, S1-U)

XRAN fully-virtualized LTE BBU (4G anchor) with CellHub RU and X2 Interface to 5G NSA CU-CP and

CU-UP

IOTA mmWave Integrated DU/RU with F1 Interface to CU-CP and CU-UP

EPC Simulator

Commercial UE (Samsung Galaxy 5G S10)

Scenario 2: 5G mmWave Solution with F1 Interface

5G NR 3GPP & O-RAN midhaul Split Option 2 through F1 open and standard interface.


Demonstrated as part of end-to-end EN-DC call using LTE and 5G mmWave to commercial 5G UE


Full EN-DC 5G NSA end-to-end configuration including:


Virtualized XRAN 5G NSA CU-CP (E1, F1-C, X2-C)

Virtualized XRAN 5G NSA CU-UP (E1, F1-U, X2-U, S1-U)

XRAN fully-virtualized LTE BBU (4G anchor) with CellHub RU and X2 Interface to 5G NSA CU-CP and CU-UP

IOTA mmWave Integrated DU/RU with F1 Interface to CU-CP and CU-UP

EPC Simulator

Commercial UE (Samsung Galaxy 5G S10)

Scenario 3: 7-2x Open Fronthaul testing

Already deployed in several commercial networks, JMA XRAN fully-virtualized LTE eNB evolves towards O-RAN 7-2x fronthaul split with O-RU partners to demonstrate multi-vendor radio interoperability pursuing the vision of O-RAN ALLIANCE for a modern and open mobile network.


Full EN-DC 5G NSA end-to-end configuration including:


XRAN fully-virtualized LTE eNB BBU (7-2x O-RAN fronthaul)

PTP-aware network for the synchronization plane

MTI 7-2x O-RU

Testing Results/Summary

Scenario 1: 5G Virtualized Control & User Plane CU testing

Successfully connect UE to 5G NSA network using EN-DC

Successfuly pass simultaneous traffic over 4G and 5G NR mmWave links via EN-DC configuration with control messages exchanged over E1.

Successfully disconnect handset from EN-DC Network.

Scenario 2: 5G mmWave Solution with F1 Interface

Successfully connect UE to 5G NSA mmWave network via EN-DC.

Successfuly pass simultaneous traffic over 4G and 5G NR mmWave links via EN-DC configuration using open F1 interface for control and data.

Successfully disconnect handset from EN-DC Network.

Scenario 3: 7-2x Open Fronthaul testing

O-RAN conformance and interoperability test cases, including:
O-DU + O-RU synchronization using ITU-T G.8275.1 profile (LLS-C3)

O-DU synchronization using ITU-T G.8275.1 profile (LLS-C3)

Baseband and O-RU downlink testing with 3GPP test model

Benefits for the Industry

Scenario 1: 5G Virtualized Control & User Plane CU testing

  • Fully-disaggregated CU-CP/CU-UP can run in different servers, easy scaling from cloud-based to highly local frameworks perfectly suiting for URLLC/MEC applications.
  • Future plans:

    Simultaneous 5G NSA and SA for CU-CP and CU-UP

Scenario 2: 5G mmWave Solution with F1 Interface

  • Open Standards for Multi-vendor network interoperability to build-up a dynamic ecosystem.

    Seamless software upgrade from 5G NR NSA architecture to SA one.
  • Future plans:

    Based on market demands IOT tests with 3rd party equipment

Scenario 3: 7-2x Open Fronthaul testing

  • Open RAN ecosystem with no vendor lock-in components
  • Future plans

    Fully-integrated end-to-end LTE system architecture leveraging 7-2x O-RAN fronthaul, working together with severals O-RU vendors.