5G Open RAN solution creates the right environment for IoT networks to thrive with new capabilities and revenue opportunities

The needs of the Internet of Things (IoT) have driven the growth of the microcontroller (MCU) market. Since 2015, the IoT trend has had a strong relationship with the MCU market. According to the research by Reports and Data, the IoT MCU market size is estimated to reach USD 5.93 billion at a CAGR of 13.10% by 2028. The increase in applications in microcontrollers is the primary reason for the market’s growth. The rise of IoT also drives the need to look for promising networking technology. Although the 4G networks were growing at a fast pace owing to their advantages, such as the ability to ensure low latency, provide greater bandwidth, and support a large number of IoT devices, the advancement of IoT requires the networking technology to expand its capabilities in growing complexities and their edge computing needs.

The main reason to choose Cellular Networks for IoT is its ubiquitous coverage – cellular coverage is nearly everywhere as mobile devices have been the driving force in building the infrastructure. However, one of the primary reasons not to use cellular for IoT was that cellular connectivity has historically been focused on range and bandwidth at the expense of power consumption, which means it drains battery rather quickly. IoT devices prefer battery-powered over plugged-in, especially we can see that the IoT chip makers are designed with low-power consumption in mind. The current challenging goals of IoT devices are to be less dependent on power consumption and deployment easiness. Less dependency to be tied to a power source means the freedom to expand the architecture designs of IoT networks. Operators of the cellular network always look for advantageous features such as improved reliability and lower support and hardware costs over other types of wireless technologies. From an optimistic perspective, the fifth-generation cellular network, 5G, would be the breakthrough of this cellular network dilemma and become less dependent on other constraints.

Most importantly, 5G provides high bandwidth, ultra-low latency, high reliability, and dynamic and reconfigurable factories. It could even create a promising industrial production environment for industrial IoT devices and substitutes for physical cable, notably, the Ethernet. In this article, I will explain how Open RAN in 5G is a key pillar of bringing the IoT market into a high-growth phase. It would become the transformative ingredient we’re all waiting for to push the evolution of digital transformation across the industries.

Understanding the 5G Cellular Networks

5G is the fifth generation of cellular networking based on a radio access network (RAN) that connects individual devices to other parts of a network through a radio link in a wireless telecommunications system. RANS began with its first-generation (1G) in 1979 and launched in Tokyo using analog radios and wireless technology. In 2G, a digital GSM network was launched in Finland, enabling people to send text messages for the first time and transfer data in 1991. In 3G, mobile internet access became possible in 2001 and delivered a download speed of 6 MB per second. Later, 4G LTE (Long-Term Evolution) was the first major cellular network spec to use IP for all data packets, including voice in 2009, and in 2013, 4G LTE advancement was deployed to handle data sessions.

As the evolution of the existing LTE standard and radio access technology continues, the new 5G standardization was finalized by 3GPP with 5G NR (New Radio) in 2017, describing how 5G solutions will use radio waves to transmit data faster wirelessly. This particular part of the 5G standard does not encompass everything related to 5G, but its offerings provide the mean for those in the IoT industry because people can use cellular modules embedded in almost anything from a shoe to a commercial washing machine. 5G NR is designed to improve the efficiency and flexibility of current mobile networks and network architecture. The circuit between the mobile device and the active base station is a critical part of 5G NR. The active base station is a major step-up technology that enables the change of the user in a handoff process from one base station to another. Massive deployment and higher density of network nodes are enabled by 3GPP’s work on 5G NR, which focuses on two main areas to allow the 5G NR to support industrial internet of things (IIoT) and Ultra-reliable and Low-latency Communications (uRLLC) applications, such as industrial and vehicular automation, self-driving cars, and mission-critical broadband that requires higher data speeds.

5G Architecture

5G Architecture is consisting of 3 major layers from fronthaul to backhaul in a connection infrastructure:

Radio Access Network (RAN) – Fronthaul (Lower Layer Split), Midhaul (Higher Layer Split) 4.5G LTE/5G NR F1, Sidehaul (X2 between E-UTRAN base stations)
MEC (Multi-Access Edge Computing) - Backhaul
Core Network - Backhaul

Why IoT needs the Open RAN in 5G

Now we understand that the 5G networks offer us the bandwidth and speed necessary for supporting new technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and AI-powered smart devices. However, the RAN providers could drive up the cost due to increased interoperable issues and mixed proprietary standards that hinder the development of 5G infrastructure in terms of service quality, operator innovation, and infrastructure costs. The freedom of choices opens up real cost savings for companies, and the IoT business can also thrive. Open RAN will be the answer to overcome the major hurdle that hinders the release of the true power of 5G. It will promote healthy competition and decrease vendor monopolies.

Understanding the needs of Open RAN in 5G

Open RAN is defined by the O-RAN Alliance, where openness and intelligence are its core principles. O-RAN has stood at the forefront of the RAN revolution since the beginning of the cellular network. The Fronthaul section of the RAN layer in the 5G architecture would be the heart of our discussion as it involves various RAN providers/vendors and technologies we can use.

Let’s dive a bit deeper into the Fronthaul in the RAN layer. The Fronthaul is the interface between Radio Unit and Distributed Unit. A RAN comprises three essential elements: Antennas, Radios, and Baseband Units.

The Radio Unit (RU) and Distributed Unit (DU) are the equipment used in the Baseband units that support the function and communication in the cellular wireless system. The concept of Open RAN is allowed this Fronthaul interface to connect any vendor DU to any vendor RU. With the Open Standard detailed by O-RAN, multiple vendors DU and RU, can spec their equipment to operate and control the signaling messages in a consistent format. By implementing the O-RAN standard, the time synchronization issues between two endpoints can be resolved, and the inter-op between DU and RU vendors is greatly enhanced.

To decipher these equipment specifications offered by various vendors and solutions on the Open RAN standards, we need to know some basics about the specifications protocol stack of O-RAN. When you do a cross-section on the fronthaul, you will see three planes: C/U Plane, M-Plane, and S-Plane.

Each plane refers to the network traffic component in a telecommunication architecture. In usual network traffic, there are three elements: the user (data) plane, the control plane, and the management plane. However, the fronthaul in O-RAN has another plane called the S-Plane. Here are the comparisons of each plane.

**Radio Unit** (RU) and **Distributed Unit** (DU) Source: Nokia

C/U-Plane: Control Plane (CP) - The control plane is the part of a network that carries signaling traffic and is responsible for routing. The User Plane (UP), also known as the data plane, is responsible for carrying out the network user traffic. In this C/U plane, the O-RAN fronthaul specifications support a protocol stack that transmits data used by eCPRI or Radio over Ethernet (RoE) directly over Ethernet and an optional protocol stack that transmits the signals over UDP/IP.

M-Plane is the element responsible for configuring and managing services on all network layers. In the O-RAN Fronhaul specifications, it supports a protocol stack that transmits signals used in NETCONF over Ethernet with IP transported using TCP with Secure SHell (SSH)

S-Plane: The Synchronization Plane is the element responsible for the timing and sync aspects between the O-DU and O-RU. O-RAN fronthaul specifications support a protocol stack that transmits data used in Precision Time Protocol (PTP) and SyncE over Ethernet. Many processes such as multiple O-RUs and MIMO (Multiple Input, Multiple Output) are used to achieve accurate synchronization.

Various technologies and improvements since 4G have come to support RAN Revolution and Massive IoT

The RAN Slicing Technology

By slicing the architecture we discussed in RAN architecture in various ways, a new paradigm of customized modular components can be realized, which allowed individual sliced components to be coded and programmed to offer just the right connectivity level and less dependent on the framework that is running on. This RAN Slicing technology is revolutionary and would help facilitate the development of networks in the direction of making them more versatile and flexible.

Source: https://hsc.com/Resources/Blog/RAN-Slicing-Efficiency-Performance-Assurance

v-RAN (Virtualized RAN)

The network slicing enables multiple virtual 5G networks to be created on top of one physical network and has been in the works for many years. vRAN (Virtualized RAN) makes the RAN software-defined and programmable. The ability to slice the 5G network into customized virtual pieces that can be tailored to the needs of individual enterprises all while maximizing network operational efficiency advanced cases for 5G.

C-RAN (Cloud-RAN)

The Cloud-RAN or C-RAN is vRAN built on cloud-native technologies, such as microservices, containers DevOps, and CI/CD. Microservices are the way of building software components that are loosely coupled components and independently deployable with different capabilities. Containers are a way of encapsulating an application as a single executable package of software that combines application code with all required configuration files, libraries, and dependencies required for it to run. In this way, it reduces deployment complexity and dependence. DevOps, continuous integration (CI), and continuous delivery (CD) help shorten the development lifecycle from the build, test, and release phases, reducing cost, time, and risk. By using cloud-native principles, cloudification of RAN begins with running selected 5G RAN network functions in containers through Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware platforms. This gives RAN the capability to tailor the behavior and performance of the RAN through programming.

Conclusion

Open RAN helps to create an open environment with a more diverse ecosystem of vendors in the 5G network that helps to create a disaggregated system that works as a cohesive entity since, without the proprietary hardware and software, it enables an open, multi-vendor RAN system that allows efficiency and flexibility, and lower overall cost for operators as a result of competition and proliferation. Open RAN technology in 5G provides the optimal conditions to promote the growing needs of IoT devices.

About the Author

Arthur Wang