Multiple inputs, multiple outputs, magical outcome
Mavenir and NEC have shown how multiples of network equipment through can be managed by the millisecond to bring out the best of all the elements of a network. The network software and hardware vendors collaborated successfully on a live installation of Orange’s 5G standalone (SA) experimental Open Radio Access Network (RAN) in Catillon, near Paris. Their breakthrough came through cracking the mMIMO challenge involving massive Multiple Inputs and Multiple Outputs.
With Mavenir cloud-native Open virtualised RAN (Open vRAN) software embedded within Orange’s cloud infrastructure engineers found that NEC’s 32T32R mMIMO active antenna unit (AAU) could be fine-tuned to constantly maximise capacity and coverage. Network software specialist Mavenir says that interoperability between radios and virtualised Distributed Units (vDUs) is the critical factor that determines Open RAN’s ability to handle multi-vendor networks. The battle to eliminate vendor lock-in is won and lost within the narrow confines of the O-RAN Alliance Open Fronthaul Interface.
The technologies have been successfully deployed at the Orange Gardens campus in Chatillon near Paris. They are part of the extension of Project Pikeo, Orange’s cloud-based and fully automated 5G SA experimental network, also known to participants as Pikeo.
There are two ways to use Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) to transmit and receive of electro-magnetic waves and they both involve complex data symbols. Whether you use STBC (Space Time Block Coding) or SM (Spatial Multiplexing), getting the best out of the network is like re-spinning thousands of plates every millisecond. The role of software controllers is crucial in this virtual plate spinning and it has been a challenge that confounded many vendors.
“The successful deployment of mMIMO on any network is a major stepping stone,” said Arnaud Vamparys, SVP Radio Access Networks and Microwaves at Orange. Achieving this within an experimental 5G network takes the industry a long way down the road towards Open RAN, Vamparys said. “Our Open RAN Integration Centre, open to our partners worldwide, contributes to the development of a strong Open RAN ecosystem in Europe,” said Vamparys.
Deploying 5G SA mMIMO is a significant milestone in transitioning from virtualised to cloudified networks too, according to Hubert de Pesquidoux, executive chairman of Mavenir. “We are very proud of our continuing collaboration with Orange, NEC and other companies that are proving the potential of the multi-vendor, cloud-native, standards-based approach.”
Naohisa Matsuda, general manager of NEC’s 5G Strategy and Business said this is the right time for the mobile industry to follow the blueprint set by industry-leading operators. “Move to the new era of Open RAN-powered connectivity,” said Matsuda.