Periodic Reporting for period 1 - DYRA (Dynamic High-Performance Open Radio Access Network Technology)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2023-01-01 al 2023-12-31
In the race towards a blazing 5G future, there is a hurdle that needs to be overcome: existing virtualised software modules are hitched to specific hardware. This is called a ‘vendor lock-in’ trap, and it’s throttling aspirations for a flexible and diverse 5G landscape. In this context, the EIC-funded DYRA project is developing a hardware-independent, standard-compliant Open RAN software. With this game-changer in hand, 5G networks can soar, unleashing unparalleled performance and energy efficiency. The 5G revolution is poised for liberation, and DYRA is leading the charge. The project fosters upgradeability, adaptability and vendor diversity. It also addresses the current lack of established European suppliers in the Open RAN ecosystem.
In the beginning of the reporting period, the requirements of the software architecture and planned interfaces to third-party software modules were defined based on the analyses of existing open-source implementations, the O-RAN Alliance specification documents and requirements given by the hardware accelerator platforms. Specifically, a detailed implementation plan was derived from high-level O-RAN specification. The outcome of this work package serves as the overall plan for the upcoming software development.
A system and test environment was set up that serves as the basis for all developments, integrations and tests. The test system is a prototype of a functional 5G base station, which provides a private 5G network and allows user equipment (e.g. a smartphone) to connect to the internet via its own 5G network. The prototype consists of hardware components (servers, Ethernet switches, radio units/antennas) and open-source software modules for the different parts of an O-RAN compliant 5G base station. It is designed to work with multiple alternative hardware and software components by different vendors. The prototype is operational.
The third focus of the technical work in this reporting period was the integration of hardware acceleration technology in order to address performance bottlenecks, one of the major concerns in today’s Open RAN solutions available on the market. The hardware acceleration platform by the partner NXP was successfully integrated into the software architecture.
A system and test environment was set up that serves as the basis for all developments, integrations and tests. The test system is a prototype of a functional 5G base station, which provides a private 5G network and allows user equipment (e.g. a smartphone) to connect to the internet via its own 5G network. The prototype consists of hardware components (servers, Ethernet switches, radio units/antennas) and open-source software modules for the different parts of an O-RAN compliant 5G base station. It is designed to work with multiple alternative hardware and software components by different vendors. The prototype is operational.
The third focus of the technical work in this reporting period was the integration of hardware acceleration technology in order to address performance bottlenecks, one of the major concerns in today’s Open RAN solutions available on the market. The hardware acceleration platform by the partner NXP was successfully integrated into the software architecture.
The setup of a functional 5G base station prototype is a major technical achievement during this reporting period. However, the prototype on its own does not constitute a unique result beyond the state of the art. It paved the way to carry out the first experiments with a hardware acceleration platform. These experiments are instrumental to achieving the overall goal of condensing a key functionality of a 5G base station into a single accelerator card, which today requires at least one high-performance server. Consequently, the equipment costs and the electrical power consumption can be substantially reduced. The experiments done in this reporting period do not yet provide a definitive answer to whether this is possible, but the early results obtained suggest it. The second project year will be used to build out this use case.