Nokia and Vodafone, in partnership with Arm and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), have successfully completed an Open RAN (O-RAN) trial. The trial took place at Nokia’s O-RAN Innovation Center in Dallas, Texas, where they demonstrated an end-to-end Layer 3 (L3) data call using various technologies such as Ampere Arm-based general-purpose processors, HPE ProLiant RL300 server, Nokia Layer 1 (L1) accelerator, and Nokia RAN software. Nokia also integrated its 5G SA compact mobility unit (CMU) core to complement the 5G Standalone (SA) RAN architecture.
The testing was done wirelessly using Nokia’s massive AirScale MIMO radios in the 3.5 GHz band, along with Nokia’s MantaRay NM intelligent network management system for improved monitoring and management. During the demonstration, Nokia successfully made data calls using commercial user devices, showcasing the benefits of introducing Arm Neoverse-based processors in HPE servers within the Nokia anyRAN approach.
Vodafone’s Head of Open RAN, Francisco Martín, expressed dedication to supporting the development and adoption of O-RAN platforms, highlighting the benefits of a diverse ecosystem of silicon solutions. Mark Atkinson, Director of RAN at Nokia, emphasized the importance of a flexible approach to RAN deployments to allow for freedom of choice in server hardware, processors, and cloud platforms.
Additionally, Vodafone and Nokia announced the completion of a three-month O-RAN test on a live independent 5G test network (5G SA) in Italy. The trial took place in Arcisate and Sernio, northern Italy, where O-RAN antennas were connected to Vodafone’s main test center in Milan via Vodafone’s 5G SA network. The test utilized Nokia AirScale Massive MIMO radios, Nokia baseband software on Dell PowerEdge, and Nokia’s MantaRay Networks Management system for network monitoring and management.
During the trial, Vodafone and Nokia achieved comparable functional and performance results with standard 5G RAN, including download speeds of up to 1.1 Gbps and uplink speeds of 160 Mbps. The engineers also saw promising results in terms of latency. Overall, the trials conducted by Nokia and Vodafone demonstrate the potential of O-RAN technologies and their benefits in enhancing network capabilities and performance.
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https://www.rcrwireless.com/20240510/5g/nokia-vodafone-trial-o-ran-tech-arm-hpe
