O-RAN testing, integration
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Next generation Open RAN research
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The O-RAN next Generation Research Group (nGRG) plans to hold its first face-to-face workshop on October 20, 2022 in Madrid.
Academic sphere represented by leading professors and scientists will meet with O-RAN ALLIANCE membership to talk about key topics for open RAN in 6G and challenges the research needs to address.
The workshop takes place on Thursday October 20, 2022, 8:00–16:50 CEST in Madrid Marriott Auditorium Hotel & Conference Center. It is co-located with the O-RAN ALLIANCE F2F meetings and is open to attend for the O-RAN ALLIANCE membership.
The next Generation Research Group (nGRG) is a research task force founded by the O-RAN ALLIANCE in June 2022.
Formed by members from major mobile operators, vendors from telecom, IT and DT industries, and well-known research institutes and universities around the world, nGRG takes the mission to leverage industry and academic 6G research efforts and determine how O-RAN will evolve to support 6G and beyond, considering regional research efforts, ITU-R, and 3GPP development.
nGRG defines O-RAN ALLIANCE’s 6G research agenda and key priorities, with the focuses to achieve O-RAN sustainability from 4G/5G to 6G and beyond and unify the 6G technology path to avoid incompatibility with other SDOs.
Through nGRG’s white papers, it will recommend appropriate actions to the development of next generation O-RAN.
Prof. John Cioffi, Stanford University, USA
Prof. Khaled B. Letaief, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, China
Prof. Ashutosh Dutta, Chair of ECE EP, the Johns Hopkins University; Chief 5Gstrategist of APL; Co-chair of IEEE Future Networks
Prof.Mehdi Bennis, University of Oulu, Finland
Dr.Raul Munoz, CTTC, Spain
Abstract: Next-generation mobile and network convergence creates great opportunity and challenge. This talk overviews and suggests translink convergence as a way to leverage O-RAN's and 3GPP's significant efforts to date as well as to enable order-of-magnitude improvements in cost, sustainability, latency, and throughputs/coverage. Translink convergence specifically leverages fronthaul split 7.2 in a usual way, using also the existing and contemplated computing/signal-processing capability of distributed units, radio intelligent controllers, and edge-cloud computing virtualization and desegregation. The talk overviews some basic fundamentals in the concept and outlines the approaches to the order-of-magnitude improvements.
Prof. John Cioffi, Stanford University, USA
John M. Cioffi – Illinois-BSEE: 1978, Stanford-PhD EE: 1984; Prof. EE, Stanford, 1986-present, now recalled emeritus. Bell Labs 1978-84; IBM Research 84-86. Founder Amati 1991 (1997 purchased by TI); Chairman and CEO ASSIA Inc. Cioffi's specific interests are in the area of high-performance digital transmission. Awards include IEEE AG Bell (2010), Kirchmayer (2014) and Millennium Medals; Member Internet (2014) and Consumer-Electronics (2018) Halls of Fame; Marconi Fellow (2006); Member, US National (2001) and UK Royal (2009) Engineering Academies. Has served over a dozen boards of directors, presently PhyTunes (Chairman), Marconi Society (Vice-Chairman), & Tinoq. 800+ papers and 150+ heavily licensed patents.
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Abstract: While the deployment of the 5th generation (5G) mobile communication is accelerating worldwide, we are witnessing exciting global research and development activities driven by academia, industry, and governments to formulate and define the next-generation mobile technology, i.e., 6G, which is expected to be commercially available in the 2030 timeframe. Unlike previous generations, 6G will be transformative and will enable interconnections between humans, things, and intelligence within a deeply intertwined and hyper-connected cyber-physical world, characterized by the integration of communications, intelligence, sensing, control, and computing. It will also profoundly impact major sectors and vertical industries, including the metaverse, autonomous and smart lifestyles, intelligent transportation, brain-computer interfaces, smart healthcare, industry 5.0, and sustainable intelligent cities. In this talk, we will introduce various aspects of 6G, including vision, technical requirements, and candidate enabling technologies. Of particular focus will be the use of artificial intelligence and machine-learning methods in future wireless communications systems.
Prof. Khaled B. Letaief, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, China
Dr. Letaief received his BS, MS, and PhD from Purdue University, USA. He is a Member of the United States National Academy of Engineering, Fellow of IEEE, Member of the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences, and Fellow of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers. He is also recognized by Thomson Reuters as an ISI Highly Cited Researcher and was listed among the 2020 top 30 of AI 2000 Internet of Things Most Influential Scholars. Dr. Letaief is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the prestigious IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications. He is the recipient of many distinguished awards including the 2021 IEEE Communications Society Best Survey Paper Award; 2019 Distinguished Research Excellence Award by HKUST School of Engineering (Highest research award and only one recipient/3 years is honored for his/her contributions); 2019 IEEE Communications Society and Information Theory Society Joint Paper Award; 2018 IEEE Signal Processing Society Young Author Best Paper Award, 2016 IEEE Marconi Prize Award in Wireless Communications, and 2010 Purdue University Outstanding Electrical and Computer Engineer Award. He is well recognized for his dedicated service to professional societies and in particular IEEE where he has served in many leadership positions. These include the IEEE Communications Society President, the world's leading organization for communications professionals with headquarter in New York City and members in 162 countries. Since 1993, he has been with HKUST (ranked No. 20 worldwide according to the 2021 QS World’s Top Universities in Engineering & Technology) where he has held many administrative positions, including Dean of Engineering, and Head of the Electronic and Computer Engineering department. He is currently serving as member of the IEEE Board of Directors.
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Abstract: Future networks and technologies promise to connect people, places, and things to fundamentally transform the way humanity work, live, play and engages with the environment. The IEEE Future Networks Initiative (FNI) International Network Generations Roadmap (INGR) is created to stimulate an industry-wide dialogue to address the many facets and challenges of the development and deployment of 5G and beyond in a well-coordinated and comprehensive manner. The INGR is designed to bring together a diverse stakeholder set that includes various academic, government, industry, and other interested parties to develop technology roadmaps for 3-year, 5-year, and 10-year time horizons. The IEEE technology roadmaps identify key technology needs, challenges and opportunities, potential solutions, and areas of innovation. The IEEE FNI INGR has 15 distinct working groups including contributors from industry, academia, and research labs. These working groups include Applications and Services, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning (AI/ML), Connecting the Unconnected, Deployment, Edge Automation Platform (EAP), Energy Efficiency, Massive MIMO, Millimeter Wave and Signal Processing, Optics, Satellite, Security, Standardization Building Blocks, Systems Optimization, and Testbed. This presentation will address the highlights from the recently released IEEE FNI INGR 2022 Edition towards roadmap to 6G.
Prof. Ashutosh Dutta, Chair of ECE EP, the Johns HopkinsUniversity; Chief 5G strategist of APL; Co-chair of IEEE Future Networks
As a Technical Leader in 5G and security, IEEE Fellow Ashutosh Dutta has been serving as the founding Co-Chair for the IEEE Future Networks Initiative that focuses on 5G standardization, education, publications, testbed, and roadmap activities. Ashutosh currently works as Chief 5G Strategist and Fellow at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Labs and Chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering for Engineering Professional Program at JHU. Earlier Ashutosh worked as Director of Technology Security at AT&T, CTO for NIKSUN, Senior Scientist in Telcordia Research, Director of Central Research Facility at Columbia University and Computer Engineer at TATA Motors. Ashutosh is the author of more than 100 technical papers and 31 issued patents. Ashutosh is co-author of the book, titled, “Mobility Protocols and Handover Optimization: Design, Evaluation and Application” published by Wiley-IEEE press. Ashutosh currently serves as the founding co-chair for IEEE Future Networks Initiative and Member-At-Large for IEEE Communications Society, where was a Distinguished Lecturer for 2017-2020. He co-founded the IEEE STEM conference (ISEC) and helped to implement EPICS (Engineering Projects in Community Service) projects in several high schools. Ashutosh has served as the general Co-Chair for the IEEE STEM conference for the last 10 years, as well as the Director of Industry Outreach for IEEE Communications Society from 2014-2019. He has served as the general Co-Chair for the premier IEEE 5G World Forums and has organized 80 5G World Summits around the world. Ashutosh currently serves as the Chair for IEEE Industry Connection’s O-RAN activities. Ashutosh is a Distinguished Alumnus of NIT Rourkela with BS in Electrical Engineering, MS in Computer Science from NJIT, and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University under the supervision of Prof. Henning Schulzrinne.
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Abstract: The presented slides provide a high-level overview of Vodafone’s requirements for the future development of O-RAN for 6G.
Alexey Kulakov, Vodafone, Germany
Degree in telecommunications engineering, since 21 years with Vodafone in multiple positions including delegation representation in 3GPP GERAN2, RAN Plenary, RAN3, RAN2
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Abstract: In this talk we first explore the timeline for 6G from IMT-2030, ITU and WRC perspective including the landscape of motivating 6G use cases. We also reflect on lessons learned from early 5G experimentation that will help pave the road, but we acknowledge technological advances and challenges to realize them. This includes flexible softwarized Open RAN architectures, terahertz frequencies, Intelligent Reflective Surfaces (RIS), Joint Comms and Sensing and many more, which will be described in the talk.
Prof. Abhimanyu Gosain, Northeastern University,USA
Abhimanyu (Manu) Gosain is a Senior Director for Institute of Wireless Internet of Things at Northeastern University, Executive Director for Open6G, co-Chair for the FCC 6G Technology Advisory Council and Senior Advisor for NTIA and DoD OUSD R&E. He is in charge of setting strategic goals and the research agenda for a $100M public-private partnership for the NSF Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research (PAWR) program and $25M DARPA Colosseum program. He serves as a Board Member for the OpenAirInterface Software Alliance, Founding member for Magma Core Foundation, University representative for O-RAN Alliance, Telecom Infra Project, NextG Alliance and co-chair on organizing committee and program committees for 6GSymposium, EuCNC,IEEE InfoCom and ACM WinTech. His numerous professional publications and experience exemplify use-inspired basic research in the field of networking technologies such as 5G,6G, AI/ML, edge computing and Internet of Things. He is an IEEE Senior Member. He received his M.S. degree from Tufts University and M.B.A. from Boston University with High Honors.
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Dr. Simone Redana, Head of Architecture, Security and Automation Standards & Research at Nokia
Dr. Simone Redana is Head of Architecture, Security and Automation Standards & Research at Nokia Standards, Strategy & Technology with focus on novel e2e architecture, security, and network automation solutions for the 5G era and preparation for 6G as well as business acceleration for verticals. He is responsible for Research and Standardization in Nokia on RAN, CORE & System Architecture, Security, Network & Service Automation and creating Nokia IP portfolio in those areas. Simone drives business development activities in Germany and Japan in collaboration with Business Groups in Nokia. He received the MSc and PhD degrees from Politecnico di Milano, Department of Electronics and Information in 2001 and 2005 respectively.
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Abstract: This keynote talk will first provide a brief introduction of VisionX sitting at the intersection of machine learning and communication in terms of enablers and mathematical tools, while contrasting it with current efforts in the area. Then, recent results in semantics-native communication and learning communication protocols from data will be presented.
Prof. Mehdi Bennis, University of Oulu, Finland
Dr Mehdi Bennis is a full (tenured) Professor at the Centre for Wireless Communications, University of Oulu, Finland and head of the intelligent connectivity and networks/systems group (ICON). His main research interests are in radio resource management, game theory and distributed AI in 5G/6G networks. He has published more than 200 research papers in international conferences, journals and book chapters. He has been the recipient of several prestigious awards including the 2015 Fred W. Ellersick Prize from the IEEE Communications Society, the 2016 Best Tutorial Prize from the IEEE Communications Society, the 2017 EURASIP Best paper Award for the Journal of Wireless Communications and Networks, the all-University of Oulu award for research, the 2019 IEEE ComSoc Radio Communications Committee Early Achievement Award and the 2020-2021 Clarviate Highly Cited Researcher by the Web of Science. Dr Bennis is an editor of IEEE TCOM and Specialty Chief Editor for Data Science for Communications in the Frontiers in Communications and Networks journal. Dr Bennis is an IEEE Fellow.
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Abstract: With 5G in continued large rollout and global operation the world is beginning to explore the possibilities to innovate and digitalize with the network platform. This talk will elaborate on the next steps of this evolution towards 6G, how we now as a community can drive research to make the network platform the centerpiece in a cyber-physical continuum for the Internet of senses, connected intelligent machines, and a connected, sustainable world. This future network platform will need to be increasingly resilient, open, sustainable, and intelligent, which will require much sharper levels of existing capabilities as well as completely new capabilities connected to key network control points. Global scale remains critical for users and society, which implies the continued need for one global set of standards that support interoperable, high-performing, and cost-efficient network platform deployments across an expanding ecosystem. In this context open RAN development has high potential, to drive cloudification, network automation, and security.
Dr. Mikael Prytz, Ericsson, Sweden
Dr Mikael Prytz is the head of the research area Networks at Ericsson Research. The unit’s focus is research in 5G evolution and 6G mobile network architectures and protocols for radio, packet core, and fronthaul; programmable networks; and network automation. Mikael has 20 years of experience in fixed and mobile communications research and engineering from Ericsson’s research, development, and services units, as well as from international research programs, including EU projects Ambient Networks, E3, and QUASAR. He holds a Ph.D. in optimization and systems theory from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, and an MS in operations research from Stanford University in Palo Alto, in the US.
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Abstract: the talk will provide information on ongoing OpenRAN research and innovation activities and the 6GIC. Followed by 6GIC unique strategy for future networks in 2030+ and more specifically consideration of future open RAN requirements.
Prof. Rahim Tafazolli, University of Surrey, UK
Regius Professor Rahim Tafazolli, Fellow of Royal Academy of Engineering, IET, WWRF and Regius Professor of Electronic Engineering, Professor of Mobile and Satellite Communications, Founder and Director of 5GIC, 6GIC and ICS (Institute for Communication Systems) at the University of Surrey. He has over 30 years of experience in digital communications research and teaching. He has authored and co-authored more than 1000 research publications and is regularly invited to deliver keynote talks and distinguished lectures to international conferences and workshops. He was an advisor to the Mayor of London (Boris Johnson) on London 2050 Infrastructure.
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Abstract: This talk will present an overview of work laying the basic principles to design open, programmable, AI-driven, and virtualized next-generation wireless networks with self-optimization and self-healing capabilities. We will cover in detail challenges, opportunities, and results associated with the evolution of cellular systems into cloud-native softwarized architectures enabling fine grained control of end-to-end functionalities, from physical layer to higher layers of abstraction including slicing and orchestration of intelligence, spectrum and RAN sharing. We will discuss how end-to-end AI-native control can be achieved today within the existing O-RAN architecture and discuss possible future architectural upgrades. Last, we will discuss community tools enabling AI-based research in O-RAN, including the PAWR Testbeds, Colosseum, and OpenRAN Gym
Prof. Tommaso Melodia, Northeastern University, USA
Tommaso Melodia is the William Lincoln Smith Professor with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Northeastern University in Boston. He is the Founding Director of the Institute for the Wireless Internet of Things, a research center, think tank and technology incubator in the areas of wireless and IoT that includes 120+ researchers and PhD students. He is the Director of Research for the PAWR Project Office, a $100M public-private partnership charged to oversee the creation of 4 city-scale open and programmable wireless testbeds; and the Director of Colosseum, the world's largest emulator of virtualized wireless systems with hardware in the loop. He received his Laurea (integrated BS and MS) from the University of Rome - La Sapienza and his Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2007. He is an IEEE Fellow and recipient of the National Science Foundation CAREER award.
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Abstract: The ETSI Open Source Group for TeraFlowSDN (OSG TFS) is developing an open source cloud native SDN controller enabling smart connectivity services for future networks beyond 5G. Based on a cloud-native, micro-services architecture, the TeraFlowSDN aims to integrate with existing frameworks (NFV, MEC) and provides a toolbox for different ETSI groups and research initiatives to experiment with new features for flow aggregation, management (service layer), network equipment integration (infrastructure layer), AI/ML-based security, and forensic evidence for multi-tenancy. TeraFlowSDN aims for interoperability with ETSI OpenSourceMANO, developed by OSG OSM. The group liaises with relevant standards bodies and projects such as the IETF, ETSI ZSM, ETSI NFV, ETSI MEC, ETSI mWT, ETSI SAI, the Open Networking Foundation and the ONOS project.
Dr. Raul Munoz, CTTC, Spain
Raul Muñoz is Research Director and Head of Packet Optical Networks and Services Systems at Telecommunications Technological Center of Catalonia (CTTC) in Barcelona, Spain. He was elected academic member of the Board of the 5G Infrastructure Association (5GIA), the Steering Board of the Wireless World Research Forum (WWRF), and the Networld2020 European Technology Platform (ETP) from 2015 to 2017. He has promoted and/or participated in above 50 R&D projects funded by the European Commission’s and Spanish national Framework Programmes, including several 5GPPP projects dealing with 5G infrastructure and services. He has also coordinated several Spanish projects and two European projects within FP7 and H2020. His research interests include control and service management architectures (SDN, NFV, MEC) for future optical networking and communications. He has published over 90 journal papers and 300 international conference papers.
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Abstract: Automated testbeds are essential for conducting complex mobile wireless test and experimentation, especially for next-generation use cases involving edge compute-enabled AI/VR/XR apps, dynamic network deployment/SON, scalable IOT, and more. POWDER, for instance, provides compute, network and storage abstractions similar to the cloud; but adds abstractions that model and control mobile wireless, IOT, O-RAN devices, arbitrates and multiplexes resources such as mobility and spectrum across space and time, and monitors transmissions to ensure appropriate spectrum usage. POWDER's abstractions support mobile wireless tests across different deployments, whether hardwired RF, indoor, or outdoor. This talk will focus on POWDER's support for automated O-RAN test orchestration and automation, which we believe will be essential to developing, integrating, and testing (regression, e2e, etc) of next-generation softwarized, disaggregated RANs, RICs, and SMOs.
Mr. David Johnson, University of Utah, USA
David Johnson is Research Associate and Senior Software Engineer in the Flux Research Group in the School of Computing at the University of Utah. He joined the Flux Research Group as a staff member in 2006 and completed his M.S. degree in Computer Science in 2010. His research activities span a broad range of systems software: mobile and wired networks, cloud computing, security, virtualization, and operating systems. His current focus is test orchestration and automation services for O-RAN and next generation mobile wireless networks.
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Abstract: Dynamic Time Duplex Division (D-TDD) is a promising solution to accommodate the new emerging 5G and 6G services characterized by asymmetric and dynamic Uplink (UL) and Downlink (DL) traffic demands. D-TDD dynamically changes the TDD configuration of a cell without interrupting users' connectivity, which allows balancing the bandwidth for UL or DL communication according to the traffic pattern. However, the 3GPP standard does not specify algorithms or solutions to derive the TDD configuration, i.e., the number of slots to dedicate to UL and DL. In this presentation, we will introduce a Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) solution to self-adapt to the traffic pattern of the cell by periodically adapting the number of slots dedicated to UL and DL. We implemented the DRL algorithm on top of an open source gNB based on OpenAirInterface (OAI). Also, we relied on the O-RAN architecture, in which the proposed DRL algorithm is deployed as xApp at the Near Real-time RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) and communicates with the base station using O-RAN E2 interface.
Prof. Adlen Ksentini, Eurecom, France
Adlen Ksentini is a professor in the Communication Systems Department of EURECOM. He is leading the Network softwarization group activities related to Network softwarization, 5G/6G, and Edge Computing. Adlen Ksentini's research interests are Network Sofwerization and Network Cloudification, focusing on topics related to network virtualization, Software Defined Networking (SDN), and Edge Computing for 5G and 6G networks. He has been involved in several H2020 EU projects on 5G, such as 5G!Pagoda, 5GTransformer, 5G!Drones and MonB5G. He is interested in the system and architectural issues but also in algorithms problems related to those topics, using Markov Chains, Optimization algorithms, and Machine Learning (ML). Adlen Ksentini is a member of the OAI board of directors, where he is in charge of OAI 5G Core Network and O-RAN management (O1, E2) for OAI RAN activities.
