It’s Time to Open Up Your RAN

Dell Technologies and partners Red Hat, Altiostar, and NEC and Netcracker have joined forces to accelerate open vRAN deployments

Technology is always evolving, which is exciting and frustrating for any organization trying to keep up with, adapt to, and anticipate new changes. Communication Service Providers (CSPs) have it particularly hard. A case in point: The evolution to 5G requires upgrading your radio access network (RAN), which is no small feat given the tens of thousands of cell towers you’re responsible for. Of course, it’s very likely that your existing RAN is built on proprietary technology, which means it’s inflexible and expensive.

This is why many CSPs are recognizing the potential of open and virtualized radio access networks (vRAN). An open vRAN allows you to disaggregate hardware from software to choose your own components. This way, you aren’t locked into any one solution and have the freedom to modify your RAN based on specific needs.

It also brings powerful automation to help you easily deploy and manage hardware and software across geographically distributed areas. Imagine the time saved from significantly fewer truck rolls to each of those cell towers. Instead, accelerate deployment and manage the entire lifecycle from a central location. At the same time, set yourself up for the future — beyond 5G — with a software-based solution that’s not going to require an exhaustive overhaul next time around.

Open vRAN offers incredible potential. So, what’s holding you back?

It’s true: A disaggregated model built with hardware and software from different vendors can add complexity and risk. How do you integrate all of them? What if they don’t work together?

Fortunately for CSPs, industry leaders are coming together to help reap the benefits of an open, vRAN model. For instance, Dell Technologies has joined forces with three of its valued partners to design an open vRAN reference architecture (RA) — built on best-in-class components — that integrates the stack for you.

It starts with a solid hardware foundation.Dell EMC PowerEdge 740xd servers with support for accelerator technologies such as the Intel® Programmable Acceleration Card (Intel® PAC) N3000, form the compute layer for your vRAN. Red Hat OpenStack Platform and Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform are added to automate and simplify hardware configuration and management while also supporting Altiostar’s Open vRAN software. Altiostar’s software opens up your RAN, making disaggregation possible, and radically speeds deployment to those tens of thousands of cell towers. And finally, NEC and Netcracker bring the entire RA together for you with systems integration and end-to-end orchestration. With expertise in both IT and radio networks, they have the keen knowledge and skill sets needed to deploy and manage your open vRAN.

Get started now with a validated reference architecture that avoids vendor lock in, reduces risk and speeds your time to market.

Dell Technologies, Red Hat, Altiostar, NEC and Netcracker have done the integration work for you to accelerate your network migration and simplify the evolution of your network.

Source: delltechnologies.com