HexRAN: A Programmable Approach to Open RAN Base Station System Design

Fuente: arXiv
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Hauptverfasser: Kak, Ahan, Pham, Van-Quan, Thieu, Huu-Trung, Choi, Nakjung
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2023
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author Kak, Ahan
Pham, Van-Quan
Thieu, Huu-Trung
Choi, Nakjung
author_facet Kak, Ahan
Pham, Van-Quan
Thieu, Huu-Trung
Choi, Nakjung
contents In recent years, the radio access network (RAN) domain has witnessed a sea change with increasing levels of virtualization and softwarization driven by emerging paradigms such as the Open RAN (O-RAN) movement. However, the fundamental building block of the cellular network, i.e., the base station, remains unchanged and ill-equipped to handle this architectural evolution. In particular, with reference to existing base station architectures, there exists a general lack of programmability and composability along with a protocol stack that grapples with diverging and often conflicting requirements set forth by 3GPP and O-RAN. Recognizing the need for an "O-RAN-native" approach to base station design, this paper introduces HexRAN- a novel base station architecture characterized by key features relating to RAN disaggregation and composability, 3GPP and O-RAN protocol integration and programmability, robust controller interactions, and customizable RAN slicing. Furthermore, the paper also includes a concrete systems-level prototype and comprehensive experimental evaluation of HexRAN on an over-the-air testbed, showcasing the scalability and performance benefits associated with the proposed architecture.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2304_12560
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle HexRAN: A Programmable Approach to Open RAN Base Station System Design
Kak, Ahan
Pham, Van-Quan
Thieu, Huu-Trung
Choi, Nakjung
Networking and Internet Architecture
In recent years, the radio access network (RAN) domain has witnessed a sea change with increasing levels of virtualization and softwarization driven by emerging paradigms such as the Open RAN (O-RAN) movement. However, the fundamental building block of the cellular network, i.e., the base station, remains unchanged and ill-equipped to handle this architectural evolution. In particular, with reference to existing base station architectures, there exists a general lack of programmability and composability along with a protocol stack that grapples with diverging and often conflicting requirements set forth by 3GPP and O-RAN. Recognizing the need for an "O-RAN-native" approach to base station design, this paper introduces HexRAN- a novel base station architecture characterized by key features relating to RAN disaggregation and composability, 3GPP and O-RAN protocol integration and programmability, robust controller interactions, and customizable RAN slicing. Furthermore, the paper also includes a concrete systems-level prototype and comprehensive experimental evaluation of HexRAN on an over-the-air testbed, showcasing the scalability and performance benefits associated with the proposed architecture.
title HexRAN: A Programmable Approach to Open RAN Base Station System Design
topic Networking and Internet Architecture
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2304.12560