xDevSM: Streamlining xApp Development With a Flexible Framework for O-RAN E2 Service Models

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Hauptverfasser: Feraudo, Angelo, Maxenti, Stefano, Lacava, Andrea, Bellavista, Paolo, Polese, Michele, Melodia, Tommaso
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2024
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author Feraudo, Angelo
Maxenti, Stefano
Lacava, Andrea
Bellavista, Paolo
Polese, Michele
Melodia, Tommaso
author_facet Feraudo, Angelo
Maxenti, Stefano
Lacava, Andrea
Bellavista, Paolo
Polese, Michele
Melodia, Tommaso
contents RAN Intelligent Controllers (RICs) are programmable platforms that enable data-driven closed-loop control in the O-RAN architecture. They collect telemetry and data from the RAN, process it in custom applications, and enforce control or new configurations on the RAN. Such custom applications in the Near-Real-Time (RT) RIC are called xApps, and enable a variety of use cases related to radio resource management. Despite numerous open-source and commercial projects focused on the Near-RT RIC, developing and testing xApps that are interoperable across multiple RAN implementations is a time-consuming and technically challenging process. This is primarily caused by the complexity of the protocol of the E2 interface, which enables communication between the RIC and the RAN while providing a high degree of flexibility, with multiple Service Models (SMs) providing plug-and-play functionalities such as data reporting and RAN control. In this paper, we propose xDevSM, an open-source flexible framework for O-RAN service models, aimed at simplifying xApp development for the O-RAN Software Community (OSC) Near-RT RIC. xDevSM reduces the complexity of the xApp development process, allowing developers to focus on the control logic of their xApps and moving the logic of the E2 service models behind simple Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). We demonstrate the effectiveness of this framework by deploying and testing xApps across various RAN software platforms, including OpenAirInterface and srsRAN. This framework significantly facilitates the development and validation of solutions and algorithms on O-RAN networks, including the testing of data-driven solutions across multiple RAN implementations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2409_16754
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle xDevSM: Streamlining xApp Development With a Flexible Framework for O-RAN E2 Service Models
Feraudo, Angelo
Maxenti, Stefano
Lacava, Andrea
Bellavista, Paolo
Polese, Michele
Melodia, Tommaso
Networking and Internet Architecture
RAN Intelligent Controllers (RICs) are programmable platforms that enable data-driven closed-loop control in the O-RAN architecture. They collect telemetry and data from the RAN, process it in custom applications, and enforce control or new configurations on the RAN. Such custom applications in the Near-Real-Time (RT) RIC are called xApps, and enable a variety of use cases related to radio resource management. Despite numerous open-source and commercial projects focused on the Near-RT RIC, developing and testing xApps that are interoperable across multiple RAN implementations is a time-consuming and technically challenging process. This is primarily caused by the complexity of the protocol of the E2 interface, which enables communication between the RIC and the RAN while providing a high degree of flexibility, with multiple Service Models (SMs) providing plug-and-play functionalities such as data reporting and RAN control. In this paper, we propose xDevSM, an open-source flexible framework for O-RAN service models, aimed at simplifying xApp development for the O-RAN Software Community (OSC) Near-RT RIC. xDevSM reduces the complexity of the xApp development process, allowing developers to focus on the control logic of their xApps and moving the logic of the E2 service models behind simple Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). We demonstrate the effectiveness of this framework by deploying and testing xApps across various RAN software platforms, including OpenAirInterface and srsRAN. This framework significantly facilitates the development and validation of solutions and algorithms on O-RAN networks, including the testing of data-driven solutions across multiple RAN implementations.
title xDevSM: Streamlining xApp Development With a Flexible Framework for O-RAN E2 Service Models
topic Networking and Internet Architecture
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.16754