INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Cabling
Altran, Benetel and Phluido
partner to create containerised
LTE RAN for cable networks
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A
ltran, Benetel and Phluido have
co-created a disaggregated, multi-
organisation, containerised LTE
RAN reference solution that provides 4G
RAN services over existing cable networks.
Working under the guidance of CableLabs,
the companies developed the solution as
part of the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) vRAN
Fronthaul Project Group.
Containerisation of Radio Access Network
(RAN) solutions is significant as it reduces
the requirements of General Purpose
Processor (GPP) CPU cores and memory
while still delivering the benefits almost
equivalent to that of bare metal solutions
over virtual infrastructure.
This innovation allows cable operators to
leverage DOCSIS networks as an effective
means for fronthaul transport.
Moreover, cable operators are given a dual
means to additionally lower capex by using
RAN containerisation and reusing existing
DOCSIS network infrastructure as transport.
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INTELLIGENTCIO
As lead integrator in this initiative, Altran
employed its LTE RAN software framework
based on cloud RAN architecture. The
solution implements the 3GPP Option 7–2
split with Altran’s LTE layer 3 and layer
2 integrated with Phluido’s layer 1 and
Benetel’s remote radio unit (RRU). The RRU
provides a platform that can support both
4G and 5G networks. Network Equipment
Providers (NEPs) can monetise the reference
solution supported on containers and RRU to
provide LTE solutions that leverage existing
and future cable networks.
Brian Bronson, President of Platforms and
Solutions at Altran, commented: “As 5G
starts to proliferate, a growing number
of operators are now virtualising their
networks and investing billions in SDN/
NFV infrastructure. All our partners have
an excellent track record of innovation and
that will translate into operators being able
to fundamentally change the way networks
are built and at a significantly lower cost. At
the same time, the containerisation of RAN
solutions will help operators to align their 4G
and 5G network deployment strategy – to
future-proof their networks.”
Alan Barbieri, CEO of Phluido, said,
“Phluido has been at the forefront of the
RAN virtualisation and open fronthaul
interfaces since 2014 and as a pioneer
of the open RAN concept, we believe
that containerisation, hardware-software
disaggregation, and open interfaces are key
to disrupt the legacy approach to deploy 4G
and 5G radio networks.”
The RRUs are developed to support the
functional split 7–2, embracing a modular
architecture with selectable features in
keeping with the flexibility and versatility
required by end-market applications.
“This is another great example of simplifying
and addressing the key adoption drivers for
these applications,” said Adrian O’Connor,
CEO of Benetel. “This creative and disruptive
approach is complementing exciting 4G and
5G RRU developments and the ever-increasing
market interest for vRAN solutions.” n
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