Interoperability has always been challenging, but with 5G Open RAN’s multivendor environment, that challenge is a lot more urgent and complex.
I’m Ladan Pickering, 5G Services Integration Lead, here for an open dialogue about automating 5G interoperability testing.
O-RAN brings great opportunities for service providers
O-RAN is an enormous leap forward in mobile networking and it brings great opportunity for network operators. Its open interfaces, support for white box hardware and virtualization bring a wider choice of vendors, operational efficiency, network resiliency and rich innovation.
O-RAN’s challenges come from the complexity of a multivendor environment
For test engineers though, O-RAN’s ability to mix and match components and vendors increases complexity dramatically. Even though the O-RAN Alliance’s specifications include interoperability parameters.
But while O-RAN equipment may be compliant and certified on paper, that doesn’t necessarily translate to simple interoperations with other gear in your network. Extensive testing is still required to ensure trouble-free interoperation at high performance. Most importantly, manual testing would be too burdensome to be feasible in O-RAN deployment.
Interoperability testing is critical, and must now be automated
Interoperability testing is time consuming and requires in-depth knowledge of RAN virtualization and software, as well as the equipment combinations being deployed. Manual testing that meets these demands could take years to complete. The answer is automated interoperability testing.
Automated interoperability testing brings important benefits: faster deployment, simpler integration, easier maintenance and support, optimal performance and reduced costs. As a global leader with decades of expertise in wireless and optical networking technology and an active contributor to the O-RAN Alliance, Fujitsu offers automated testing, including tests at our dedicated O-RAN interoperability lab. We test at multiple levels to ensure smooth O-RAN interoperability. We can help with specification alignment, vendor certification, and network testing. We can also coordinate among vendors to manage any issues that arise.
If you want to discover how you can speed your time to market with Fujitsu’s automated interoperability testing, let’s keep the dialogue going.