VIAVI Global O-RAN Plugfest Participation

VIAVI delivered industry-leading benchmarking and validation for RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) testing and training for AI-enabled applications including energy efficiency; security testing; and conformance and end-to-end testing of new products. The company also improved testing efficiency with real-time analysis and automation.

VIAVI participated in testing in 11 labs across eight countries: the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan and Korea. Major outcomes included:

• RIC testing for AI-enabled applications. When the conformance and performance of a RIC is verified, vendors can implement xApps or rApps to unlock RAN intelligence and deliver cutting-edge use cases such as energy savings and enhanced QoS.
• Security testing. Network security must be protected in an open, multi-vendor environment.
• Conformance and end-to-end testing. Vendors offering new O-RAN products can present them to validate operation according to the applicable specifications. In addition to individual network elements such as O-RU, O-DU, O-CU and RIC, companies also demonstrated end-to-end operation and interoperability across a complete O-RAN.
• Real-time analysis. To date, lab testing has relied on tools that require lengthy waiting periods for capture, post-processing and visualization. Together with CableLabs, VIAVI demonstrated real-time analysis to accelerate interoperability and end-to-end testing and troubleshooting.
• Test automation. Facing skills shortages, service providers and vendors are seeking efficiencies in the lab. In several demonstrations, VIAVI delivered AI-driven capability to develop test cases, write scripts, filter logs and find faults.

The contribution from VIAVI within the O-RAN ALLIANCE Spring PlugFest focused on three key areas to support this commercialization: conformance testing to ensure compliance; security testing to increase trust in the solutions; and RIC testing and training to enable AI/ML to boost RAN intelligence for cutting-edge use cases.

• Conformance and end-to-end testing. Vendors offering new O-RAN products can present them to validate operation according to the applicable specifications. This activity supports expansion of the vendor ecosystem, a principal benefit of O-RAN. In addition to individual network elements such as O-RU, O-DU, O-CU and RIC, companies also demonstrated end-to-end operation and interoperability across a complete O-RAN. Vendors included Benetel, Capgemini, Compal, Inventec, Pegatron, Radisys, and multiple other companies.
• Security testing. Network security must be protected in an open, multi-vendor environment. VIAVI, Pegatron and another vendor demonstrated security across the RAN by conducting several tests from Chapter 7 of the O-RAN TIFG E2E Specification, including the 3GPP Security Assurance Specification (SCAS) as well as Denial of Service (DoS). Also successfully tested were protocols and Open Fronthaul (OFH) security from O-RAN WG11 Security Test Specifications, including Transport Layer Security (TLS), Secure Shell Protocol (SSH), and OFH Authenticator and Supplicant Validation (802.1x EAP-TLS). VIAVI and Compal also conducted SCAS testing.
• RIC testing for AI-enabled energy efficiency. When the conformance and performance of a RIC is verified, vendors can implement xApps or rApps to unlock RAN intelligence and deliver cutting-edge use cases such as energy savings and enhanced QoS. VIAVI and Capgemini demonstrated the end-to-end validation of the Capgemini AI-enabled Energy Savings rApp on the Capgemini RIC. VIAVI generated historical cell data to train the rApp AI/ML models, helping the AI/ML Energy Saving Model to learn and predict when to disable cells to reduce energy consumption.

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VIAVI Plugfest Participation Fall 2022

The PlugFest involved a series of on-site demonstrations across multiple countries, conducted in October and November 2022. 

VIAVI provided benchmarking and validation for PlugFest tests and demonstrations at the following sites:

• University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory in Durham, New Hampshire, USA 
• TIP Community Lab hosted by Meta in Menlo Park, California, USA
• Kyrio OTIC Lab hosted by CableLabs in Louisville, Colorado, USA
• i14y Lab hosted by Deutsche Telekom in Berlin, Germany
• Orange SA in Paris, France
• EURECOM in Biot, France
• TIM Innovation Lab in Torino, Italy
• Yokosuka Research Park hosted by NTT DOCOMO and another major service provider in Yokosuka City, Japan.

The VIAVI Test Suite for O-RAN Specifications supported conformance, performance, interoperability, and end-to-end testing:

The 2022 Plugfest has shown Open Radio Units (O-RUs) are completing fronthaul conformance certification, and moving beyond certification into performance testing. Interoperability in multi-vendor environments beyond the O-RU was also more in focus, with key combinations including O-RU and Open Distributed Unit (O-DU), O-DU and Open Central Unit (O-CU), and complete end-to-end networks being demonstrated. 

Vendors showcased the RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) and its potential to bring AI/ML techniques to network optimization and service management. And with security of open networks growing in importance, this PlugFest session also included running O-RAN and 3GPP security test cases.

VIAVI was relied upon to provide benchmarking and validation for PlugFest tests and demonstrations hosted by:

• AT&T and Dish Wireless at the following locations:COSMOS Lab, Rutgers University in New Brunswick, USA
  • COSMOS Lab, Rutgers University in New Brunswick, USA
  • Meta TIP Community Lab in Menlo Park, USA
  • University of New Hampshire Interoperability Laboratory in Durham, USA 
• Telefónica in Madrid, Spain; and
• Auray OTIC and Security Lab in Taiwan.

The VIAVI Test Suite for O-RAN Specifications supported conformance, performance, interoperability and end-to-end testing:

The third O-RAN Alliance plugfest involved a series of on-site demonstrations across multiple countries, conducted in October and November 2021.

Plugfest Tests and Demos 2021

VIAVI provided benchmarking and validation for plugfest tests and demonstrations at locations including:

• New Brunswick, USA, hosted by AT&T and Verizon with Rutgers University
• Menlo Park, USA, hosted by AT&T and Verizon at the TIP Community Lab with Meta
• Berlin, Germany, hosted by Deutsche Telekom
• Madrid, Spain, hosted by Telefónica
• Gurgaon, India, hosted by Airtel
• Tokyo, Japan hosted by Yokosuka Research Park with participation from major service providers including Rakuten Mobile
• Taiwan hosted by Auray OTIC and Security Lab and Chunghwa Telecom.

The plugfest demonstrated the rapid evolution of the O-RAN ecosystem with increasing focus on the RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC), which changes the way network resources are managed, bringing artificial intelligence and big data into day-to-day operations. To mitigate the risk involved in introducing this new technology, operators depended upon tools from VIAVI including the TeraVM RIC Test to test the performance of the RIC when presented with a wide range of RAN scenarios, to test the functionality of rApps and xApps, as well as provide the means to generate the data needed to train AI models.

The VIAVI Test Suite for O-RAN Specifications also supported conformance, performance, interoperability and end-to-end testing:

VIAVI offers the most comprehensive test platform on the market for lab validation, field deployment and service assurance of O-RAN networks, deployable on premise, in public or private clouds, and as Test as a Service (TaaS). With over 85% of NEMs using the VIAVI RANtoCore platform for gNB development, the company uniquely offers market-leading 5G and Open RAN test solutions for conformance, performance and interoperability of O-RU, O-CU, O-DU, RIC and Core elements.