“Mobile communication operators first introduced the concept of Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) in 2018, and hope to use ORAN to build a multi-network equipment supplier system to enhance technological innovation and reduce costs. The ORAN Alliance, consisting of 27 global MNOs and more than 180 ecosystem contributors, is the organization that develops specifications, reference architectures, and defines interfaces between various sub-components of ORAN. Its core principles are openness, intelligence, and virtuality. ization and interoperability.
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Mobile communication operators first introduced the concept of Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) in 2018, and hope to use ORAN to build a multi-network equipment supplier system to enhance technological innovation and reduce costs. The ORAN Alliance, consisting of 27 global MNOs and more than 180 ecosystem contributors, is the organization that develops specifications, reference architectures, and defines interfaces between various sub-components of ORAN. Its core principles are openness, intelligence, and virtuality. ization and interoperability.
Currently, many mobile operators are deploying cloud-native and virtual Radio Access Network (RAN) architectures to efficiently deliver 5G services according to the specifications set by the ORAN Alliance. Driven by the rapid adoption of 5G technology, the global ORAN market is expected to reach $22 billion by 2028, with a compound annual growth rate of 85% from 2020 to 2028, according to Kenneth Research.
From closed to open, this is the core concept of ORAN. Previously, all network functions such as firewalls, network slicing and network creation were tightly coupled with proprietary hardware, and only a few large network equipment vendors were able to provide the capabilities of these integrated end-to-end networks (from antenna to baseband unit). Even so, there are major interoperability issues between RAN equipment from different vendors.
Therefore, opening up protocols and interfaces between the various components of RAN allows more participants to join the ecosystem and provide more differentiated solutions and services, which is more conducive to technological innovation, and has become an industry consensus. and live. This means that the internal interface of the base station will be further released, and operators can mix and match different components and solutions, and even redefine the requirements of the network architecture. The RAN itself will also be discrete into three main components: a radio frequency unit (RU, Radio Unit), a distribution unit (DU, Distributed Unit) and a centralized unit (CU, Centralised Unit).
Figure 1: The global ORAN market size is expected to reach $22 billion by 2028
However, “everything has two sides”. It is well known that open systems are more vulnerable than closed systems from a security point of view. The risk of an increased RAN attack surface is significantly magnified due to the large number of RAN players, so abandoning a single-vendor solution creates more security risks for critical infrastructure. To avoid these problems, network equipment vendors and service providers need to consider which components to use to keep their networks and the data in them safe and secure.
The fifth solution collection from Lattice, the latest Lattice ORAN solution collection is also a turnkey solution for specific applications, including reference platforms and designs, demos, IP building blocks, FPGA design tools And custom design services, which can achieve stable control data security, flexible fronthaul synchronization and low-power hardware acceleration, and the speed of customer application development and time to market is greatly accelerated.
Figure 2: Collection of Lattice ORAN Solutions
In general, the hardware part of the Lattice ORAN solution will be based on the existing security control development board and acceleration synchronization development board, with all the software to implement the corresponding functions, including encrypted AES, ECC and eCPRI IP, etc.; the software tools are based on the Lattice Dith RADIANT and Lattice PROPEL, the former is used to develop the logic code of the FPGA itself, and the latter is used to develop secondary C code on the soft core IP. On this basis, Lattice also provides reference designs and demonstrations, as well as customization services in cooperation with third parties.
Strong security, tight synchronization, and low-power acceleration are the three most advantageous aspects of the Lattice ORAN solution:
Strong security: Due to the characteristics of de-aggregation and openness of ORAN functions, zero-trust security mechanisms need to be implemented to protect the increased attack surface. The Lattice ORAN solution collection provides ready-to-use software to secure communications between board components through channel encryption and authentication, fulfilling security requirements in the network.
tight synchronization: Lattice ORAN provides the flexibility to send a wide variety of tightly synchronized data across networks that are not limited to fixed functions. The de-aggregation and inherent openness of the ORAN architecture also increases the need for synchronization, which can be provided by protocols such as eCPRI, TSN and the widely used IEEE 1588.
Low-power acceleration: 5G networks will carry a lot of data, so users need low-power hardware acceleration to maintain high efficiency in such a powerful network. The Lattice ORAN solution set leverages the advantages of Lattice FPGAs, which are the smallest in size, up to 70% lower in power consumption, and up to 100x lower in soft failure rates compared to competing FPGAs.
Figure 3: Lattice ORAN Solutions Collection Accelerates ORAN Deployments
Although from the perspective of market size, the scale of ORAN at this stage is indeed not comparable to that of traditional base stations, and it is still in the stage of exploration and development, but there are indeed many market demands. To this end, the communications industry is continuously promoting the de-aggregation and opening of ORAN, thereby increasing flexibility and innovation, and reducing costs. But this open environment requires secure and reliable communication, tight synchronization across multiple components, and efficient low-power hardware acceleration. In the future, Lattice will continue to strengthen the above features in the subsequent 2.0 and 3.0 versions of the ORAN solution set.
Mobile communication operators first introduced the concept of Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) in 2018, and hope to use ORAN to build a multi-network equipment supplier system to enhance technological innovation and reduce costs. The ORAN Alliance, consisting of 27 global MNOs and more than 180 ecosystem contributors, is the organization that develops specifications, reference architectures, and defines interfaces between various sub-components of ORAN. Its core principles are openness, intelligence, and virtuality. ization and interoperability.
Currently, many mobile operators are deploying cloud-native and virtual Radio Access Network (RAN) architectures to efficiently deliver 5G services according to the specifications set by the ORAN Alliance. Driven by the rapid adoption of 5G technology, the global ORAN market is expected to reach $22 billion by 2028, with a compound annual growth rate of 85% from 2020 to 2028, according to Kenneth Research.
From closed to open, this is the core concept of ORAN. Previously, all network functions such as firewalls, network slicing and network creation were tightly coupled with proprietary hardware, and only a few large network equipment vendors were able to provide the capabilities of these integrated end-to-end networks (from antenna to baseband unit). Even so, there are major interoperability issues between RAN equipment from different vendors.
Therefore, opening up protocols and interfaces between the various components of RAN allows more participants to join the ecosystem and provide more differentiated solutions and services, which is more conducive to technological innovation, and has become an industry consensus. and live. This means that the internal interface of the base station will be further released, and operators can mix and match different components and solutions, and even redefine the requirements of the network architecture. The RAN itself will also be discrete into three main components: a radio frequency unit (RU, Radio Unit), a distribution unit (DU, Distributed Unit) and a centralized unit (CU, Centralised Unit).
Figure 1: The global ORAN market size is expected to reach $22 billion by 2028
However, “everything has two sides”. It is well known that open systems are more vulnerable than closed systems from a security point of view. The risk of an increased RAN attack surface is significantly magnified due to the large number of RAN players, so abandoning a single-vendor solution creates more security risks for critical infrastructure. To avoid these problems, network equipment vendors and service providers need to consider which components to use to keep their networks and the data in them safe and secure.
The fifth solution collection from Lattice, the latest Lattice ORAN solution collection is also a turnkey solution for specific applications, including reference platforms and designs, demos, IP building blocks, FPGA design tools And custom design services, which can achieve stable control data security, flexible fronthaul synchronization and low-power hardware acceleration, and the speed of customer application development and time to market is greatly accelerated.
Figure 2: Collection of Lattice ORAN Solutions
In general, the hardware part of the Lattice ORAN solution will be based on the existing security control development board and acceleration synchronization development board, with all the software to implement the corresponding functions, including encrypted AES, ECC and eCPRI IP, etc.; the software tools are based on the Lattice Dith RADIANT and Lattice PROPEL, the former is used to develop the logic code of the FPGA itself, and the latter is used to develop secondary C code on the soft core IP. On this basis, Lattice also provides reference designs and demonstrations, as well as customization services in cooperation with third parties.
Strong security, tight synchronization, and low-power acceleration are the three most advantageous aspects of the Lattice ORAN solution:
Strong security: Due to the characteristics of de-aggregation and openness of ORAN functions, zero-trust security mechanisms need to be implemented to protect the increased attack surface. The Lattice ORAN solution collection provides ready-to-use software to secure communications between board components through channel encryption and authentication, fulfilling security requirements in the network.
tight synchronization: Lattice ORAN provides the flexibility to send a wide variety of tightly synchronized data across networks that are not limited to fixed functions. The de-aggregation and inherent openness of the ORAN architecture also increases the need for synchronization, which can be provided by protocols such as eCPRI, TSN and the widely used IEEE 1588.
Low-power acceleration: 5G networks will carry a lot of data, so users need low-power hardware acceleration to maintain high efficiency in such a powerful network. The Lattice ORAN solution set leverages the advantages of Lattice FPGAs, which are the smallest in size, up to 70% lower in power consumption, and up to 100x lower in soft failure rates compared to competing FPGAs.
Figure 3: Lattice ORAN Solutions Collection Accelerates ORAN Deployments
Although from the perspective of market size, the scale of ORAN at this stage is indeed not comparable to that of traditional base stations, and it is still in the stage of exploration and development, but there are indeed many market demands. To this end, the communications industry is continuously promoting the de-aggregation and opening of ORAN, thereby increasing flexibility and innovation, and reducing costs. But this open environment requires secure and reliable communication, tight synchronization across multiple components, and efficient low-power hardware acceleration. In the future, Lattice will continue to strengthen the above features in the subsequent 2.0 and 3.0 versions of the ORAN solution set.
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