Keysight brings O-RAN architect to AWS Outposts

Keysight Technologies, a technology company that delivers advanced design and validation solutions, in collaboration with Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), announced that the company’s open radio access network (O-RAN) test solutions are now available on AWS Outposts.

AWS Outposts is a fully managed service that offers the same AWS infrastructure, AWS services, APIs, and tools to virtually any datacenter, co-location space, or on-premises facility for a consistent hybrid experience.

Vendors of radio units (O-RUs), distributed units (O-DUs), central units (O-CUs), and RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) need integrated, virtualized and cloud native solutions to validate performance, establish interoperability between network elements, ensuring compliance to the latest O-RAN and 3GPP specifications.

Keysight’s O-RAN architect (KORA) consists of multiple simulators working in unison to deliver a seamless solution to vendors, carriers, and testers to verify the end-to-end O-RAN ecosystem infrastructure. These solutions provide an environment for accelerated development, integration, and deployment, saving critical time to market for new product releases and network deployment applications.

The KORA suite that is now available via AWS Outposts brings together all the major elements for testing the evolving RAN ecosystem in one comprehensive family of test solutions, including RuSIM, DuSIM, CuSIM, RIC Test, and LoadCore.

RuSIM provides fully scalable RU emulation on the front-haul interface for O-DU functional, performance full stack testing, protocol conformance testing, and interoperability compliance testing. DuSIM validates open central unit (O-CU) performance in accordance with 3GPP standards and aligns with O-RAN C-plane and U-plane parameters of performance and interoperability with 5G and O-RAN network functions.

Capable of generating hundreds of O-DU’s and thousands of UE’s, DuSIM provides optimal performance of the O-CU under heavy loaded conditions with realistic voice, video, and data traffic. CuSIM helps infrastructure vendors, chipset providers, and mobile operators validate the open distributed unit (O-DU) functionality by emulating traffic over the mid-haul interface.

In addition, RIC Test helps vendors and mobile operators validate RAN Intelligent Controllers (RIC) and RIC enabled artificial intelligence/machine learning xApps and rApps (intelligent applications hosted on the RIC platform that control resource allocation across the 5G networks) used to efficiently manage radio resources.

This is a done by emulating traffic scenarios over distributed set of RAN elements (eNB, gNB, CU, DU) over the O-RAN Alliance’s E2 interface. LoadCore allows communication service providers (CSPs) to scale their network and edge capabilities beyond past on-premise presence, delivering flexible, rapid deployment, and execution of their continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD) pipeline.

“Keysight is extremely pleased with the opportunity to offer our key 5G testing solutions on AWS,” said Kalyan Sundhar, VP and GM, 5G Edge to Core Solutions at Keysight. “Embracing the future of dis-aggregated 5G RAN open interfaces allows legacy providers and emerging stakeholders’ new opportunities to explore advancing technologies in multiple diverse vertical segments such as autonomous vehicles, remote medicine, and connected cities, that private networks will allow to become reality.”