NEC SUCCESSFULLY DEMONSTRATED MULTI-VENDOR NEAR-RT RIC INTEGRATION IN O-RAN GLOBAL PLUGFEST 2022

NEC Corporation successfully demonstrated multi-vendor integration and interoperability of a Near-Real-Time RAN Intelligent Controller (Near-RT RIC) at the O-RAN ALLIANCE Global PlugFest Fall 2022 in Japan.

NEC, VIAVI Solutions and HCL Technologies (HCLTech) teamed up for this project to demonstrate the multi-vendor Near-Real-Time RIC performance benchmarking. NEC's Near-RT RIC platform enabled third-party xApp integrations while connecting with multi-vendor E2 nodes.

RIC reduces RAN operating costs by automatically configuring base stations and optimizing radio parameters leveraging AI. Near-RT RIC enables advanced control for Quality of Service (QoS) in near real-time on a per-user basis, and in conjunction with Service Management and Orchestration (SMO)/ Non-Real-Time RIC, achieves an optimal balance between RAN operating costs and QoS/ Quality of Experience (QoE). The entire vRAN system will be optimized for various services and requirements in the future by coordinating the control of radio resources and computing resources through RIC.



Roadmap for RIC Development

For this PlugFest project, HCLTech’s Bouncer xApp, in combination with VIAVI’s TeraVM RIC Test, supported the benchmarking of the underlying Near-RT RIC platform using E2AP Global and Functional procedures. The multi-vendor Near-RT RIC/vRAN/xApp integration aligned with O-RAN ALLIANCE’s vision was successfully showcased.