O-RAN ALLIANCE Global PlugFest Spring 2024 Focused on Five Themes to Accelerate O-RAN Adoption

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Jun 06, 2024, 03:30 ET

For the first time, O-RAN PlugFest focused on themes prioritized within O-RAN ALLIANCE
PlugFest themes help to aim global efforts in O-RAN testing and integration to increase efficiency and speed up technology development cycle
Participants at the Spring 2024 PlugFest achieved improvements in areas of RAN energy consumption resulting in TCO optimization, efficiency of O-RAN deployments, and broadening the offer of open and intelligent RAN products on the market

BONN, Germany, June 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The O-RAN ALLIANCE (O-RAN) today announced successful completion of its eighth PlugFest: the O-RAN ALLIANCE Global PlugFest Spring 2024.

O-RAN ALLIANCE co-sponsors semi-annual Global PlugFests, hosted by operators, OTICs and academic or research institutions, to enable efficient progress of the O-RAN ecosystem through well organized testing and integration in a neutral environment.

O-RAN ALLIANCE PlugFest (PRNewsfoto/O-RAN Alliance)

The Spring 2024 PlugFest delivered achievements in five themes:

O-RAN Energy Consumption, Efficiency and Savings Testing:
Participating labs successfully tested O-RAN energy saving use cases in different network conditions, helping to optimize RAN Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and overall sustainability of mobile network operations.
Demonstrate consistent and repeatable open fronthaul testing in multiple labs:
Several PlugFest hosts partnered to prove the ability to achieve consistent testing results in independent labs, ensuring testing reliability across labs and regions and supporting certification of O-RAN based products.
Open Fronthaul Transport Testing with multiple O-RUs:
Building on previous O-RAN PlugFests, hosts and participants of the Spring 2024 PlugFest successfully extended the number of multi-vendor interoperable configurations in different setups and conditions, broadening the offer of O-RAN solutions for mobile operators.
O-RAN System Testing with Layer 1 Acceleration:
The PlugFest verified readiness to automatically deploy and configure Layer 1 accelerators to allow their efficient testing in different network configurations.
O-RAN E2E Deployment Templates, DevOps, and Test Automation:
Focusing on increasing efficiency of O-RAN network deployments, PlugFest participants demonstrated automation of testing in different areas including testbed setup, security testing, rApps/xApps and RIC testing, utilizing CI/CD processes, and application of the same automation in different labs.

O-RAN Global PlugFest Spring 2024, co-hosted by 20 operators, OTICs, and academic and research institutions, was conducted from February to May 2024 in 18 labs across Asia, Europe, and North America. The PlugFest had 86 participating companies or institutions, some of which participated in more than one venue.

O-RAN ALLIANCE plans to include details from the O-RAN Global PlugFest Spring 2024 into its PlugFest Virtual Showcase this summer.

"O-RAN PlugFests complement O-RAN ALLIANCE's specification effort, helping to facilitate the development of healthy and competitive market of innovative O-RAN based products and services," said Chih-Lin I, Co-chair of O-RAN ALLIANCE's Technical Steering Committee and China Mobile Chief Scientist, Wireless Technologies, China Mobile Research Institute. "Targeting testing and integration efforts on priority themes helps to streamline and focus PlugFest work. Thanks for the generous support from our 20 hosting organizations. It is very encouraging to see sustained high interest in participation in O-RAN PlugFests, proving their value for our ecosystem."

Participants in O-RAN ALLIANCE Global PlugFest Spring 2024

O-RAN ALLIANCE appreciates such high interest from the community in testing and integration at the O-RAN Global PlugFest Spring 2024 and would like to recognize hosts, labs and participants from the O-RAN community, including:
Accuver, Actiontec Electronics, AMD, Anritsu, Auray Technology, CableLabs, Calnex Solutions, Capgemini Engineering, Dell Technologies, Digital Catapult, DISH, Ericsson, Eridan Communications, ETRI, EURECOM, Fujitsu, G REIGNS, Institute for Information Industry, Intel, Iowa State University (ARA), Keysight Technologies, KT, KyungHee University, LG Uplus, LITEON, Mavenir, Metanoia Communications, Mitre, Nakao Laboratory at The University of Tokyo, National Institute of Standards and Technology, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, NEC, Northeastern University (Open6G), NVIDIA, Pegatron, Quanta Cloud Technology, Rakuten Mobile, Rakuten Symphony, Red Hat, Rohde & Schwarz, Rutgers University (COSMOS), Singapore University of Technology and Design SUTD, Software Radio Systems, SynaXG, Synergy Design Technology, TTA, University of New Hampshire (IOL), University of Utah (POWDER), Verizon, VIAVI Solutions, Virginia Tech, VMware by Broadcom, VVDN Technologies, Xena Networks, YRP R&D Promotion Committee.

About O-RAN ALLIANCE
The O-RAN ALLIANCE is a world-wide community of more than 300 mobile operators, vendors, and research & academic institutions operating in the Radio Access Network (RAN) industry. As the RAN is an essential part of any mobile network, the O-RAN ALLIANCE's mission is to re-shape the industry towards more intelligent, open, virtualized and fully interoperable mobile networks. The new O-RAN specifications enable a more competitive and vibrant RAN supplier ecosystem with faster innovation to improve user experience. O-RAN based mobile networks at the same time improve the efficiency of RAN deployments as well as operations by mobile operators. To achieve this, the O-RAN ALLIANCE publishes new RAN specifications, releases open software for the RAN, and supports its members in integration and testing of their implementations.
For more information, please visit www.o-ran.org.

SOURCE O-RAN Alliance