Core of O-RAN: standardization + open source
ORAN Alliance is led and initiated by operators and has three key principles. First, it guides the evolution direction of the industry. First, it is open interface, which can support the interoperation of equipment from different manufacturers. The second is to construct wireless access network through virtualization to realize intelligent wireless network based on big data. The second principle is to actively and fully utilize common platforms and reduce reliance on proprietary platforms. The third principle is to develop and promote standardized definitions of interfaces and related apis and explore open source solutions.
To put these three rules in plain language, O-RAN is pushing in four directions: intelligent networks, open interfaces, universal hardware, and open source software. Hardware that used to be a black box has now been converted into a standardized universal product, and the software code has become open source.
This may mean that in the future, no matter how many devices are available in a single manufacturer's network, they are not irreplaceable. Sellers do not need to package and purchase hardware and software products from the same manufacturer, but make full use of common platforms, reduce their dependence on private platforms, develop and promote standardized definitions of interfaces and related API, and explore open source solutions, which also means that "standardization" will become the trend.
With the opening and generalization of hardware, hardware will be generalized after network functions are decoupled from hardware and software, and operators will be more independent than they are always dominated by device vendors. Traditional equipment vendors will face major changes, and some Internet companies, software vendors, and IT vendors may become new players in the market.
Challenges and prospects for O-RAN
The establishment of o-RAN alliance, in the industry, "a stone stirred up a thousand waves." In the final analysis, o-RAN is to solve the problem of cost and efficiency. How to strike a balance among universality, energy efficiency ratio and comprehensive cost is the core problem of reference design and development of universal base station.
Currently, the O-RAN Alliance has expanded to more than 60 members. Li Zhengmao, Vice President of China Mobile, said publicly: "O-ran has made exciting progress, not only as a traditional leader in the industry, but also a lot of startups and SEM showing great interest. I believe o-ran 'wheels' will accelerate at full speed, gather more power for the development of next-generation wireless communication networks, promote industry prosperity, and make a crucial contribution to the deployment of 5G in the coming years."
It has to be said that o-RAN has gradually become the consensus among global operators. Some securities companies once estimated that China's 5G investment scale would reach 1.2 trillion Yuan, among which base station equipment and transmission equipment accounted for 45% and 22% respectively. From this point of view, standard equipment development prospects can be expected.
Changing the industry around O-RAN may be a protracted battle. The technology concepts and standards advocated by O-RAN are advanced, but the industry is often not determined by a single factor. 5G is the additional impetus for open technologies such as O-RAN, and the determination of operators to invest will determine the end of open source communications. I believe that with the joint efforts of many enterprises, O-RAN will usher in a "spring" day.
