Essential ORAN training course description

This course is designed to give students a technical introduction to the technologies and architectures involved in the Open-Radio Access Network (O-RAN) environment. Beginning with an architectural review, we then dive into the interfaces and components, examining possible deployment scenarios and use cases. We will investigate Cloud control functionality, transmission options and White Box Hardware solutions at a high-level, bringing together an overview of slicing technologies and solutions with interface explanations and typical flow diagrams.

What will you learn

• Assess and list the components of an O-RAN environment
• Describe and list the interfaces of an O-RAN environment
• Explain how and why the Near-RT RIC and Non-RT RIC communicate
• Explain the importance of the A1 interface
• Demonstrate knowledge of the protocols used with the A1 interface
• Describe the O-RAN architectural options
• Explore supporting Telco Cloud architecture and virtualization

Essential ORAN training course details

Essential ORAN training course contents

The evolution of RAN

RAN architecture evolution
Main components of a mobile network
Layers of the protocol stack of a 3GPP mobile network
4G/LTE RAN
4.5G RAN architecture
The 5G RAN
The Case for Open RAN
6G and the road ahead

O-RAN overview

Multi-vendor Open RAN ecosystem
Intelligent applications in Near-RT RIC
RAN programmability
Open RAN architecture
Open RAN cloudification and virtualisation
RAN intelligence
Fronthaul interface and open transport

O-RAN architecture overview

An informal view of the ORAN functions
Centralised Unit Control Plane & User Plane (CU-CP and CU-UP)
Distributed Unit function (DU)
Radio Unit function (RU)
Evolved NodeB
RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC)
Service Management & Orchestration (SMO) functions
Interfaces
Near-RT RIC architecture
Standard functional architecture principles
E2 interface
Non-RT RIC architecture
A1 interface
SMO architecture

Cloudification and virtualisation

Virtualisation trends
Openness and disaggregation with vRAN
Cloud deployment scenarios
On premise, far edge, edge and central deployments
Unwinding the RAN monolith
Orchestration, management and automation

RAN intelligence

Background on Machine Learning
ML-Driven intelligence for Non-RT and Near-RT RIC
RIC use cases

The fronthaul interface

The lower-layer split RAN
Lower layer split options
Option 8 Split - CPRI & eCPRI
Option 6 Split - FAPI & nFAPI
Option 7 Split - ORAN Alliance Open fronthaul
Key features
Fronthaul compression - Fixed point compression

Open transport

Xhaul transport networks
Fronthaul requirements
Midhaul requirements
Backhaul requirements
Synchronisation requirements
WDM solutions
Packet switched solutions
Management and control architecture
Synchronisation solutions

ORAN security

Zero trust principles
Threats to ORAN
Protecting ORAN
Securing the O-Cloud
ORAN software
ORAN Software Community (OSC)
SMO framework
Open Network Automation Platform (ONAP)

ORAN deployments

Network architecture and components
Antenna
ORAN - RU
ORAN DU
ORAN CU
RAN Intelligent Controller
Traditional vs ORAN
Typical ORAN deployment
DU deployments
CU deployments
Network management

Learning path

Reviews