OpenAirInterface MOSAIC5G Project Group
The newly created MOSAIC5G (M5G) PROJECT GROUP aims to transform radio access (RAN) and core networks (CN) into agile and open network-service delivery platforms. Such a platform allows for exploring new use-cases of interest to different vertical industries. Mosaic5G introduces the world’s first ecosystem of 5G R&D open source platforms ranging from the centralized network control to the mobile edge network deployment.
This PROJECT GROUP (PG) will develop a set of extendable control and orchestration frameworks with extendable APIs on the top of OpenAirInterface RAN and CN to enable fine-grained monitoring and programmability of the underlying network infrastructure. It further allows to leverage a customizable 4G/5G service delivery platform empowered by an ecosystem of intelligent network applications (xApps) and service development kits (SDK). The figure above shows the M5G stack and its relation to the OpenAirInterface RAN and CN.
The foremost focus of the M5G PG will be on providing software implementations of
– the O-RAN E2 protocol named E2 Agent,
– a flexible RAN intelligent controller named FlexRIC,
– a flexible Core controller named FlexCN, and
– an intelligent RAN and CN operator named Trirematics.
The final goal will be to deliver an open and agile 4G and 5G service platform and a range of xApps for the OAI community.
What is FlexRIC?
FlexRIC is a software suite that contains two components:
- – a RAN agent that allows for interfacing with the radio stack, and
- – a real-time (RT) controller
FlexRIC is short for “Flexible RAN Intelligent Controller”. It interfaces with the OAI radio stack over the O-RAN-defined E2-interface to monitor and control the RAN in real-time.
Why FlexRIC? : FlexRIC has a built-in Service Model (SM) for monitoring and slicing, that can be easily customized and extended to fulfill the diverse 5G use cases. FlexRIC’s Application Protocol (AP) and SM are encoding and decoding agnostic. It also supports the creation of new SMs “à la carte” to satisfy specific, yet not standardized, use cases. Lastly, FlexRIC is expected to act as a booster for the type and quality of Machine Learning algorithms deployed in 5G as it easily enables their validation in real 5G deployments as shown here with the OpenAirInterface 5G stack.
As a part of this demo, we showcase the following FlexRIC capabilities:
- – Integration with OAI’s 5G cellular radio stack
- – FlexRIC E2-agent compatibility with the O-RAN RIC
- – Monitoring capabilities through “à la carte” designed SMs
- – Control capabilities through xApps that perform slicing control at a NSA 5G network
How does FlexRIC compare with the O-RAN Alliance’s near-RT RIC? The RT controller component of the FlexRIC software suite contains similar functionality with similar overall aims as the O-RAN Alliance’s near-RT RIC. However, it is smaller, compact, handy, easy to deploy, and well-suited to experimentation. We emphasize, as we show in the demo for the O-RAN near-RT RIC, that any RIC can easily replace the FlexRIC RT controller.
OAI MOSAIC5G Roadmap – Mars 2022
The following chart gives the roadmap of future implementations over a period of three to four quarters. As we make progress over the coming quarters, we shall regularly keep updating the chart here to reflect the new milestones covering a similar period.
PROJECT GROUP SPONSORSHIP MECHANISM
To accelerate the delivery of a feature-rich and stable 5G software, the OSA launched a new sponsorship mechanism called PROJECT GROUP in Q1 2021 for its partners, especially the industry, who are invited to donate financial resources to developments through these PROJECT GROUPS.
After the successful sponsorship campaign for the OAI RAN and CN PROJECT GROUPS, the latest in the bandwagon is the OAI MOSAIC5G PROJECT GROUP. This PG has been set up at the OSA with the goal of designing agile RAN and CN service platforms capable of providing fine-grained monitoring, control, and orchestration of the underlying OAI network infrastructure. The project will be developed and the software distributed under the OAI Public License V1.1. The M5G PROJECT GROUP will provide software implementations of the O-RAN E2 protocol (named E2 Agent), Flexible RAN intelligent controller (named FlexRIC), Flexible Core controller (name FlexCN), and intelligent RAN and CN operator (named Trirematics) over the course of two years. The final goal will be the delivery of an open and agile 4G and 5G service platform and a range of xApps for the OAI community.
Parties seriously interested in leveraging the MOSIAC5G code for their use-cases and thus looking to influence the development roadmap can participate by joining the Alliance as Strategic Members and then participating in the OAI MOSAIC5G PROJECT GROUP in one of the sponsorship categories. For more details on the working of the Project Group and sponsorship categories, please download the Project Group Charter.
For enquiries on how to participate in the OAI 5G RAN PROJECT GROUP, please write to: contact@openairinterface.org
Project Code
Please visit the home of the project on Gitlab: oai / mosaic5G · GitLab (eurecom.fr)