BARCELONA, SPAIN — EXFO has joined the O-RAN Alliance, a group formed in 2018 by network operators with the vision of creating standards and clearly defined requirements for open, intelligent radio access networks (RAN). With 5G networks heavily dependent on virtualised, software-defined RAN architectures, interoperability among diverse network components is key to fast, successful implementations.
The O-RAN Alliance, including founding members AT&T, China Mobile, Deutsche Telekom, NTT DOCOMO and Orange, leads the effort to encourage compatibility and accelerate innovation among equipment and component manufacturers all coming together to build 5G networks. The success of 5G depends on a network architecture that is nimble and self-driving versus manual. Behind the scenes making all that possible sits embedded intelligence—but it’s only as reliable as the data sources and information that creates it.
O-RAN Alliance initiatives will lead to vendor-agnostic solutions that will help operators accelerate the installation and monitoring of their radio infrastructure—ultimately bringing 5G services faster to the market. EXFO anticipates contributing early-to-market test and monitoring solutions developed in tandem with the creation of O-RAN specifications.
‘EXFO’s expertise rests in our ability to deliver network intelligence that provides complete, accurate visibility over entire networks—from radio to the core,’ said Claudio Mazzuca, EXFO’s vice president, strategic partnerships & alliances. ‘We look forward to contributing our extensive knowledge of network testing and monitoring best-practices to the evolution of O-RAN standards.’