The O-RAN Alliance released its second wave of specifications for open radio access network (RAN) architecture with much of the focus on what it calls “open intelligence.”

This includes the R1 interface between an rAPP and the non-real time RAN intelligent controller (non-RT RIC) and service management and orchestration (SMO), and the A1 interface that connects non-RT RIC functions in the SMO layer with the near-real time RIC.

O-RAN Release 2 also includes specifications for traffic steering, quality of service and experience, slicing, SMO, and the first version of physical layer acceleration abstraction and security tests specifications.

The community also said it’s updated 36 technical documents with extensions and new features since November 2021. 

These updates include advancements on open architecture and use cases; network slicing; various specifications for the non- and near-RT RIC; the user and synchronization plane; fronthaul interoperability tests; and distributed unit and central unit base station architecture and APIs. 

The O-RAN Alliance also made progress on fronthaul transport; operations and maintenance; certifications; and security spanning requirements, protocols, tests, and threat modeling and remediation analysis.

The 40 new O-RAN specifications were developed and set by a total of 11 O-RAN Alliance working groups.

O-RAN Release 1 focused largely on the creation of open interfaces for fronthaul, transport, hardware, and cloud. 

The O-RAN Alliance said it increased activities with other industry bodies and standards development organizations throughout 2021. The community’s first specification, the O-RAN Fronthaul Control, User and Synchronization Plane Specification was submitted to the ETSI Technical Committee Mobile Standards Group for potential adoption. 

It plans to submit more O-RAN specifications to ETSI. If those efforts catch on, it would likely provide some credence to the O-RAN Alliance. Indeed, one of the biggest knocks against the community is that it’s working outside the scope of industry standards.

Elevating O-RAN Alliance specifications to a globally adopted standard by bodies like ETSI or 3GPP would significantly bolster its position and dampen a major point of criticism among naysayers.