Communications service providers (CSPs) have been steadily transforming their networks for many years. But one area that is still in the early phases of ramping up its transformation journey is the radio access network (RAN).

RAN technology has traditionally been delivered through a series of purpose-built hardware and software components. Such legacy architectures can impede progress toward the achievement of an automated and interoperable platform that spans both mobile core and RAN networks.

Here are some of the barriers standing in the way of RAN transformation: Too many silos and tools CSPs have been building different RAN systems and architectures for decades across multiple vendor solutions. When you try to map these disparate systems across the layers of a massively distributed network, it can be technically challenging to keep everything up and running. Data locked in one system is inaccessible to others. Tools for automation, service assurance and monitoring are confined to a specific solution from a specific vendor. Consequently, CSPs are often forced to use separate tools for 3G, 4G, 5G and RAN. Many skilled hands are needed to tie everything together, spot trends and troubleshoot issues. Manual operations multiply and efforts toward automation are inhibited. Time to resolution remains sluggish.

Plowing money into platforms that lead to siloed operations stifles innovation, impedes data visibility and raises operating expenditures. RAN transformation requires more than updating of radios. But according to a recent study by ACG Research, the consolidation and integration of silos and network tools brings opex savings of 38%.

Maintaining legacy technology instead of investing in an improved operational model Technology investment is vital. But there can be too much emphasis on implementing one solution after another on a shaky foundation. Continuing to throw the bulk of technology investment at traditional RAN platforms can drive up costs and slow progress. A study by EY, one of the largest professional services networks in the world, found that today’s complex security and privacy requirements hamper technology advances; another found that reliance on monolithic network configurations adds to cost as it consumes so much power. It may be time to consider new operating models that can flush out inefficiencies, enhance sustainability, reduce costs and boost revenue (all of which VMware platforms have been proven in market to enable).

Innovation versus core competency The pressure to innovate is relentless across all organizations. But it's important to acknowledge that each has its own core skillset that should inform its approach to innovation. Asking RAN experts to devise new software-defined and cloud-driven philosophies and technologies is much like demanding that an automotive company design a new airplane. The smart approach is to combine that RAN expertise with a partner who possesses software-defined and cloud know-how that has been applied successfully to help large organizations become more agile, more flexible and more able to innovate.

Only by opening the network to innovation does it become possible to arrive at new operating models that reduce capex and opex and bring about end-to-end visibility. As a cloud company with deep telco experience, VMware by Broadcom and its large ecosystem of partners in both RAN and mobile core can accelerate CSPs to become more agile and flexible as they journey toward RAN transformation.

RAN transformation fundamentals RAN transformation becomes more vital with each passing year as technology evolves and the benefits of automation become more apparent.

“RAN is complex with so many configurable parameters that promises of advanced automation and higher performance and efficiency are very appealing,” said Remy Pascal, an analyst at Omdia.

Successful modernization of the RAN depends on certain fundamentals being present:

Buy-in from the top down Modernization efforts can’t be accomplished by bits and pieces. A lone department head working to upgrade the technology backbone gradually isn’t likely to get very far. Top management buy-in and backing are essential. Only with full commitment from top to bottom can new RAN operating models take root.

A new approach to risk Historically, CSPs have been reluctant to assume risk. They prefer to pay for technology and services that reduce risk — or are willing to add complexity to their operations in the name of risk minimization. Hence, RANs continue to require highly specialized teams to manage and troubleshoot operations.

The recommended approach is to identify the actual cost of holding onto traditional RAN infrastructure in terms of human capital costs, network resources, operational inefficiencies and lifecycle costs. Armed with full data, decision-makers can make informed choices about future direction and upgrades. This may highlight potential strategies that could offer the right mix of capability and cost. But such strategies must be accompanied by adopting a less risk-averse mindset — one that facilitates broader innovation and network/RAN integration. History demonstrates that no matter the caution, failures are inevitable. Modern software- and cloud-driven philosophies expect failure and compensate via more agile processes that facilitate ultra-fast recovery and promote innovation.

New network configurations require better metrics Reliance on traditional key performance indicators (KPIs) like dropped calls won’t help CSPs in their modernization efforts. New KPIs are needed to measure progress towards the creation of customer-centric networks that facilitate higher rates of customer retention and much faster deployment of services. Latency metrics, too, must span both RAN and core network processes. But this is only possible if a collector is established that pools all information in one easy-to-access location. KPIs can then encompass fault management, performance monitoring and service management and be available on a single pane of glass for ease of review and operational response.

Next-generation processes and operational models New processes are needed for next-generation networks that are more distributed, virtualized and cloud-based. These processes streamline key areas such as service assurance, network programming, multi-layer data collection, AI-based automation and remediation, network slicing, orchestration and 5G RAN assurance. However, open, cloud-native networks add complexity — unless the right architecture and tools are in place that provide end-to-end automation, alarm consolidation and assurance across multivendor environments.

Only with the right platform, operational model and processes in place, CSPs can achieve these benefits:

• Multi-layer network monitoring.
• Edge-to-edge cross-domain assurance from core to RAN.
• Topology discovery and anomaly detection/correlation/root cause analysis.
• Elimination of noise from erroneous alarms generated by siloed systems.
• The level of scalability needed to encompass next-generation services.

Vertical versus horizontal networks A vertical approach results in distinctly separate RAN topologies that span only one vendor’s technology. A horizontal approach unifies RAN management, even if some CSPs prefer to maintain separate RAN and core networks — which VMware Telco Cloud Platform RAN will support. This offers consistency of management, operational simplicity to cloud infrastructure and the ability to utilize tools such as lifecycle management across multivendor environments.

Instead of continuing to plow money into an aging framework, horizontal integration of RANs can future-proof CSP spending and introduce greater levels of standardization. Complex and time-consuming customization of middleware to make disparate systems talk to each other is no longer necessary. An integrated service-based architecture enables observability, correlation and cloud-loop remediation aligned to RAN KPIs and opens the door to AI/ML workloads being able to perform end-to-end root cause analysis across core and RAN networks. Further, RAN services can be deployed at scale to bring about network optimization, achieve cost efficiencies and make possible the automatic allocation of network capacity. This enables CSPs to offer customers a broader range of value-added services.

VMware Telco Cloud Platform RAN is powered by field-proven virtualized compute coupled with VMware Telco Cloud Automation and a telco-grade Kubernetes stack. VMware Telco Cloud Platform RAN paves a clear path to RAN modernization by enabling CSPs to evolve from their traditional RAN to a disaggregated vRAN and, ultimately, open RAN.

To find out more about achieving a unified control pane that spans all types of RAN and core architectures, visit https://telco.vmware.com/products/telco-cloud-platform-ran.hypertext markup language (HTML)