Open radio access networks, or Open RAN, is a new approach to RANs that separates traditionally integrated hardware and software and upholds a set of specific standards to enable multiple vendors to provide different components under one cloud service provider’s network.
The Department of Defense has made 5G a top priority, and it has taken notice of the benefits Open RAN has to offer. Join us at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 5G Forum on May 22 to hear DOD leaders and industry experts share their insights on the ways in which the department is leveraging networks to transform military operations.
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According to Lt. Col. Benjamin Pimentel, technical lead for Expeditionary and Tactical Programs FutureG within the DOD’s Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, the push for Open RAN is a “strong position” that the DOD holds.
At the Potomac Officers Club’s 10th Annual Defense R&D Summit in January, he noted the potential harmony between Open RAN and automation – another current DOD focus.
“I think that the RAN Intelligent Controller piece of the Open RAN architecture in particular offers an opportunity for us to automate and introduce intelligence into the network that simplifies the management and orchestration of the network,” he said.
Pimentel will return to deliver a keynote address at the 2024 5G Forum.
Open RAN, he added, could “play a large role” in simplifying network operations for users at the edge who may not be as familiar with the complexities of network management. The goal of this strategy, he continued, is to make sure “that the network is not inhibiting them, but enabling the mission.”
“There has been a lot of focus on the open interfaces and standards, and management and orchestration has not really been at the forefront. I think an increased focus in that area – not only simplifying and automating some of those processes so that they can easily manage at the edge – is going to be an important focus area going forward,” said Pimentel.
Recent DOD experiments have demonstrated that Open RAN has a place in military operations. In August, the Marine Corps received the final Phase 1 Initial Prototype 5G testbed for the Open Systems Interoperable and Reconfigurable Infrastructure Solution, or OSIRIS, from Lockheed Martin. OSIRIS successfully integrated Intel’s technologies into Lockheed’s hybrid base station, making OSIRIS compliant with the Open RAN 7.2 split architecture.
DOD CIO John Sherman said at DefenseScoop’s DefenseTalks conference in May that the department wants to scale its exploration of Open RAN moving forward.
