EANTC and VIAVI Solutions took part in the Joint European O-RAN and TIP Plugfest 2020, part of the second global O-RAN ALLIANCE plugfest, where we together demonstrated automated end-to-end (E2E) O-RAN tests at the Open Test and Integration Center (OTIC) lab. This included testing multi-vendor pairings.
EANTC and VIAVI joined the plugfest in Berlin, Germany and Torino, Italy. Hosted by Deutsche Telekom and TIM, it took place in September and featured 27 participating vendors. It was jointly organized by the O-RAN ALLIANCE (O-RAN) and the Telecom Infra Project (TIP), and was the first European multi-vendor initiative to support the development of interoperable 5G and LTE O-RAN solutions.
The Plugfest’s goal is to progress interoperability of 5G O-RAN solutions, help the industry mature their solutions, and give service providers and mobile network operators a unique insight into the state of the industry. The O-RAN ALLIANCE works to drive momentum towards O-RAN and provides a collaborative and open working environment for testing and integration.
Plugfest provided the opportunity for VIAVI and EANTC to showcase a recent development and a major milestone in O-RAN testing. Together, we demonstrated how we’d automated E2E O-RAN tests at OTIC labs. OTIC facilities are being established in several regions and focus on interoperability validation and certification of O-RAN solutions.
The joint effort greatly accelerates the technical evaluation of O-RAN solutions, ensures more consistent, stable and reproducible results, and is designed to avoid duplication of efforts for all involved parties. Testing realistic E2E scenarios helps to educate the industry and to speed up network developments.
Together we planned, executed and documented multi-vendor interoperability tests of O-RAN solutions. In a massive effort involving seven weeks of onsite and remote testing, EANTC verified 12 multi-vendor pairings of O-RU and O-DU/O-CU solutions at the labs in Berlin, Germany and Torino, Italy. The tests focused on Open Fronthaul functionality, diversity of multi-vendor pairings, compliance, E2E performance, and interoperability.
EANTC’s automation works with the VIAVI TM500. From the automation’s GUI, the user can start campaigns (a collection of test cases) and monitor progress. Once a test run is complete, the automation triggers the generation of a report and the results are viewed from a GUI.
VIAVI is actively engaged in the O-RAN ALLIANCE, working with focus groups and contributing to interoperability test specifications, E2E test frameworks, and global Plugfest events.
Integration and Testing Architecture
