Oxford Science Park company to work with Digital Catapult on Radio Access Network tech
The government's Digital Catapult, the UK authority on advanced digital technology, working in partnership with Ofcom, is to work with Oxford Science Park-based CableFree to accelerate the development of Open RAN products, through becoming part of the next phase of its SONIC Labs programme.
Open Radio Access Networks (RAN) is a new approach to building the mobile networks that are needed to connect smartphones and devices to the internet and other users.
Traditional RAN solutions generally require telecommunications operators to work with single suppliers across an entire mobile site. This approach can be a barrier to entry for smaller suppliers that might not have the financial requirements or the resources to build and manage solutions across the entire RAN ecosystem (e.g. radio antenna, baseband units, CU/DU servers, management and orchestration software etc.).
CableFree is one of five companies announced to work on SONIC (SmartRAN Open Network Interoperability Centre) Labs – the two year programme from Digital Catapult and Ofcom.
Digital Catapult will help the five organisations to integrate their Open RAN products into working end to end systems, by enabling testing in indoor mobile network settings. The programme is creating a collaborative environment for testing how easily different Open RAN products, solutions and services from multiple vendors can integrate and exchange information.
The organisations - all Open RAN vendors - will share best practices around the implementation of Open RAN standards, solve specific Open RAN integration problems, collaborate with new partners to create knowledge, and even have the chance to showcase their products to potential customers and end-users.
Accelerating the adoption of Open RAN technology has the potential to diversify the UK 5G supply chain so it is fit for the future - making it more secure and accessible for new market entrants.
Joe Butler, Chief Technology Officer at Digital Catapult, said: “We’re pleased to provide our leading technical expertise and lab facilities to help these five companies test their Open RAN products and solutions, and support them on their route to market.
“Through our SONIC Labs programme we’re helping to foster innovation across the telecoms sector - diversifying the 5G supply chain market in the UK and delivering fast, secure and reliable connectivity.”
Alongside access to Digital Catapult’s advanced facilities and technical support, participants will be able to take part in thought-leadership events throughout and beyond the six month technical programme, and will benefit from networking opportunities and targeted innovation activities to accelerate their route to commercialisation.
The five companies participating are
Benetel is based in Dublin, Ireland, and is a company dedicated to delivering 5G ORAN Radio Units (O-RUs) to Communication Service Providers and Private Networks. They will participate by providing a Radio Unit (RU) in this cohort.
CableFree
The other Radio Unit in the SONIC Labs will be provided by CableFree: Wireless Excellence, a UK-based equipment vendor with a deployed base of customers in more than 80 countries. The company designs and manufactures high-performance wireless connectivity products including 5G Macro and Small Cell Radios.
Effnet is a company based in Sweden and is dedicated to delivering 5G RAN software components to Communications Service Providers as well as for a wide variety of applications including private networks and non-terrestrial networks. They will be providing a Distributed Unit (DU) and a Centralised Unit (CU) to the programme and bring more than 20 years of experience in the area of research and development of efficient networking.
IS-Wireless is a company based in Poland, specialising in the development of software-defined 4G and 5G mobile networks. The company has been recognized as one of a few European RAN vendors by leading telco operators in their November 2021 report “Building an Open RAN Ecosystem for Europe.” IS-Wireless is contributing to the programme by bringing a Centralised Unit (CU) and will bring the L2 stack, part of the Distributed Unit (DU).
Phluido is a pioneer company in the fields of fronthaul technology and cellular network virtualisation from San Diego, California. The company will be in charge of providing the physical layer for a Distributed Unit (DU) to the SONIC Labs programme.
