Ericsson faces new charges of trying to thwart open RAN – Ericsson faces new charges of trying to thwart open RAN – Light Reading
Swedish vendor Ericsson’s proposal for a new lower layer split is a delaying tactic or attempt to seize control of specifications, according to sources.
May 17, 2023
AUSTIN – Big 5G Event – Few network technologies have been maligned as much as the common public radio interface. Better known as CPRI (pronounced "sipree"), it provides the all-important link between radios and baseband kit in a traditional mobile network. But it's arguably the main reason open RAN exists. Fans of that concept deride CPRI as a proprietary technology owned by Ericsson, Huawei, NEC and Nokia, one that forces operators to buy their radios and baseband kit from the same vendor. A new open fronthaul interface is supposed to change all this. The fear is that open fronthaul is suddenly in danger.
The threat comes from Ericsson, according to sources close to the matter who requested anonymity. The Swedish vendor was on a charm offensive at the Big 5G Event in Austin this week, desperate to silence critics who have long portrayed it as an enemy of open RAN. It's a misconception, insisted executives here in Texas, pointing to Ericsson's contributions to the O-RAN Alliance, the group developing open RAN specifications. Yet Ericsson is now publicly opposed to open fronthaul 7.2x, the existing specification touted by various open RAN players, and pushing an alternative system.
"The most important specification and the one that dominates discussions is the fronthaul specification. The current specification that is 7.2x is well suited to traditional radios or Cat-A radios. It is not optimized for Cat-B or massive MIMO radios," said Mike Murphy, the chief technology officer for Ericsson's North America business, during a keynote presentation in Austin.
Figure 1: 
'Ericsson is betting the company on open RAN,' said Mike Murphy, its North American chief technology officer, at the Big 5G Event.
(Source: Iain Morris/Light Reading)
Instead, Ericsson is now promoting a next-generation lower-layer split to address what it sees as the deficiencies of 7.2x. This split determines the division of baseband functions (the lower layer in question) between the distributed unit (DU), the box responsible for most processing, and the radio. Besides boosting uplink (UL) performance, it would reduce fronthaul capacity demands as well as associated costs, according to Murphy.
"That is why a new working group was created by the Alliance called the Uplink Performance Improvement activity," said Murphy. "We feel this is the only option going forward for Cat-B or massive MIMO radios because those are dominant radios, and we need to optimize performance to meet or exceed what we deliver today. We can't go backward."
The basic idea is to shift some of the components from the DU into the radio unit, including a feature known as the equalizer. Doing that would address various performance problems associated with 7.2x, according to two industry experts. "The equalizer in the radio is the part of the radio that mitigates interference," said Paul Challoner, Ericsson's vice president of network product solutions, during a panel session in Austin. "Where is that? Is it in the radio or the DU? That is one of the debates right now in the O-RAN Alliance."
CPRI successor
But it's a controversial move. Sources in contact with Light Reading regard the Ericsson proposal as a delaying tactic aimed at thwarting open RAN development. One view is that Ericsson is effectively trying to create a CPRI successor, a specification loaded with Ericsson's intellectual property (IP). If that happened and the O-RAN Alliance were to adopt it, smaller and newer vendors of radio units might have to pay technology licensing fees to Ericsson. Another concern is whether it will support backward compatibility with the existing 7.2x specification, said one source.
Others are on Ericsson's side, however. Light Reading understands that several large companies, including Qualcomm, also tabled proposals for a new lower layer split, while Ericsson's has now received backing from AMD, a semiconductor specialist; Nokia, Ericsson's big Nordic rival; and ZTE, a Chinese equipment maker, said an Ericsson spokesperson.
"The solution is proposed jointly by Ericsson and other companies (Nokia, AMD and ZTE) in O-RAN WG4 [Working Group 4] for UL-performance improvements for massive MIMO radios," said the spokesperson by email. "It is not based on any special Ericsson proprietary IP (other co-proposing companies would not have supported it otherwise)."
"We do not expect to have additional IP for this solution compared to any other vendor contributing to O-RAN WG4," the spokesperson added, pointing out that Ericsson adheres to so-called FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) principles on licensing. These ensure any company can enter the market and use standardized technologies from the 3GPP, the international umbrella group for mobile standards, and the O-RAN Alliance, it said.
Ericsson is clearly hopeful the new specification will eclipse 7.2x, saying it believes the best-performing solution is "the one that will be deployed in larger scale." But it rejects the criticism there will be no support for older technology. "The specification proposed by Ericsson and other companies in O-RAN WG4 supports backward compatibility with what has already been standardized," said Ericsson's spokesperson.
Standard worries
Open RAN is regarded by many industry figures as a risk for Ericsson and other big equipment vendors. The technology is intended to spur competition, making it easier for an operator to work with specialists instead of buying all its products from a single firm. This explains much of the skepticism about Ericsson's recent claims to be fully committed to open RAN.
Previously, Ericsson has voiced concern that O-RAN Alliance work could fork mobile technology. Back in February, Fredrik Jejdling, the head of Ericsson's entire networks business, said he was pushing for greater harmonization between the O-RAN Alliance and the 3GPP. "We want to avoid bifurcation or trifurcation of these interfaces because the whole premise for scalability for the overall industry is going to be reduced," he told Light Reading.
Smaller companies, however, are known to be worried about the prospect of closer alignment between those groups. One argument is that big vendors have been able to control technology development within the 3GPP and effectively block moves they perceive to be a threat.
"The 3GPP is a walled garden and there is so much innovation we could not bring at the speed we wanted," said Marc Rouanne, the chief network officer for US telco Dish and a former Nokia executive. "They didn't have open interfaces like the RIC [an open RAN feature] and we had to wait ten years to get it in."
Ericsson, meanwhile, insists it has become one of the biggest contributors to the O-RAN Alliance. In a white paper issued last year, it boasted responsibility for about 14% of all contributions made between October 2021 and the end of 2022. In Working Group 4, the one dealing with fronthaul specifications, it is tied with another company in first place for contributions, said Ericsson.
Its message in Austin this week was all about demonstrating support. "Ericsson is betting the company on open RAN over the long term," insisted Murphy during his keynote presentation here. "That is why we're obsessive about getting the foundations and building blocks right."
Related posts:
Ericsson targets US military as its next big 5G customer
Open RAN players race to fill their 'brownfield' gaps
Ericsson and Nokia go opposite ways on open RAN
Ericsson boasts 'open' portable RAN, adding AMD next to Intel
Ericsson networks boss shares open RAN hopes and fears
— Iain Morris, International Editor, Light Reading
Read more about:
Iain Morris
International Editor, Light Reading
Iain Morris joined Light Reading as News Editor at the start of 2015 — and we mean, right at the start. His friends and family were still singing Auld Lang Syne as Iain started sourcing New Year's Eve UK mobile network congestion statistics. Prior to boosting Light Reading's UK-based editorial team numbers (he is based in London, south of the river), Iain was a successful freelance writer and editor who had been covering the telecoms sector for the past 15 years. His work has appeared in publications including The Economist (classy!) and The Observer, besides a variety of trade and business journals. He was previously the lead telecoms analyst for the Economist Intelligence Unit, and before that worked as a features editor at Telecommunications magazine. Iain started out in telecoms as an editor at consulting and market-research company Analysys (now Analysys Mason).
You May Also Like
Dec 22, 2023
Dec 22, 2023
Dec 22, 2023
Dec 21, 2023
5G & 5.5G toC/toB/toH Commercial Cases
SCTE® LiveLearning for Professionals Webinar™ Series: Getting a Bead on BEAD
Dec 21, 2023
Dec 21, 2023
Dec 21, 2023
Verizon surprises with ongoing delays in 5G standalone rollout
Nokia offers rare glimpse of its northern lights
AT&T and T-Mobile are in a heated race to space
How telecom is working to influence AI policy
Copyright © 2023 Informa PLC Informa UK Limited is a company registered in England and Wales with company number 1072954 whose registered office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
