New Report Hacks Away the Hype on Virtualized RAN

CAMPBELL, Calif., May 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Mobile Experts announced a landmark report that outlines the real progress in Cloud RAN and RAN Virtualization. This nutrient-dense report, titled CRAN and VRAN 2017, offers a systematic description of the current status for each leading network operator and more than 16 suppliers and organizations. The report clearly defines the distinctions between centralization and virtualization, clearing up the confusion that many people have about what "Cloud RAN" really means.

Multiple pages of technical detail on various partitioning strategies describe in detail how each vendor is breaking up the MAC and PHY layers for the best tradeoffs in transport cost, capacity, and evolution to 5G. This report introduces the concept of "Hybrid RAN" which partitions the RAN processing into real time and non-real time functions for ideal performance. This report also describes potential applications for Virtualized RAN (macro outdoor coverage, small cells, 5G evolution, and indoor/enterprise networks) to highlight the areas where virtualization can have a positive ROI.

This definitive report was developed by XONA Partners, in close collaboration with Mobile Experts Inc.

"By late 2016 and early 2017, several Hybrid RAN field trials were underway, which prove feasibility leading up to 5G," commented the report's primary author, Frank Rayal. "One recent example is the multi-vendor testing performed by Samsung and Cisco with Verizon.    It is clear that Hybrid RAN solutions will form the basis of the 5G technology that's currently being defined."

According to the report, full virtualization of the RAN is working, but there are some technical limitations in energy consumption and other factors that limit its adoption by major equipment manufacturers and operators. Start-up companies are highlighted as their implementations are in trials today. This report divides the market into segments where the top-tier OEMs will dominate, and where the start-up companies will have significant opportunities based on a balance of business and technical factors.

This report identifies how 5G technology will also adopt a Hybrid RAN architecture. The distributed functions will rely on hardware devices and accelerators because of high operational complexity, real-time requirements, and high throughput due to wide channels and scalability to a high number of antennas.

"We know this report is highly technical, but we aren't here to write the easy stuff," Principal Analyst of Mobile Experts, Joe Madden, remarked. "Once again, Frank Rayal has taken a subject that is over-hyped in the industry, and highlighted the specific technical factors that are critical. This report clearly identifies the direction of RAN baseband processing, the timeline for ongoing development, and illuminates the applications where full virtualization will be possible."

Companies and projects profiled in this report include:
Nokia
Huawei
Ericsson
Samsung
ZTE
NEC
ASOCS
Altiostar
Ranzure/Mavenir
Phluido
Argela
Amarisoft
Intel
Cavium
Telecom Infra Project (TIP)
M-CORD

About Mobile Experts Inc. and XONA Partners:

Mobile Experts provides insightful market analysis for the mobile infrastructure and mobile handset markets. Our analysts are true Experts, who remain focused on topics where each analyst has 20 years of experience or more. Research topics center on technology introduction for radio frequency (RF) and communications innovation. Recent publications focus on VRAN, 5G, Small Cells, Backhaul & Fronthaul for HetNets, Carrier Wi-Fi and LTE-U, and Enterprise Mobile Infrastructure.

Xona Partners is a boutique advisory services firm specialized in technology, media and telecommunications. It offers technology, market and investment advisory service to private equity and venture funds and technology corporations. Xona Partners collaborates with Mobile Experts to publish market research related to Mobile Edge Computing, Cloud RAN and Virtualized RAN, and IoT.

Contact:
Rachel Madden
Mobile Experts LLC
[email protected] 
+1 (408) 540-7284               
www.mobile-experts.net

SOURCE Mobile Experts

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