The companies contribute code to provide open access to 5G under the O-RAN Alliance

In support of 5G, AT&T* will begin development of a software platform for the RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC), to enable the creation of open source software that is aligned with the O-RAN target architecture. AT&T and Nokia are co-creating the platform code to accelerate the deployment of open source software for the 5G RAN.

The RIC platform will provide a set of functions and interfaces that allow for increased optimizations through policy-driven closed loop automation and for faster, more flexible service deployments and programmability within the RAN. The intent is to enable an intelligent rapidly evolvable radio network by fostering the creation of a multi-vendor open ecosystem of interoperable components for the disaggregated RAN.

“We’re delighted to work with Nokia on co-creating an open source implementation of the RIC platform to accelerate innovations and interoperability in the RAN,” said Mazin Gilbert, vice president of advanced technology and systems at AT&T Labs. “We continue to look for opportunities to drive open platforms and open interfaces in the community."

“Nokia is a strong proponent of RAN network openness and has been active in numerous open source communities, contributing code and defining open interface specifications,” said Mike Murphy, CTO for North America, Nokia. “We are excited to be partnering with AT&T to co-create RIC software and share with the open-source community to foster further collaboration and innovation.”

The platform will be architected in the form of an extensible real-time microservices framework coupled with a radio information database and key open control plane interfaces for mobility management, spectrum management, load balancing, radio resource control and RAN slicing to name a few. This will allow implementations of these functions, sourced from multiple vendors, to be mixed and matched on a single network infrastructure. The platform will also enable interfaces to third party applications for enhanced mobility functions such as cross layer optimization and machine learning inferences.

To further support the company's 5G initiatives, AT&T will increase its engagement in Akraino Edge Stack, a Linux Foundation project focused on building production ready cloud infrastructure for edge deployment in open source. In particular, AT&T has also signed a multiyear co- development agreement with Nokia to further expand Akraino Edge Stack capabilities supporting the needs of the RIC and other edge cloud platform deployments. This work will support the growing need for virtualized edge environments of various sizes, deployment locations and capabilities.