Open RAN xApps Design and Evaluation: Lessons Learnt and Identified Challenges

TL;DR

This paper discusses the challenges faced in developing and implementing xApps for Open RAN, emphasizing the need for collaboration and sharing early lessons to guide future innovations in flexible, modular RAN architectures.

Contribution

It provides a comparative analysis of xApp development challenges and shares early lessons learned to support academia-industry collaboration in Open RAN.

Findings

Development complexities for advanced use cases like beam management

Implementation issues in open platform software

Need for academia-industry collaboration

Abstract

Open Radio Access Networks (RAN) offer diverse economic opportunities. A transition to a flexible, modular approach within the disaggregated RAN framework is crucial, involving careful planning of RAN architecture and the deployment of specialized software applications. Collaboration across sectors is essential for efficiency and reliability, with the open-source community driving innovation. This paper explores challenges for third-party application developers in Open RAN. It provides a comparative analysis of solutions, focusing on xApp development and implementation. Challenges arise in two areas: the complexities of xApp development, particularly for advanced use cases like beam management, and issues in low-level software implementation within open platforms. In conclusion, key challenges must promote academia-industry collaboration in Open RAN. This paper shares early lessons from xApp development, guiding the field's evolution.