Automation is at an inflection point. It is no longer a future aspiration, it is something that operators have started to implement, both in their new and legacy networks. They see the opportunity for cost savings and increased efficiency, but also the risks and challenges automation brings. In this Sparring Partners, Per Kangru at VIAVI shares how the experience with operators shaped VIAVI’s approach to automation and provides guidance for operators evaluating what are the most fruitful...

RIC promises to make open RAN (and traditional RAN too) more efficient. But when? Are we ready to deploy RIC? And what RIC functionality is available now and what should we expect over the next few years? How dependent are open RAN deployments on RIC? In this Sparring Partners, Simona Marinova at Bell Canada and Monica Paolini at Senza Fili gave an update on RIC availability and maturity, and talked about how beneficial RIC will be in the evolution of the RAN: How are we doing on...

Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs) open the way to one of the most fascinating technological advances: passive transmission. RIS turns reflection from a source of interference to an entirely new way to transmit the wireless signal that is well suited to the dense, high-traffic, high-obstruction areas where the need for capacity is the highest and connectivity often disappointing. In this Sparring Partners with Melike Erol-Kantarci at the University of Ottawa, we talked about her...

The 6GHz band has become prime estate: a large amount of spectrum that can be safely shared with incumbents and used for indoor connectivity and densification in high-traffic areas. Understandably, everybody wants to use it and protect their access to it: mobile operators, other service providers, enterprises, public entities, and everybody in their homes. Who should have access to it? How should we ensure coexistence with incumbents? And how should we protect the right to access the...

We are still in the 5G and 5G Advanced phase, but it is good to take a peek at where 6G may take us in the evolution towards an open RAN – and possibly beyond what we now call Open RAN. In this Sparring Partner, I talked with Ravi Sinha at O-RAN ALLIANCE about multiple RAN evolution paths from 5G/5G-A to 6G that will open the RAN beyond the fronthaul interface.

We had many Sparring Partners on energy efficiency in wireless, but none was on Wi-Fi. This is a glaring omission since Wi-Fi accounts for the majority of wireless traffic – in most countries, it hovers at around 80% of wireless traffic. Yet, there is much less data (and debate) on Wi-Fi energy efficiency than on 5G or LTE – and there are reasons for this. Claus Hetting at Wi-Fi NOW helped us fill this gap in the next Sparring Partners. We debated on the energy efficiency of Wi-Fi, and on how...