Nokia opens O-RAN Testing Center in the U.S.

Nokia has opened its first Open RAN (O-RAN) Collaboration and Testing Center at its offices in Dallas, Texas. The center is designed to support the development of partnerships among O-RAN vendors that will help with the verification, introduction, and launch of O-RAN compliant solutions to market.

In particular, vendors will be able to execute Interoperability Tests (IOT) and end-to-end testing for O-RU/O-DU Open Fronthaul as well as xAPP testing for Nokia’s near-real-time RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC). The project is the latest in Nokia’s continued commitment to O-RAN, vRAN, and Edge Cloud innovation. Nokia plans to open similar facilities at its other global offices around the world in the future.

The Nokia O-RAN Collaboration and Testing Center provides a collaborative, open, and impartial working environment to perform tests with the aim of launching O-RAN compliant solutions. The Center provides a venue to collaborate as well as validate different areas such as control, user, management, and synchronization plane compliance with O-RAN Alliance specifications. The short-term focus is on Open Fronthaul and near-real-time RIC expanding to other O-RAN interfaces in the near future.

The Nokia O-RAN Collaboration and Testing Center is also designed to execute IOT and end-to-end testing for O-RU/O-DU Open Fronthaul and xAPP testing for the near-real-time RIC. It is built with a variety of support nodes and test tools to ensure a collaborative, open, and confidential test environment.

The center also places particular emphasis on the protection of participants’ intellectual property and confidential material. It provides work area isolation of vendor personnel, equipment, and data through access controls, separate secure work areas, and network segregation.

Pasi Toivanen, Head of Edge Cloud at Nokia, commented: “Our new O-RAN Collaboration and Testing Center highlights our continued commitment towards O-RAN and the development of new solutions. At our Dallas offices, we have created a collaborative and secure working environment that offers best-in-class facilities to help our partners achieve their goal.”