Road to 5G: TIM brings in field Virtual Radio Access Network

TIM, first in Europe and among the first companies in the world, marks a further step on the road towards 5G, experimenting on live network, in collaboration with Altiostar, the Virtual Radio Access Network (vRAN) technology which makes it possible to improve the quality of the current mobile network and increase its efficiency.

The new architecture, successfully tested first at the innovation laboratories in Turin and now in the field at Saluzzo, represents an important transformation of the mobile access network, making it possible to fully exploit LTE advanced functionalities , by coordinating signals from various radio base station (Carrier Aggregation inter-site and Comp inter-site), using a centralised and virtualised infrastructure.

The tests conducted in the field have confirmed the maturity of the solution and the benefits expected in terms of improvement in performance and quality of the service offered.

For this initiative a virtual server has been installed in Turin, more than 60 kilometres away from the Saluzzo antennas, which has demonstrated its ability to coordinate radio base station even at considerable distances, without affecting connection and performance, thanks to efficient transmission techniques based on Ethernet fronthauling.

The flexibility, the scalability and the possibility of introducing algorithms developed by third parties for the new virtualised architecture enable efficient management of increasing mobile traffic and its rapid changes through the introduction of new SON (Self Organizing Network) functionalities such as innovative methods of automatic network configuration developed by TIM and tested on the Altiostar solution.

With this new technological finishing line crossed, TIM confirms its leadership in the innovation of superfast broadband networks for the purpose of improving the quality of digital services on the go, for maximum customer satisfaction.

Virtual RAN in fact constitutes a further element in the evolution to 5G, in response to the growing demand for superfast broadband on the move.