Mavenir expands Open RAN ecosystem

As it looks to build on the momentum it’s gained in advanced open radio access networks (Open RAN) technology over the past 12 months, network software provider Mavenir has expanded its Open RAN radio ecosystem, providing communications service providers (CSPs) with a wider choice of radios as they progress in rolling out open and interoperable networks.

At the head of the new offer is a range of radio units (RUs), OpenBeam, compliant with the O-RAN standard spanning micro, macro, millimetre wave (mmWave) and massive MIMO (mMIMO), to support the numerous Open RAN deployments scheduled for introduction in 2022 and beyond.

Designed for the growing needs of private enterprises to public networks, the portfolio supports both new and legacy radio access technologies. All radios have a modular design, using proven technology to support both beamforming and multi-band needs.

Explaining its rationale for attaching this market, Mavenir cited research from Dell’Oro in January 2022, forecasting that total Open RAN revenues remain on track to approach 15% of the overall RAN market by 2026.

Additionally, in the remote radio unit (RRU) and active antennas unit (AAU), the growth of Open RAN units shows compound annual growth rate of more than 50% versus a declining number of traditional legacy radios.

The OpenBeam radio portfolio covers a range of spectrum, both licensed and un-licensed, and, assured Mavenir, “strictly” follows the philosophy of open interfaces and O-RAN 7.2 interface to which the company is committed through Open RAN centralised unit and distributed unit products. OpenBeam radios will be available to the Open RAN Ecosystem, including suppliers, operators and system integrators.

In addition to the existing ecosystem of partners Mavenir MAVair Open vRAN interworks with, comprising more than 15 O-RAN RRU partners, the OpenBeam suite provides a radio portfolio that is specifically designed for the growing needs of CSPs, with agile, cost-efficient smart radios to meet critical demands on the network – both now and as the network changes and expands.

Potential use cases for the radio offerings include basic coverage across all frequency bands for enterprise, and urban and rural deployment opportunities.

Mavenir believes that such a set of options can address the needs of CSPs to be agile and cost-efficient with low power consumption, low wind load, and integrated intelligence and automation.

“With the incredible growth of virtualisation and Open RAN, we always believed that the ecosystem had to be accelerated as this is fundamental for the success of the future of networks,” said Mavenir CEO Pardeep Kohli. “Mavenir has been working with many partners in the ecosystem, and we have also injected more direct contributions when it comes to innovative design.

“Mavenir is a strong believer in new generation software-based networks which are orchestrated by artificial intelligence and analytics software, and adapt in a dynamic way to user behaviours and market demands. The intelligent, dynamic and adaptable software, together with strong underlying automation, is what drives innovation in the future of networks.”