The project, called Coordinated Multipoint Open Radio Access Network, or CoMP-O-RAN In short, it will revolutionize the performance and cost of building densified 5G (NR) outdoor small cell networks intended to provide widespread 5G-like coverage in the UK. The rollout of 5G and the mass deployment of 5G gigabit services by mobile network operators is critical to the UK's economic development. CoMP-O-RAN provides a densification solution that can enable public and private network operators to extend 5G coverage and capacity to unserved or underserved areas due to poor economics, using shared or fully licensed access spectrum.
Julia Lopez, Minister for Digital Infrastructure
: "Our mobile networks are playing an increasingly crucial role in our lives and businesses, which is why we are investing £36 million in cutting-edge projects to ensure our networks are safe and secure for decades to come. I am delighted to see such a distinguished range of innovators now on board FRANC as we move forward to build a more competitive and resilient telecoms supply chain."
The successful projects from the DCMS competition consortium for the future of Open-RAN were announced on Wednesday, December 8, 2021, and have received £36 million in 5G R&D funding to support and promote 5G technology developments in the UK. The competition directly supports the UK government's 5G supply chain diversification strategy.
Quote from Paul Senior, CEO of Dense Air:
"On behalf of Dense Air and our consortium partners, we are delighted that the UK government, through its DCMS 5G Future RAN competition, has selected our CoMP-O-RAN project. The technology this project will develop will fundamentally change the deployment economics and 'cost per Gbit' of Open RAN solutions in the UK and simultaneously in other international markets."
In partnership with Airspan Communications Limited, Blu Wireless UK Limited, Radisys UK Limited, and the University of Glasgow, consortium leader Dense Air Limited will develop a cost-effective, distributed, multi-output, multi-input (MIMO) 5G NR O-RAN – CoMP-O-RAN. For the first time, this technology will enable both public and private mobile network operators (MNOs) to leverage the 5G vendor ecosystem in a cost-effective manner, making 5G supply chain diversification a reality.
Eric Stonestrom, Managing Director and CEO of Airspan Communications Limited
, said, “We are thrilled to be a member of this consortium. We look forward to working within this prestigious group of leaders, including DCMS officials, to accelerate 5G and Open RAN innovation as Airspan develops new capabilities in our radios through split 6 virtualization and integrated mmWave fronthaul transport solutions. We believe this technology will play a key role in future 5G solutions.”
Alan Jones, CEO of Blu Wireless
"As 5G networks begin to scale and densify, innovative ways to maintain performance and bandwidth will be needed. The use of Blu Wireless' low-latency mmWave technology to enable CoMP-O-RAN will have a significant impact on the future economics of 5G NR deployment models in public and private networks.".
CoMP-O-RAN will allow future 5G small cell networks to benefit from the radio processing techniques already used in Massive MIMO macrocells. Importantly, CoMP-O-RAN will improve the performance of small cells in interference-limited scenarios, such as spectrum-sharing techniques used in licensed and light-licensed allocations, like the UK's shared access spectrum in the 3.8-4.2 GHz band and the US's CBRS in the 3.55-3.7 GHz band.
Professor Muhammad Imran, from the University of Glasgow's James Watt School of Engineering, said
, "This project is a great opportunity for the algorithms and techniques developed by our sensing and imaging group to be implemented in a very promising real-world system. We expect end users to benefit from the improved experience and reduced costs of digital connectivity. We are eager to work with our partners to develop the CoMP algorithm."
Thanks to DCMS support, the consortium will focus on improving the economics of 5G network densification, enabling better use of vertical roadside and indoor infrastructure to deliver lower costs, faster speeds, improved capacity, and a better service experience for end users in city centers, suburbs, and even rural areas. However, it's not just about greater capacity and faster speeds – CoMP will improve service reliability and availability, which is critical in many private network use cases, such as Industry 4.0, healthcare, critical communication services, and connected and autonomous transportation corridors in the future. Real-world testing and validation will primarily take place at UTAC's Millbrook Testfield, the site of the successful DCMS 5G AutoAir Testbed project.
Peter Stoker, Head of Connected Autonomous Vehicle Engineering at UTAC, Millbrook Proving Ground, Bedfordshire
: "We are delighted to support the CoMP-O-RAN Consortium. The facilities we have at UTAC are particularly well-suited for this type of testing, as our UK proving ground is already being used to validate connectivity technologies and infrastructure."
CoMP-O-RAN provides a network hierarchy where software and hardware components are distributed across the network. This fosters greater innovation from specialized suppliers, which will generate additional employment in the software and hardware industries. This will lead to further manufacturing and supply chain developments in the UK and elsewhere. Where possible, the consortium will source components from areas of regional inequality, building on the UK government's leveling agenda and the Industry 4.0 strategy to promote digital skills.
Arun Bhikshesvaran, CEO of Radisys UK Limited, said
, "We are excited to be part of this consortium focused on delivering a CoMP-O-RAN solution that integrates our prestigious, standards-based ConnectRAN software portfolio for disaggregated O-RAN architecture. We are committed to working with our ecosystem of partners to create advanced solutions for the commercialization of 5G O-RAN and bring high-performance products to the UK market."
