Picocom's & Radisys's Open RAN Platform for 5G NR Small Cells

June 30, 2022

Execs from Picocom and Radisys discuss the companies' recently validated Open RAN platform and its contribution to an interoperable Open RAN ecosystem.

David Maliniak

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The industry is making inexorable progress toward an open, interoperable ecosystem for 5G Open RAN, and among the latest examples of this progress is the work being done by Picocom and Radisys. The companies have recently validated an Open RAN platform based on Picocom’s PC802 small-cell SoC and Radisys’s Connect RAN 5G software. In this video, three of the companies' executives discuss the need for collaborative efforts in building the Open RAN ecosystem:

Peter Claydon, president of Picocom
Oliver Davies, Picocom’s Vice President of marketing
Munish Chhabra, head of Mobility Software and Services at Radisys

Picocom's and Radisys's PC802-based interoperability milestone is based on the O-RAN split 7.2 architecture. It includes the Radisys Connect RAN 5G software (Layer 2 and Layer 3) running on an x86-based server, interfacing to the Picocom Layer 1 (L1) with the Small Cell Forum FAPI interface.

The PC802 is a purpose-designed PHY SoC for 5G NR/LTE small-cell disaggregated and integrated Open RAN architectures that includes support for 4G. The SoC supports industry-leading Open RAN specifications and interfaces with a Layer 2/3 stack via the SCF FAPI interface over PCIe.Together, Picocom and Radisys are preparing an integrated small-cell solution based on PC802, with the RAN software running on a small-form-factor, Arm-based network processor.

The interface between L2 and L1 is compliant with the standard Small Cell Forum FAPI protocol. The same FAPI stream is used not just to control L1 processing on PC802, but directly controls OFH Control-Plane and User-Plane processing, transparently marrying together the FAPI and OFH protocols.

The joint Open RAN split 7.2 configuration uses Radisys RAN protocol software CU (L3) and DU (L2) running on an Intel x86 COTS server. L1 and Open Fronthaul (OFH) run on a Picocom PC802 SoC on an inline accelerator card.

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About the Author

David Maliniak | Executive Editor, Microwaves & RF

I am Executive Editor of Microwaves & RF, an all-digital publication that broadly covers all aspects of wireless communications. More particularly, we're keeping a close eye on technologies in the consumer-oriented 5G, 6G, IoT, M2M, and V2X markets, in which much of the wireless market's growth will occur in this decade and beyond. I work with a great team of editors to provide engineers, developers, and technical managers with interesting and useful articles and videos on a regular basis. Check out our free newsletters to see the latest content.

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About me:

In his long career in the B2B electronics-industry media, David Maliniak has held editorial roles as both generalist and specialist. As Components Editor and, later, as Editor in Chief of EE Product News, David gained breadth of experience in covering the industry at large. In serving as EDA/Test and Measurement Technology Editor at Electronic Design, he developed deep insight into those complex areas of technology. Most recently, David worked in technical marketing communications at Teledyne LeCroy, leaving to rejoin the EOEM B2B publishing world in January 2020. David earned a B.A. in journalism at New York University.