The core principle of Open RAN is openness, enabling a diverse supplier ecosystem where different vendors can provide individual O-RAN components. Ensuring interoperability between these components is vital for a successful deployment. Manufacturers must guarantee their components work seamlessly with other vendors from the outset, while operators need to ensure compliance with specifications, end-to-end interoperability, and expected performance throughout the network.
Without suitable test tools, addressing interoperability issues is akin to searching for a needle in a haystack.
Interoperability issues can arise at multiple points in the network, so real-time analysis is necessary to locate them rapidly. The VIAVI XhaulAdvisor is a scalable tool running on COTS hardware and enables interoperability testing between equipment of different manufacturers.
It can be used with other VIAVI tools including TM500 and TeraVM to troubleshoot errors observed during end-to-end test case execution, rapidly flagging and isolating issues caused by Open Fronthaul timing, node configuration, or packet content.
The XhaulAdvisor enables:
- Check optical, signal frequency and Ethernet parameters
- Verify presence and bandwidth of all C/U-plane, S-plane and M-plane flows
- Analysis of PTP and C/U-plane timing critical to Open Fronthaul performance
- Observe RE/RB channel utilization of C/U-plane flows
- Display all M-plane sessions
- M-plane client available to directly interact with O-RU M-plane server and verify configuration
Key Operation Modes
- Setup in passive mode or through mode (placed between DU and RU)
- Analysis in Live mode or post-capture mode
- Synchronization can be achieved from open fronthaul or an external timing source
