O-RAN software deployment and orchestration on virtualized infrastructures

Future Radio Access Networks will need to cope with an increasing complexity and new challenges due to the introduction of heterogeneous application scenarios, from enhanced Mobile Broadband to Network Slicing service diversification. In this context, the new trend of Open RAN is gaining importance, envisioning a transformation of traditional Radio Access Networks toward softwarization, virtualization and disaggregation of network functionalities, leveraging open and programmable protocols and interfaces. Embracing this new trend, this thesis aims to evaluate the software-based solutions promoted by the O-RAN Alliance, one of the major contributors toward an open and intelligent RAN architectural framework, aligned with 5G standards. The work will focus on the practical challenges which have been encountered while deploying the available O-RAN software over a virtualized infrastructure, investigating the compatibility of its integration within a containerized environment orchestrated by Kubernetes.