How CableLabs is zeroing in on vRAN and open RAN

AUSTIN – Big 5G Event – Mobile and wireless are rapidly becoming core components for cable operators in the US and abroad as they evolve and expand their broader "connectivity" strategies. That has also led operators to pursue virtual RAN technologies and a potential leap to open RAN.

CableLabs is conducting work across those areas, believing that the industry is reaching a "tipping point" and transitioning from vRAN to open RAN, said Mark Poletti, the lead wireless architect at Colorado-based CableLabs. The advantages of open RAN include deployment flexibility, vendor diversity and a more competitive ecosystem, he said.

To help the cable industry get a fix on those advantages, CableLabs, Poletti explained, has launched a 5G lab to test conformance, performance and interoperability testing for open RAN.

Click on the caption button for a lightly edited transcript. Here's a snapshot of topics covered:

• Why open RAN is important to the cable industry with respect to deployment flexibility, vendor diversity and a more competitive ecosystem. (00:30)
• A review of the work CableLabs is conducting around vRAN and open RAN. (2:00)
• How CableLabs' experience with DOCSIS testing is being applied to the open RAN world. (3:00)
• An update on CableLabs' role in the NTIA's "5G Challenge." (3:45)
• How vRAN and open RAN fit into cable's mobile and wireless activities. (5:45)

— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading