VIAVI TM500 O-DU Tester O-RAN Fronthaul Test Solution for 5G Base Stations
O-RAN fronthaul extension of the TM500-C 5G Test Mobile that tests O-DUs directly over eCPRI, without an O-RU, across multiple O-RAN profiles.
- O-RAN Fronthaul server
- 1 server/ 2 x 25GbE NIC per server
- O-RU/NIC mapping
- Up to 2 O-RU per Fronthaul server
- CC/MIMO O-RU mapping
- 2x CC 2x2MIMO, 1CC 4x4MIMO per O-RU
- Transport
- 10/25 Gb Ethernet
Overview
The VIAVI TM500 O-DU Tester is the O-RAN fronthaul solution for the TM500-C 5G Test Mobile family. It connects directly to the O-RAN Distributed Unit (O-DU) over eCPRI, so the O-DU can be tested without an O-RU present.
Testing O-DUs from different vendors with different profiles can otherwise require multiple test lines. The TM500 O-RAN fronthaul solution supports multiple O-DUs from different vendors, including different O-RAN profiles, on one platform. This reduces the complexity and cost of testing.
The fronthaul server acts as a NETCONF server for M-plane support. It provides O-RAN C/U-plane connectivity over eCPRI and supports the O-RAN sync plane. The full M-plane startup procedure is supported, with NETCONF connectivity between the DU client and the O-RU server over SSHv2.
The solution gives access over O-RAN to the 3GPP 5G features the TM500 already supports over RF, such as high-order carrier aggregation and MIMO in end-to-end tests. It also uses the TM500's capacity testing (thousands of UEs with a set of network performance KPIs), its mobility modelling and its interoperability with legacy 4G/4.5G RATs. Additional fronthaul KPIs report C/U-plane receiver statistics and O-RU status information.
The O-RAN fronthaul server hardware is based on a PowerEdge R740 rack server.
Key Features
- Extends the capabilities of the TM500 Test Mobile
- Interface and software options to connect directly to the O-DU without an O-RU present
- Supports multiple O-RAN profiles for interoperability with a wide range of Radio Units and vendors
- Tests gNBs and software supporting high numbers of subscribers and large data volumes
- Testing with real-world data flows at high scale and realistic mobility modelling
- Thousands of emulated UEs with a set of KPIs for network performance testing
- 5G functionality supported over RF accessible over O-RAN
- All mobility scenarios supported over 5G
- NETCONF server for M-plane support
- O-RAN C/U-plane connectivity with eCPRI and O-RAN sync plane support
- Fronthaul KPIs: RX_ON_TIME, RX_EARLY, RX_LATE, RX_CORRUPT, RX_DUPL, RX_TOTAL
- O-RU M-plane, S-plane sync, C/U-plane connection and overall status information
Specifications
| O-RAN Fronthaul server |
1 server/ 2 x 25GbE NIC per server
3, Cat B servers per E500
|
|---|---|
| O-RU/NIC mapping |
Up to 2 O-RU per Fronthaul server
Phased as per customer requirements
|
| CC/MIMO O-RU mapping |
2x CC 2x2MIMO, 1CC 4x4MIMO per O-RU
2CC 4x4 and 4CC 2x2 phased
|
| Transport |
10/25 Gb Ethernet
A Single-Mode or Multi-Mode fibre SFP28 module can be used in each of the SFP cages
|
| Transport header | eCPRI |
| Radio Access Technology | 5G NR TDD, 5G NR FDD and 4G over RF |
| O-RU category |
CAT A, CAT B
Phased as per customer requirements
|
| M-plane support |
Full M-plane startup procedure supported. Supported database is customizable
With NETCONF connectivity support between DU client and O-RU server utilizing SSHv2
|
| Separation of C/U and M plane traffic | EtherType, VLAN ID |
| C-Plane section types | 0, 1 and 3 |
| Compression | Block Floating Point, modulation compression |
| Section extension types | 1,4,5,6,11 |
| O-RAN WG4.CUS.0-v02.00 timing parameters | Aligned with numerology |
| Frequency | FR1, FR2 |
| PRACH preamble format | Configurable |
| Nominal sub-carrier spacing |
FR1 30 kHz, FR2 120 kHz, with mixed numerology support (e.g. 240KHz/120KHz) (SSB 120 kHz)
Phased as per customer requirements to align with TM500 RF capability
|
| Channel bandwidth |
All channel bandwidths up to 100 MHz
Other bandwidths phased as per customer requirement
|
| Downlink MIMO support | 2x2 and 4x4 MIMO |
| Uplink MIMO support | 2x2 MIMO |
| MU-MIMO | 4 layers FR1 32TRX 2TRX UE |
| Beamforming | Digital on FR1 and analog on FR2 |
| TM500 test modes |
As per RF
MTS, NAS, PDCP
|
| C/U plane receiver statistics | RX_ON_TIME, RX_EARLY, RX_LATE, RX_CORRUPT, RX_DUPL (duplicate), RX_TOTAL |
|---|---|
| Status information | O-RU M-plane status, O-RU S-plane sync status, O-RU C/U plane connection status, O-RU status |
| Platform | POWEREDGE R740 server |
|---|---|
| Processor | Two Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors, 18 cores per processor |
| Memory | 192 GB ECC DDR per server |
| Power supply | Platinum; Hot plug power supplies with full redundancy |
| Form factor | Rack (2U) |
| Max depth | 752 mm |
| Power dissipation | 550W/ 700W/ 850W maximum for 0/ 1/ 2 Radio Cards |
Specifications are taken from the manufacturer's documentation. See the datasheet for complete and current values.
Applications
- O-RAN fronthaul testing
- 5G testing
- O-DU development and validation
- Multi-vendor O-RAN interoperability testing
- gNB capacity and performance testing
- Interoperability testing with 4G/4.5G
Options & Accessories
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| TK1046 | O-RAN Fronthaul Server — Hardware. Up to 2 per E500; supports up to 2 O-RU per server; 2x 25GbE NIC per server; 2x CC 2x2MIMO, 1xCC 4x4MIMO per O-RU |
| TK2072 | TM500 5G NR O-RAN FH OPT 7-2 - 8 LAYERS 1RU — Software option |
| TK2041 | TM500 5G NR O-RAN FH OPT 7-2 - mMIMO MU-MIMO FR1 CAT-A 32TRX, 4 LAYERS — Software option |
| TK2071 | TM500 5G NR O-RAN FH OPT 7-2 (4 LAYERS, 1 O-RU) — Software option |
| TK2073 | TM500 5G NR O-RAN FH OPT 7-2 (2 O-RUs) — Software option |
| TK2107 | TM500 5G NR O-RAN FH OPT 7-2 - NON CONTIGUOUS PRB SUPPORT — Software option |
Documents & Resources
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