O-RAN SC Non-RT RIC project¶
Summary¶
A Non-RealTime RIC (RAN Intelligent Controller) is an Orchestration and Automation function described by the O-RAN Alliance for non-real-time intelligent management of RAN (Radio Access Network) functions. The primary goal of the NONRTRIC is to support non-real-time radio resource management, higher layer procedure optimization, policy optimization in RAN, and providing guidance, parameters, policies and AI/ML models to support the operation of near-RealTime RIC functions in the RAN to achieve higher-level non-real-time objectives. NONRTRIC functions include service and policy management, RAN analytics and model-training for the near-RealTime RICs. The non-RealTime RIC project provides concepts, specifications, architecture and reference implementations as defined and described by the O-RAN Alliance architecture.
The NONRTRIC implementation communicates with near-RealTime RIC elements in the RAN via the A1 interface. Using the A1 interface the NONRTRIC will facilitate the provision of policies for individual UEs or groups of UEs; monitor and provide basic feedback on policy state from near-RealTime RICs; provide enrichment information as required by near-RealTime RICs; and facilitate ML model training, distribution and inference in cooperation with the near-RealTime RICs.
Find detailed description of what Non-RT RIC is on the O-RAN SC NONRTRIC Project Wiki.
NONRTRIC components¶
Non-RT RIC Control Panel / Dashboard
A1 Policy Management Service (developed in ONAP)
Enrichment Information Coordinator
R-App Catalogue
A1 Controller - based on ONAP SDNC
An A1 Simulator - simualtes the A1 aspects of a near-RT-RIC
The code base for “Cherry” Release is in the NONRTRIC, NONRTRIC-ControlPanel, and A1-Simulator , Gerrit source repositories (Cherry Branch).
Non-RT RIC Control Panel / NONRTRIC Dashboard¶
Graphical user interface
View and Manage A1 policies in the RAN (near-RT-RICs)
Interacts with the Policy agent’s NBI (REST API)
Graphical A1 policy creation/editing is model-driven, based on policy type’s JSON schema
View and manage producers and jobs for the Enrichment coordinator service
Implementation:
Frontend: Angular framework
Backend Java Springboot application
Repo: portal/nonrtric-controlpanel
Please refer the developer guide and the wiki to set up in your local environment.
A1 Policy Management Service (from ONAP CCSDK - Guilin +)¶
The A1 Policy Management Service is a microservice which maintains a transient repository of:
All configured A1 policies instances in the network.
All NearRT RICs in the network.
All Policy types for all Near-RT-RICs
All configured Policy instances in the network
(Optionally deploy without A1 Adaptor/Controller to connect direct to near-RT-RIC)
It provides :
Unified REST & DMAAP APIs for managing A1 Policies in all near-RT-RICs
Synchronized view of policy instances for each R-APP (soon)
Synchronized view of policy instances in all near-RT-RICs
Synchronized view of policy types in all near-RT-RICs
Policy Query API (e.g. per near-RT-RIC, per R-APP (soon), per policy type)
Unified nearRTRIC-ID to nearRTRIC-address mapping (e.g. can include mapping to A&A1, CMDBs etc to “find” near-RT-RICs - soon)
Placeholder “O1 ManagedElement” mapping database interface to find appropriate near-RT-RIC to address A1 operations for required RAN elements (e.g. connection to A&AI, RuntimeDB, other CMDBs etc - soon)
Monitors all near-RT-RICs and recovers from inconsistencies (multiple strategies - soon) - e.g. near-RT-RIC restarts
Support for different Southbound connectors per near-RT-RIC - e.g. different A1 versions, different near-RT-RIC version, different A1 adapter/controllers supports different or proprietary A1 controllers/EMSs
A1 Enrichment Information Job Coordination Service¶
Coordinate/Register A1-EI Types, Producers, Consumers, and Jobs.
Maintains a registry of:
A1-EI Data Types / schemas
A1-EI Producers
A1-EI Consumers
A1-EI Jobs
A1-EI Query API (e.g. per producer, per consumer, per types)
Query status of A1-EI jobs
Monitors all near-RT-RICs and recovers from inconsistencies
After an EI-type/Producer/Consumer/Job is successfully registered delivery/flow can happen directly between A1-EI Producers (in SMO/NONRTRIC domain) and A1-EI consumers (near-RT-RICs in RAN domain)
(Initial) R-APP catalog¶
Register for R-APPs
First step towards R-APP management in NONRTRIC
R-APPs can be registered / queried
More work required in coming releases as the R-APP concept matures
Controller / OSC A1 Adaptor (partly from ONAP CCSDK - Guilin)¶
Mediation point for A1 interface termination in SMO/NONRTRIC
Implemented as OSGI Feature/Bundles
A1 Rest southbound
NETCONF YANG Northbound
RESTCONF > NETCONF adapter
Mapping logic / Provider
Can be included in an any SDNC/CCSDK persona
A1 Interface / Near-RT-RIC Simulator¶
Stateful A1 test stub
Used to create multiple stateful A1 providers (simulated near-RT-RICs)
Implemented as a Java Springboot application
Swagger-based northbound interface, so easy to change the A1 profile exposed