Summary¶
The 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 Non-RealTime RIC 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 NONRTRIC project provides concepts, specifications, architecture and reference implementations as defined and described by the O-RAN Alliance architecture.
The O-RAN-SC 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 the NONRTRIC project see the O-RAN SC NONRTRIC Project Wiki.
NONRTRIC components¶
These are the components that make up the Non-RT-RIC:
Non-RT-RIC Control Panel / Dashboard
A1 Policy Management Service (developed in ONAP)
A1/SDNC Controller & A1 Adapter (Controller plugin)
Enrichment Information Coordinator
Non-RT-RIC (Spring Cloud) Service Gateway
Non-RT-RIC (Kong) Service Exposure Prototyping
Initial Non-RT-RIC App Catalogue
Near-RT-RIC A1 Simulator
The code base for “D” Release is in the NONRTRIC, NONRTRIC-ControlPanel, and Near-RT-RIC A1-Simulator , Gerrit source repositories (D 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
Configure A1 Policy Management Service (e.g. add/remove near-rt-rics)
Interacts with the A1-PolicyManagementService & A1-EI-Coordinator (REST NBIs) via Service Exposure gateway
Implementation:
Frontend: Angular framework
Repo: portal/nonrtric-controlpanel
Please refer the developer guide and the wiki to set up in your local environment.
More details available at the NONRTRIC-Portal documentation site
A1 Policy Management Service (from ONAP CCSDK)¶
A1 Controller Service above A1 Controller/Adaptor that provides:
Unified REST & DMaaP NBI APIs for managing A1 Policies in all near-RT-RICs
Query A1 Policy Types in near-RT-RICs
Create/Query/Update/Delete A1 Policy Instances in near-RT-RICs
Query Status for A1 Policy Instances
Maintains (persistent) cache of RAN’s A1 Policy information
Support RAN-wide view of A1 Policy information
Streamline A1 traffic
Enable (optional) re-synchronization after inconsistencies / near-RT-RIC restarts
Supports a large number of near-RT-RICs (& multi-version support)
Converged ONAP & O-RAN-SC A1 Adapter/Controller functions in ONAP SDNC/CCSDK (Optionally deploy without A1 Adaptor to connect direct to near-RT-RICs)
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
See also: A1 Policy Management Service in ONAP
A1/SDNC Controller & A1 Adapter (Controller plugin)¶
Mediation point for A1 interface termination in SMO/NONRTRIC
Implemented as CCSDK OSGI Feature/Bundles
A1 REST southbound
RESTCONF Northbound
NETCONF YANG > RESTCONF adapter
SLI Mapping logic supported
Can be included in an any controller based on ONAP CCSDK
Continues to support both a dedicated OSC A1-controller persona and an ONAP SDNC persona
See also: A1 Adapter/Controller Functions in ONAP
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 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)
Being extended to coordinate non-A1 Enrichment Information exchange between NONRTRIC Apps
Non-RT-RIC (Spring Cloud) Service Gateway¶
Support Apps to use A1 Services
Spring Cloud Gateway provides the library to build a basic API gateway
Exposes A1 Policy Management Service & Enrichment Coordinator Service.
Additional predicates can be added in code or preferably in the Gateway yaml configuration.
Implementation:
Implemented as a Java Spring Cloud application
Repo: portal/nonrtric-controlpanel
Non-RT-RIC (Kong) Service Exposure Prototyping¶
Support Apps to use NONRTRIC, SMO and other App interfaces A building block for coming releases as the R1 Interface concept matures
Support dynamic registration and exposure of service interfaces to Non-RT-RIC applications (& NONRTRIC Control panel)
Extends a static gateway function specifically for NONRTRIC Control panel (described above)
Initial version based on Kong API Gateway function
Initial exposure candidates include A1 (NONRTRIC) services & O1 (OAM/SMO) services
NONRTRIC Kubernetes deployment - including Kong configurations can be found in the OSC it/dep Gerrit repo.
Initial Non-RT-RIC App Catalogue¶
Register for Non-RT-RIC Apps.
Non-RT-RIC Apps can be registered / queried
Limited functionality/integration for now
More work required in coming releases as the rApp concept matures
Initial K8S Helm Chart LCM Manager¶
Onboard, start, stop, and modify Non-RT-RIC App µServices as Helm Charts A building block for coming releases as the R-APP concept matures
Interfaces that accepts Non-RT-RIC App µServices Helm Charts
Support basic LCM operations
Onboard, Start, Stop, Modify, Monitor
Initial version co-developed with v. similar functions in ONAP
Limited functionality/integration for now
A1 Interface / Near-RT-RIC Simulator¶
Stateful A1 test stub.
Used to create multiple stateful A1 providers (simulated near-rt-rics)
Supports A1-Policy and A1-EnrichmentInformation
Swagger-based northbound interface, so easy to change the A1 profile exposed (e.g. A1 version, A1 Policy Types, A1-E1 consumers, etc)
All A1-AP versions supported
Implementation:
Implemented as a Python application
Repo: sim/a1-interface
More details available at the A1 Simulator documentation site