The NOKIA RAN consists of the baseband unit (BBU), RHUB, and a sub-6GHz remote radio head (RRU) capable of providing coverage for 1600 m² LIT Factory floor at JKU Linz. The SAL private 5G system provides connectivity in the licensed band n78 at 3.45 GHz with a bandwidth of 80 MHz, provided by the local operator LINZ AG.
We have successfully tested the integration of NOKIA RAN with various commercial and open source 5G core deployments, such as Druid Software 5G Core and Open5GCore from Fraunhofer. Within the collaboration we have access to the latest available software from Nokia.
The deployment of NOKIA RAN will significantly help us to explore various features and capabilities of the 5G system, which are required to provide reliable, time-sensitive, and high-throughput connectivity for a wide range of industrial applications and use cases. Moreover, we will be able to compare the performance, configuration, and special features of NOKIA RAN with other RAN options available in the SAL private 5G Testbed, such as commercial Huawei RAN, or open-source solutions like OpenAirInterface (OAI) and srsRAN deployments.
The flexibility of a multi-vendor private 5G system can be highly beneficial for attracting industrial partners by providing insights into the optimal deployment options for an industrial 5G setup, depending on the targeted industrial use case. It also enables direct connections between industrial partners and RAN vendors, such as NOKIA.
