dbarton – Aether Project

Mar 26

Ensuring O-RAN Compliance with Aether SD-RAN

By dbarton Blog

This is the second blog in a series of weekly posts that focuses on highlights from the “Open Source Near-RT RIC Comparison v1.0” report by Rimedo Labs.

Introduction

The Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) architecture is built on the principles of openness, interoperability, and vendor neutrality. Compliance with O-RAN specifications is essential to ensuring that different network components seamlessly integrate within multi-vendor environments. The Near-Real-Time RAN Intelligent Controller (Near-RT RIC) plays a crucial role in this ecosystem, facilitating intelligent control over RAN operations within a latency range of 10 milliseconds to one second.

One of the leading open-source implementations of Near-RT RIC is Aether SD-RAN, a cloud-native and modular framework originally developed by the Open Networking Foundation (ONF) and now part of the Linux Foundation. Aether SD-RAN is designed to adhere closely to O-RAN standards, enabling smooth integration with standardized interfaces, compliance with E2 Service Models (E2SMs), and robust security features. This blog post highlights Aether SD-RAN’s approach to O-RAN compliance and how it ensures seamless interoperability, security, and standardization.

O-RAN Compliance in Aether SD-RAN

Aether SD-RAN is built with compliance at its core, ensuring that all essential O-RAN interfaces and functions are properly implemented. Below, we explore its adherence to key O-RAN specifications.

Standardized Interface Support

O-RAN defines a set of critical interfaces that enable interoperability between Near-RT RIC and other network components. Aether SD-RAN provides robust support for these interfaces:

E2 Interface – Enables direct communication between the Near-RT RIC and O-RAN CUs/DUs, facilitating real-time network control.
A1 Interface – Allows integration with the Non-RT RIC for policy-driven network management and AI-based optimizations.
O1 Interface – Provides Operations, Administration, and Management (OAM) capabilities for configuring and monitoring network performance.
Y1 Interface – Supports data exchange for advanced network analytics, enhancing AI-driven insights and predictive optimizations.

Aether SD-RAN’s modular architecture ensures that these interfaces are scalable and adaptable, allowing for future enhancements and seamless integration within multi-vendor O-RAN environments.

E2 Service Model (E2SM) Compliance

O-RAN compliance requires adherence to E2 Service Models (E2SMs), which define the interactions between Near-RT RIC and E2 nodes. Aether SD-RAN implements a flexible and scalable approach to E2SM integration, ensuring:

Support for Key Performance Measurement (KPM) E2SM, enabling real-time monitoring of RAN performance.
Implementation of RAN Control (RC) E2SM, allowing dynamic adjustments to network parameters.
Efficient handling of E2 Subscription and Indication messages, ensuring real-time control and analytics data collection.

Aether SD-RAN’s architecture ensures that E2SM support evolves alongside O-RAN specifications, making it a future-proof solution for RAN intelligence.

Security and Compliance

Security is a fundamental component of O-RAN compliance, ensuring that networks remain protected from unauthorized access and cyber threats. Aether SD-RAN implements:

TLS-based encryption for secure communication over E2 and A1 interfaces.
Role-based access control (RBAC) to enforce strict authorization policies for xApps and RIC components.
Secure xApp sandboxing, preventing unauthorized applications from accessing sensitive network data.

These features ensure that Aether SD-RAN aligns with O-RAN’s best practices for security and access management, providing a reliable and compliant framework for Near-RT RIC deployments.

Interoperability with O-RAN Components

One of the key goals of O-RAN is to enable multi-vendor interoperability, allowing different network elements to function together seamlessly. Aether SD-RAN is designed for high interoperability, ensuring compatibility with:

O-RAN-compliant CUs and DUs, allowing smooth E2 interface integration.
xApps from third-party developers, supporting a dynamic and extensible ecosystem.
Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) platforms, facilitating centralized network management.

By focusing on cloud-native, vendor-agnostic design, Aether SD-RAN ensures that operators can deploy and integrate it flexibly across different network environments.

OnRamp: Simplifying Aether SD-RAN Deployment

Deploying Aether SD-RAN can be streamlined using OnRamp, a tool designed to help users set up and customize Aether’s 5G platform efficiently. OnRamp provides a structured approach for learning, experimenting, and deploying Aether SD-RAN in different environments. Users can start with a Quick Start deployment on a single virtual machine and gradually progress toward more complex configurations, including emulated and physical Radio Access Networks (RANs). By leveraging OnRamp, organizations can accelerate the adoption of Aether SD-RAN, ensuring a smooth integration of Near-RT RIC functionalities into their O-RAN deployments.

Conclusion: Aether SD-RAN is a Compliant and Future-Ready Near-RT RIC

Aether SD-RAN is a mature, scalable, and compliant Near-RT RIC implementation that aligns closely with O-RAN’s open and intelligent RAN vision. With strong adherence to standardized interfaces, security best practices, and interoperability requirements, it provides a robust foundation for operators, researchers, and enterprises deploying O-RAN networks.

As O-RAN adoption accelerates, compliance with evolving standards will remain a priority. Aether SD-RAN’s modular, cloud-native approach ensures that it can continuously adapt to new specifications, making it a reliable and future-ready choice for intelligent RAN deployments.

For More Information

For a comparative analysis of open-source Near-RT RIC implementations, Section 5.5.6 of the ‘Open Source Near-RT RIC Comparison v1.0’ report by Rimedo Labs provides insights into multiple frameworks. “Open Source Near-RT RIC Comparison v1.0” by Rimedo Labs.
Register to join us for a webinar on May 27th where we will be discussing the benefits of Open RAN and results of third party testing of Aether’s O-RAN compliant Near-Real-Time RAN Intelligent Controller by Rimedo Labs.
Sign-up for the Aether Newsletter to stay up-to-date about news and events across the Aether community.

Mar 19

Aether SD-RAN: Advancing Near-RT RIC in the O-RAN Ecosystem

By dbarton Blog

This is the first blog in a series of weekly posts that focuses on highlights from the “Open Source Near-RT RIC Comparison v1.0” report by Rimedo Labs.

Introduction

The Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) architecture is transforming the way mobile networks are built and operated by introducing open interfaces, modular components, and intelligent real-time optimizations. A key element of O-RAN is the Near-Real-Time RAN Intelligent Controller (Near-RT RIC), which is responsible for making network adjustments within a latency range of 10 milliseconds to one second. The Near-RT RIC enables advanced control over the Radio Access Network (RAN) through specialized applications known as xApps, which leverage AI/ML models, policies, and real-time data analytics to optimize network performance.

Aether SD-RAN brings a modular, cloud-native approach to network control, integrating software-defined networking (SDN) principles with O-RAN specifications. This post explores how Aether SD-RAN aligns with the O-RAN architecture and additional enhancements it offers specifically for Near-RT RIC functionality.

Key Features of Aether SD-RAN

Aether SD-RAN is built to support critical Near-RT RIC capabilities, ensuring efficient and scalable RAN control. The following sections highlight its core functionalities and how they contribute to O-RAN’s vision.

E2 Interface: Enabling Real-Time RAN Control

The E2 interface serves as the communication channel between the Near-RT RIC and E2 nodes (O-RAN-compliant base station elements such as CUs and DUs). Aether SD-RAN provides:

Support for Key Performance Measurement (KPM) E2SM, allowing continuous monitoring of RAN performance.
RAN Control (RC) E2SM, enabling real-time network optimization and policy enforcement.
E2 Subscription and Indication Handling, ensuring that xApps receive real-time network data efficiently.
Dynamic E2 Setup and Configuration Updates, allowing seamless network adjustments.

These capabilities ensure that Aether SD-RAN can efficiently monitor and optimize network behavior while maintaining flexibility for multi-vendor interoperability.

A1 Interface: Policy-Based Network Control

The A1 interface enables coordination between the Non-Real-Time RIC (Non-RT RIC) and Near-RT RIC, ensuring that policy-driven decisions are enforced in real time. Aether SD-RAN features:

A1 policy management, supporting policy-based optimizations from the Non-RT RIC.
Efficient routing of A1 messages to xApps, ensuring seamless integration between policy control and near-real-time decision-making.
Support for policy updates and enrichment data exchange, enhancing AI-driven network automation.

By integrating A1 policies, Aether SD-RAN enables adaptive, AI-powered optimizations that dynamically adjust to changing network conditions.

O1 Interface: Orchestration and Fault Management

The O1 interface facilitates Operations, Administration, and Management (OAM), allowing integration with the Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) system. Aether SD-RAN enhances network management by providing:

NETCONF/YANG-based configuration, ensuring structured and automated network management.
Fault and performance monitoring with Prometheus integration, allowing real-time observability.
Scalability through cloud-native orchestration, supporting dynamic deployment and lifecycle management of RIC components.

With these capabilities, Aether SD-RAN enables simplified and automated network operations, reducing the operational burden on network administrators.

Y1 Interface: Leveraging RAN Analytics

The Y1 interface facilitates the exchange of RAN analytics with external consumers, improving data-driven network decision-making. Aether SD-RAN includes:

Integrated observability with Prometheus exporters, providing real-time network insights.
Support for AI/ML-driven network analytics, allowing predictive performance optimizations.
Efficient data collection mechanisms for enhanced decision-making.

While Y1 functionality continues to evolve within O-RAN implementations, Aether SD-RAN is actively advancing network intelligence and analytics-driven automation.

Security and Fault Tolerance

Security and reliability are essential for any Near-RT RIC deployment. Aether SD-RAN ensures a secure and resilient architecture with:

Secure gRPC-based communication, ensuring encrypted interactions between network components.
Role-based access control (RBAC) and TLS encryption, preventing unauthorized access.
Automated fault recovery using Kubernetes, ensuring high availability and self-healing capabilities.

These security enhancements make Aether SD-RAN a robust solution for enterprise and telecom-grade O-RAN deployments.

Cloud-Native Orchestration and Scalability

Aether SD-RAN is designed with scalability and flexibility in mind, integrating with modern cloud environments. Key capabilities include:

Kubernetes-native orchestration, ensuring automated scaling and resource management.
Helm charts for simplified deployment, making it easy to install and configure RIC components.
onos-operator for dynamic resource allocation, optimizing network control functions.

These features make Aether SD-RAN highly adaptable for real-world deployments, from research environments to commercial networks.

Aether SD-RAN’s Role in the O-RAN Ecosystem

Aether SD-RAN provides a mature and feature-rich open source Near-RT RIC implementation that aligns closely with O-RAN’s vision. By integrating E2 and A1 policy control, advanced orchestration, and AI-powered analytics, it serves as a strong foundation for building intelligent, vendor-neutral RAN solutions.

As 5G and future networks continue to evolve, Aether SD-RAN plays a critical role in enabling open, software-defined, and AI-driven RAN control. With its cloud-native approach and modular architecture, it provides a scalable and interoperable solution for operators, developers, researchers, and enterprises exploring the potential of O-RAN.

For More Information

Read an in-depth independent third-party comparative analysis of open-source Near-RT RIC frameworks, in Section 4.1 of the report, “Open Source Near-RT RIC Comparison v1.0” by Rimedo Labs.
Register to join us for a webinar on May 27th where we will be discussing the benefits of Open RAN and results of third party testing of Aether’s O-RAN compliant Near-Real-Time RAN Intelligent Controller by Rimedo Labs.
Sign-up for the Aether Newsletter to stay up-to-date about news and events across the Aether community.

Mar 12

Aether, Rakuten Mobile, and Rakuten Symphony Collaborate to Address Key Energy Savings and Traffic Steering Challenges for Heterogeneous Mobile Networks

By dbarton Press Release

Research and Development focused on rApps that optimize performance and lower energy costs in heterogeneous 4G/5G radio access networks (RAN)

Palo Alto, California – March 12, 2025 – Aether, a Linux Foundation project, is pleased to announce that it is teaming with Rakuten Mobile and Rakuten Symphony to launch a series of experiments and trials to explore and validate innovative approaches to address RAN energy saving and traffic steering, under its SMaRT-5G initiative. By focusing on energy savings and traffic steering capabilities, network operators can improve efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance user experiences while supporting sustainable practices.

This project is specifically designed for 4G/5G brownfield, heterogeneous network environments utilizing an adapted O-RAN architecture. Open source SMO and Non-RT RIC from Linux Foundation projects, optimized and packaged by Aether, will be used to host the rApps which are foundational for the project. Trials will be conducted within network testing labs of Rakuten Mobile and Rakuten Symphony, with collaboration from Intel Labs, Rimedo Labs, Tietoevry, and VIAVI Solutions, with whom Aether has been conducting a series of proof-of-concept studies in the RAN traffic steering/energy saving space, under its SMaRT-5G program.

Specifically, the current project will implement and test coordinated traffic steering and energy-saving rApps on an open source SMO/Non-RT RIC stack supported by VIAVI simulator and will progress to a commercial SMO/Non-RT RIC stack of Rakuten Mobile with VIAVI simulator as a precursor to potential field trials.

“Energy Saving and Traffic Steering are two of the most critical challenges facing mobile operators and this effort is a significant step towards applying an O-RAN based solution in an open-source platform environment,” said Sarat Puthenpura, Chief Architect Open RAN, Aether. “It is of significance that this is an rApp play, which uses only an O1 interface without an E2 interface, and the coordination between the energy saving and traffic steering applications will be achieved without an A1 interface unlike conventional approaches, making this a pioneering achievement.”

Planned contributions as part of experiments and trials:

Trials are with rApps, using SMO and Non-RT RIC without Near-RT RIC/xApps.
In the initial phase, open source SMO and Non-RT RIC (from Linux Foundation’s O-RAN Software Community), will be used for experimentation, and later Rakuten’s SMO and Non-RT RIC will be used to replicate and further validate the results.
Initial studies will utilize simulated RAN, and successful experiments will be considered for field trials.
Rimedo Labs is developing the Traffic Steering rApp (TS-rApp) that will guarantee UE level performance and coordinate with the Energy Saving rApp (ES-rApp). The TS-rApp to use only an O1 interface and its adaptations, as needed.
Intel Labs is creating the AI/ML based Energy Saving rApp (ES-rApp), implementing optimal cell on/off strategies in coordination with the TS-rApp. The ES-rApp to use only an O1 interface and its adaptations.
AI/ML capabilities will be leveraged to optimize the rApps performance.
VIAVI Solutions will provide RAN simulation capabilities with its TeraVM AI RAN Scenario Generator that trains ML Models to optimize the RAN and tests the ES rApp against stringent benchmarks
Tietoevry will contribute system integration support across O-RAN architecture interfaces, implementation of rApps and all needed adaptations, along with test services, for the lab trials.

“We are pleased to see that the Linux Foundation SMaRT-5G initiative, for which we provide an innovative AI/ML based 5G energy-saving rApp to improve efficiency and performance, will have the opportunity to be tested in collaboration with Aether partners. It is one step closer to be deployed in networks in operation,” said Pranav Mehta, Vice-President, Intel Labs. “Energy savings of 5G systems is a key usage model called for by Open RAN (ORAN) operators and customers.”

“This project provides us with a unique opportunity to apply our extensive expertise in developing advanced RAN algorithms,” said Marcin Dryjanski, CEO, Rimedo Labs. “Traditionally, traffic steering has been a RAN feature that we have delivered in the form of an xApp. In this project, however, we focus on extracting the core algorithm and adapting it for integration into an SMO-level application, expanding its scope and potential impact allowing it to be utilized on legacy networks.”

“We are excited about the evolving roadmap of the SMaRT-5G initiative and the opportunity to integrate, deploy, and experiment on Energy Saving and Traffic Steering optimizations,”said Mariusz Rudnicki, Wireless Global Business Sales Director, Tietoevry. “This project leverages our deep RAN domain expertise to bring emerging technologies one step closer to real-world deployments. By embedding AI-based solutions we enhance automation, efficiency, and performance – accelerating the path from innovation to operational excellence.”

“VIAVI are excited to be involved in the SMaRT-5G initiative and use our tools and expertise to ensure the success of the Energy Saving and Traffic Steering optimization experiments and trials,” said Ultan Kelly, Wireless Product Manager, VIAVI. “VIAVI AI RSG creates a RAN digital twin that replicates real-world conditions in the lab enabling x/rApps to be trained, tested and validated in real-world environments prior to field deployment. For over 100 years, VIAVI has been directly involved in testing, assuring and securing the largest communications networks around the globe, and validating network products for all Tier-1 network equipment manufacturers.”

About Aether SMaRT-5G
Aether is a Linux Foundation project that serves as an umbrella for a portfolio of open source 5G mobile networking sub-projects including Aether (private 5G and edge computing platform), SD-Core (open 5G mobile core), SD-RAN (O-RAN compliant open RAN) and SMaRT-5G (sustainable mobile and RAN transformation of 5G).

For more information about Aether, please visit our website: www.aetherproject.org

About The Linux Foundation

The Linux Foundation is the world’s leading home for collaboration on open source software, hardware, standards, and data. Linux Foundation projects are critical to the world’s infrastructure including Linux, Kubernetes, Node.js, ONAP, OpenChain, OpenSSF, PyTorch, RISC-V, SPDX, Zephyr, and more. The Linux Foundation focuses on leveraging best practices and addressing the needs of contributors, users, and solution providers to create sustainable models for open collaboration. For more information, please visit us at linuxfoundation.org. The Linux Foundation has registered trademarks and uses trademarks. For a list of trademarks of

The Linux Foundation, please see its trademark usage page: www.linuxfoundation.org/trademark-usage. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

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Media Contact
Denise Barton
dbarton@stratiview.com

Mar 11

Aether’s SD-RAN Open RAN RIC Delivers Superior Developer Experience in Third-Party Testing

By dbarton Press Release

Palo Alto, California – March 11, 2025 – Aether’s SD-RAN initiative announced it has emerged as a leading open source platform for implementing an O-RAN-compliant Near-Real-Time RAN Intelligent Controller (Near-RT RIC) based upon an independent in-depth comprehensive evaluation by Rimedo Labs, renowned specialists in 5G Open RAN consulting.

The lab tests conducted an in-depth assessment of open-source Near RT-RIC platforms; the results demonstrated the superiority of Aether SD-RAN across multiple key areas:

Most Robust Comprehensive Enterprise-Class Production-Ready Features
- Advanced orchestration capabilities through RKE2 (Rancher Kubernetes Engine 2)
- Robust observability stack including Elasticsearch, Grafana, and Prometheus integration
- Superior security implementation with enforced TLS/SSL encryption for all component communications
- Efficient gRPC APIs enabling low-latency communication with streaming support
- Sophisticated topology management through the μONOS platform
- Full adherence to O-RAN specifications and architecture
- Advanced state management through Atomix for distributed operations
- Comprehensive Kubernetes integration via custom operators
- Industry-standard Apache 2.0 licensing enabling commercial deployment
Environment Designed for Developer Ease of Use
- Most comprehensive and well-organized documentation
- Clear deployment procedures and detailed installation guides
- Extensive SDK support for Python and Go development
- Simplified xApp development through automated workflows
- Comprehensive testing and deployment tools including RiaB (RIC-in-a-Box)
- Monitoring and troubleshooting tools

In addition to publishing the full research report, we will be publishing a series of weekly blogs highlighting findings from the report. We will also host a webinar featuring experts from Rimedo Labs and the Aether Project who will discuss the various test methodologies and report findings.

View full report

The Aether SD-RAN platform’s enterprise focus is evident in its superior orchestration support and robust observability tools, making it an ideal choice for organizations seeking a production-grade RAN intelligence solution. The project’s integration into the Aether initiative further strengthens its position as a leading choice for private 5G deployments. Aether has built a strong community of contributors and supporters including: Canonical, Intel, Kyunghee University, and Monogoto.

An Open Community

The Aether Project is an open community with open meetings, participation, and collaboration. To learn how to learn about Aether SD-RAN, access project resources, and get involved, please visit: https://aetherproject.org/sd-ran/

About the Aether Project

Aether is a Linux Foundation project that supports a portfolio of open-source 5G mobile networking sub-projects including Aether (private 5G and edge computing), SD-Core (open 5G mobile core), SD-RAN (open RAN), and SMaRT-5G (sustainable mobile and RAN transformation 5G).

About The Linux Foundation

The Linux Foundation, please see its trademark usage page: www.linuxfoundation.org/trademark-usage. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

About Rimedo Labs

Rimedo Labs specializes in delivering top-tier RAN algorithm design and implementation, tailored to meet customer’s individual needs and requirements. We provide applied research and expert consulting services in modern wireless systems, covering Open RAN, 5G, and beyond. Rimedo Labs provides an extensive portfolio of xApps and rApps integrated with commercial and open source RICs.

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Media Contact
Denise Barton
dbarton@stratiview.com

Mar 04

Monogoto Announces Adoption of Aether Open Source to Power Next-Generation Private 4G and 5G Networks at MWC Barcelona

By dbarton Press Release

Monogoto, a leading provider of cloud-based cellular connectivity, is excited to announce at MWC Barcelona (Booth 5I51) its adoption of the open-source Aether project, a leading-edge cloud platform for 4G and 5G private networks. As part of this collaboration, Monogoto is integrating Aether into its global connectivity cloud, providing developers with a powerful new component to establish and manage private 4G and 5G networks with ease.

Read full announcement

Feb 18

Aether Releases SD-RAN v1.5 Adding Major Enhancements to the RIC and 5G RAN

By dbarton Blog

The Aether SD-RAN v1.5 release is the sixth release of the Aether SD-RAN project and adds three major enhancements to the RIC and 5G RAN:

xApps updates enabling O-RAN E2SM-RC
Updates to SD-RAN OAI 5G RAN stack to work with SD-RAN RIC
Integration of Aether-OnRamp, a blueprint that simplifies SD-RAN deployment

Join us for a techinar March 5th at 8:00 am Pacific to learn about the latest SD-RAN v1.5 release – Register here.

This release integrates the official O-RAN E2SM RC service model (v1.02.03). The legacy underlying service models PCI, MLB, and MHO xApps from the ONF community E2SMs (including E2SM RC-Pre and MHO) were replaced with the official O-RAN E2SM RC service model. This expands SD-RAN coverage enabling RAN vendors or users/developers to use/test more official O-RAN SM features. With SD-RAN v1.5 release, there are now four use-cases leveraging the official O-RAN SM – KPIMON (with KPM), PCI, MHO, and MLB (with RC).

The SD-RAN v1.5 release adds support for 5G ONF/OAI 5G RAN stack. Note the previous SD-RAN releases supported the OAI RAN stack option for 4G RAN with the official O-RAN E2SM KPM and the Aether community E2SM RSM service models. The RAN stack now supports the official O-RAN E2SM KPM service model and plans are to support the RSM service model in the future.

The addition of support for the Aether OnRamp blueprint for SD-RAN blueprint provides deployment automation of this SD-RAN release. This more closely aligns SD-RAN with the overall Aether Project which includes other Aether services such as SD-Core, ROC, etc. over the same cluster. We continue to support the sdRan-in-a-Box (RiaB) deployment automation tool, which enables creation of a local Kubernetes cluster and deployment of SD-RAN components on top. However, RiaB is specifically only supported for SD-RAN project deployments only.

For all the details about this release, please refer to the Aether SD-RAN v1.5 release notes on the wiki.

The Aether community welcomes new members – to learn and join the community. Check out the various ways to connect with us and sign-up for the periodic Aether newsletter.

Jan 14

Aether SMaRT-5G and Rutgers WINLAB Join Forces with the EchoStar-led ORCID Lab on 5G Energy Efficiency Measurements, Modeling and Tests

By dbarton Press Release

PALO ALTO, California – January 14, 2025 — Aether SMaRT-5G is pleased to announce that along with Rutgers University WINLAB, it is joining forces with the ORCID Lab to further expand its SMaRT-5G program, broadening the current R&D efforts on 5G energy efficiency measurements, modeling and tests to support EchoStar’s Boost Mobile 5G open RAN network design and ecosystem of commercial vendors.

To accelerate the R&D effort from lab to field, Aether and WINLAB are collaborating with the ORCID lab to expand the experiments to a model of EchoStar’s Boost Mobile production network. This involves refining and validating the energy consumption models on the Boost Mobile Network, testing with commercial RUs, CUs and DUs utilized in Boost Mobile’s network, and prototyping applications to monitor and optimize energy consumption across both the RAN and mobile core. Given that ORCID encompasses both replicas of actual field deployment configurations as well as outdoor sites, this collaboration will validate the results of the current R&D efforts in real-world scenarios.

Improving wireless network energy efficiency not only helps mobile network operators substantially reduce operational costs but is also vital for environmental sustainability. Global telecommunications networks consume a staggering 90 terawatt-hours of electricity annually just to power their RAN. This massive energy footprint equals the entire electricity consumption of metropolitan Los Angeles and generates CO₂ emissions equivalent to what major European cities produce in a year. Even a modest 10% reduction in RAN energy consumption would eliminate emissions equivalent to 4.3 million transatlantic flights. As mobile operators worldwide push toward more sustainable operations, optimizing RAN energy efficiency represents one of the most significant opportunities to reduce the industry’s carbon footprint while maintaining the essential connectivity that powers our digital world.

“The collaboration among Aether, WINLAB, and ORCID combines key capabilities and expertise essential to develop and field open RAN technologies”, said Sarat Puthenpura, Chief Architect, Open RAN, Aether and SMaRT-5G. “We believe this will accelerate the adoption and viable commercialization of open RAN architectures by addressing the challenge of RAN energy consumption and management.”

“The collaboration among Aether, WINLAB and ORCID will enable us to further our objectives in providing relevant results to the industry,” said N. K. Shankaranarayanan, Affiliate Research Scientist at WINLAB. ”Measurements from the O-RAN systems and components in the ORCID Lab will allow us to validate our test methodology, refine energy consumption models, and improve energy optimization solutions.”

“ORCID is pleased to partner with WINLAB to provide a production level telecom technology stack to enable new use case testing in both lab and field environments for the advancement of O-RAN,” said Ravinder Jarral, Vice President, Network Development, Boost Mobile.

About Aether SMaRT-5G

Aether SMaRT-5G is an open source project advancing energy savings on 5G networks. The project is researching energy measurement and modeling techniques for 5G mobile open RAN networks. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) of the US Department of Commerce has been supporting the initiative with a $2M research grant through their Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund (PWSCIF).

About WINLAB

WINLAB (Wireless Information Network Laboratory), an industry-university cooperative research center focused on wireless technology, was founded at New Jersey’s Rutgers University in 1989. Its research mission is to advance the development of wireless networking technology by combining the resources of government, industry and academia. The center’s educational mission is to train the next generation of wireless technologists via graduate research programs that are especially relevant to industry. WINLAB, in collaboration with Aether has created POET (Platform for O-RAN Energy Efficiency Testing), which consists of bare-metal and Kubernetes open source O-RAN network functions, commercial open radio units (O-RUs), and software defined radios (SDRs), to enable research and training on energy efficiency testing, modeling, and optimization.

About ORCID

The Open RAN Center for Integration & Deployment (ORCID) serves a critical role in strengthening the global Open RAN ecosystem and building the next generation of wireless networks. EchoStar Corporation is the lead participant in the ORCID consortium, which also includes Fujitsu Network Communications, Inc., Mavenir Systems Inc., and VMware by Broadcom. ORCID is further supported by: Keysight, Viavi, Dell Technologies, and Amazon Web Services (AWS). ORCID is made possible thanks to funding from a $50 million grant from PWSCIF.

Media Inquiries:

Denise Barton
dbarton@stratiview.com

Jan 07

2025 Aether TST Election Results

By dbarton Blog

We are pleased to announce the results of the recent 2025 Aether Technical Steering Team (TST) elections. Each of these individuals has been elected by the community to a 2-year term on the Aether TST: Gabriel Arrobo (Intel), Ghislain Bourgeois (Canonical), Bilal Saleem (Purdue University) and Tianyi Zhang (Iowa State University).

We also would like to extend a warm thank you to the outgoing TST members: Scott Baker (Intel), Andy Bavier (Intel) and Muhammad Shahbaz (Purdue University). Your past and ongoing dedication and contributions are greatly appreciated!

Aether Project enhancements through community contributions are continuing to accelerate, along with ecosystem support and commercial adoption. We look forward to an exciting year in 2025 and invite current members to continue their support and new members to join us.

About Our New Aether TST Members

Gabriel Arrobo

Gabriel was reelected to the Aether TST for an additional 2-year term. He has over two decades of experience in telecommunication systems, has published more than 20+ papers, and filed 80+ patent applications related to wireless network communications.

As a contributor on the Aether Project since 2022, Gabriel has collaborated with other working group members on a number of efforts. His Aether contributions include: implemented GTPu Path monitoring in the UPF; enabled TLS by default for the service-based interface (SBI); implemented ZUC algorithm at the NAS; replaced logger in all source code to use ZAP; refactored configuration options in all network functions; drove enablement the of CI/CD pipeline using GitHub Actions; managed SD-Core components: GitHub repositories, DockerHub and Aether registries; updated SD-Core codebase to use the latest major GO version (1.23); continued reviewing, testing and merging pull requests to maintain the codebase up-to-date; created a (5G) RAN Slicing Management xApp that uses the Cell Configuration and Control (CCC) service model.

Gabriel is a Cloud Software Architect at Intel Labs and is currently working on upgrading the 3GPP release for Aether and is hoping to help drive more community contributions in his role as a member of the TST.

Gabirel holds a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering and a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of South Florida, in addition to an Engineering Degree in Electronics and Telecommunications from Escuela Politecnica Nacional in Quito, Ecuador.

Ghislain Bourgeois

Ghislain is an experienced senior technical architect with a history of success implementing and maintaining telecommunications systems. His background spans from networking protocols, automation, CI/CD, Linux and many other programming languages and debugging tools. He began participating and contributing to the Aether Project in 2023. His initial contribution was improving the API of the SD-Core web console to allow reading device groups and network slices. Since that time, most of his contributions have been related to general maintenance of the SD-Core project such as improving the CI, updating dependencies and fixing bugs.

As a Senior Software Engineer at Canonical, Ghislain works on the Charmed Aether SD-Core product development which aims to provide users a way to easily deploy and operate a private 5G core network. This work requires a stable Aether SD-Core base that is secure and can be maintained well in the future and therefore the work Ghislain and his team are contributing to the Aether Project is focused around testing, bug fixes and improving the maintainability of the code. They also contribute new features periodically.

The main enhancements Ghislain would like to bring to the Aether community are improvements in the maintenance of the project, including the release process and automation of maintenance tasks. Another goal is making it easier for people to join the community and contribute to the project which can be accelerated by improving the code quality, adding tests and improving the tooling that developers can use to successfully contribute to the project.

Ghislain holds a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering degree from École de Technologie Supérieure located in Montréal, Québec.

Bilal Saleem

Bilal is an experienced research assistant based upon his work in academia at Purdue University. He has published 5 technical research papers, 3 of which were presented at A-star conferences. Bilal also has industry experience in software development, computer networks, and cloud computing with skills in languages such as C++, Python, Go, and Java, and frameworks like Django. He has been contributing to the Aether Project since 2023 and contributed to the design and development of Aether OnRamp, a toolkit for customization of Aether configurations on local hardware. In addition, he added support for OAI RAN, and resolved multiple bugs in the Aether code base.

Bilal is currently focused on making Aether scalable and high-performing, enhancing OnRamp, and adding support for additional RAN simulators. Going forward, he looks forward to collaborating with the Aether community to identify opportunities for enhancing its functionality as well as learning from peers.

Bilal holds a degree in Computer Science from Purdue University and a Bachelor degree from Computer Science and Emerging Sciences in Pakistan.

Tianyi Zhang

Tianyi has extensive experience in wireless networking from his research work in academia and contributions to open source projects (including Aether, OAI, srsRAN, Open5GS, and O-RAN Alliance), and has authored numerous publications and received awards related to wireless network communications. His background includes 5G hardware platforms (NI USRP SDR, Ericsson, Skylark, Keysight, Viavi), robotics (ROS, CAD and CAE software), AI/ML software, data analytics (MATLAB, Mathematica, Minitab, OriginLab), and programming languages (Python, C, C++, MATLAB, Qt, CUDA).

Tianyi has participated in the Aether community since 2024 and is the lead representative for the ARA Wireless Living Lab (ARA) to the Aether Project. ARA is a large-scale, real-world experimental infrastructure designed for rural wireless technologies and applications. It is being deployed across the Iowa State University campus, the City of Ames (home to ISU), surrounding research and producer farms, and rural communities in central Iowa, spanning a diameter of over 60 km. ARA serves as a living testbed for smart and connected rural communities, enabling the research and development of rural-focused wireless technologies that deliver affordable, high-capacity connectivity to rural areas and industries such as agriculture.

Together with other members of the ARA, Tianyi has integrated ARA’s field-deployed open source RAN and an Ericsson gNB with Aether SD-Core. They also deployed Aether’s SD-RAN micro-ONOS-based near real-time RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) on the ARA platform to connect to the open source RAN. In addition, Tianyi is collaborating with his advisor, Professor Hongwei Zhang, and other ARA research group members to integrate SD-Core and SD-RAN into the ARA platform. This work supports not only their own research but also the broader ARA user community and the advancement of rural wireless technologies and applications.

Tianyi is currently a PhD candidate in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Iowa State University and holds an MMS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Boston University and a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Dec 09

Open-Source for Open RAN: Fostering Collaboration and Innovation

By dbarton Blog

Check out this article by Ajay Lotan Thakur, Aether TST Member and Software Director, Intel Canada published in The Fast Mode, as he discusses the role of open source-software in Open RAN, including our Aether open source 5G platform and SD-RAN O-RAN compliant RAN.

Dec 04

Impact of Open Source 5G Projects

By dbarton Blog

Check out this article by Ajay Lotan Thakur, Aether TST Member and Software Director, Intel published in the Canadian IEEE Toronto Section. He discusses the benefits and community value of collaborative open source 5G projects including Aether, OpenAirInterface, Open5gs, Free5gc, Open5gCore, and Magma.

Nov 12

Bringing Automation to Open Source 5G Software at Ubuntu Summit 2024

By dbarton Blog

Excerpts from Blog by Canonical

End-to-end Private 5G demo at the Ubuntu Summit

“At this year’s Ubuntu Summit at The Hague, Netherlands, Canonical gave a live demonstration of how open source with automation can help enterprises in their private mobile network deployments. The demo showcased successful integration of Charmed Aether SD-Core and Charmed OAI RAN, where a 5G PMN was set up with commercial 5G phones connected via a software-defined radio (SDR) as the radio front-end. The demo attracted considerable attention from the Summit attendees, who were particularly drawn by the potential impact of these two products on the private mobile networking market.”

“The demo setup with desktop PCs running a disaggregated 5G private mobile network. Our live installation also showcased the ability to deploy the 5G PMN as disaggregated components. This included the control and user plane separation (CUPS) capability of Charmed Aether SD-Core.”

Read complete blog

Nov 06

Initial observations on SMaRT-5G project energy efficiency measurements

By dbarton Blog

In this article featured in RCR Wireless News by Sarat Puthenpura, Chief Architect, Aether SMaRT-5G, he shares some of the exciting research findings to date from the Aether SMaRT-5G project. SMaRT-5G is focused on exploring, demonstrating and validating innovative energy measurements and modeling for 5G mobile networks. As part of this effort, a platform, POET: Platform for O-RAN Energy Efficiency Testing has been created.

The project is funded by a $2M grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and activity is taking place in collaboration with Rutgers University’s WINLAB and Cognizant.

Read the article

Sarat will also be speaking on a panel at the upcoming virtual Telco Sustainability Forum on December 10th – learn more and register to attend.

Oct 23

Aether Nets Canonical Endorsement, Post ONF ‘graduation’

By dbarton Blog

Excerpt Published Courtesy of ReTHINK Wireless Watch

“Back in June, Canonical (the firm behind the Ubuntu Linux distribution), released Charmed Aether SD-Core, its implementation of Aether’s SD-Core as a beta release. At this launch, Canonical billed the offering as a way for companies that lack the deep technical expertise of an MNO to deploy a 5G-native network core. — to orchestrate the various microservices needed to keep the network online and in harmony, running on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware, deployed via K8s.”

“Canonical provided an October update on its Aether-based progress. Next week, at the Ubuntu Summit, a live demonstration of Charmed Aether SD-Core will be running and available for perusal.”

“We are excited about this live demonstration of Charmed Aether SD-Core which combines Aether SD-Core, a scalable open source cloud native mobile core for Private 5G deployments with Canonical’s powerful orchestration engine,” said Larry Peterson, a member of the Aether board and the chair of the Technical Steering Team. “Charmed Aether SD-Core simplifies the operation of a Private 5G, enabling enterprises to efficiently host their own edge applications.”

Read Article (requires subscription to ReTHINK Wireless Watch)

Oct 08

Build your private 5G network with Charmed Aether SD-Core

By dbarton Blog

– Contributed by Canonical –

You might recall that we recently announced the beta release of Charmed Aether SD-Core, bringing automation to the Linux Foundation’s open source 5G software-defined core (SD-Core) networking software. SD-Core is distributed by the Aether project and is for anyone who wants to build a private 5G network. Canonical’s Charmed distribution of this software is designed to simplify deployment and operation of mobile 5G networks. In this blog, we’ll run through the benefits of using charms for your Aether SD-Core deployment.

Aether SD-Core: Open source 5G network core for private 5G

SD-Core is built to be deployed and run as a cloud-native 5G core on Kubernetes. With SD-Core, an enterprise can achieve a private 5G deployment, with premium connectivity available for their devices on-site, instead of relying on traditional local area network solutions. What’s more, as free open source software, SD-Core is cost-efficient, and is trusted by the industry.

5G mobile network core: benefits and challenges

The 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)’s service-based architecture for 5G core networks provides flexibility, agility and programmability to mobile core networks, transforming a traditionally monolithic software architecture into a fully modular one. This brings efficiency and cost benefits to an operator. Networks can now be deployed on demand, across a distributed cloud infrastructure, and managed with software that can easily scale based on customer demand and dynamic system conditions.

However, as with any cloud-native software, an operator that adopts 5G core technologies requires a suitable set of tools that can flexibly deploy and manage the complex software that 5G core entails. This is because a 5G core network has multiple software components, such as the user plane function (UPF), requiring their own set of configurations and actions to perform software lifecycle management operations. Whilst automation can help manage a cloud-native 5G core with ease, enterprises do not necessarily have the know-how to operate automation software and manage a dozen complex scripts.

What is Charmed Aether SD-Core?

Charmed Aether SD-Core addresses the challenges faced by enterprises that want to deploy and operate their private 5G networks with ease. It provides simple interfaces and removes the need for the necessary know-how on how to operate a private 5G core network.

Thanks to Canonical’s Juju orchestration engine, it is straightforward to deploy and run a 5G core network. All the complexity is managed by software operators, meaning that an IT admin at an enterprise can deploy and manage it with a simple set of CLI commands and an intuitive graphical user interface. Supported by Canonical’s proven software automation and orchestration engine Juju, which operates a wide range of open source products today, Charmed Aether SD-Core brings simplicity for private 5G for anyone.

Perfect for a diverse set of edge computing use cases powered by a 5G core network

You can deploy Charmed Aether SD-Core as all-in-one on a single Kubernetes cluster, or as a distributed core with its control and user planes running separately on multiple clouds. Such separation enables a central 5G control plane, whereas the user plane is hosted as multiple separate instances at the network’s edge locations. This capability is excellent for an enterprise with multiple sites, each of which benefiting from hosting their own data processing at the edge, for on-site edge computing applications.

See Charmed Aether SD-Core in action at Ubuntu Summit 2024

Charmed Aether SD-Core is fully automated and easily consumable by anyone who has a CNCF compliant Kubernetes running, such as Canonical Kubernetes. At this year’s Ubuntu Summit, we will demonstrate it on COTS hardware on-site, along with a software-defined radio with an open source radio stack. This will showcase how one can leverage open source in telecommunications to build an end to end 5G network on equipment they can run anywhere.

“We are excited about this live demonstration of Charmed Aether SD-Core which combines Aether SD-Core, a scalable open source cloud native mobile core for Private 5G deployments with Canonical’s powerful orchestration engine,” said Larry Peterson, Aether TST Chair. “Charmed Aether SD-Core simplifies the operation of a Private 5G, enabling enterprises to efficiently host their own edge applications.”

Run your private 5G core network at a lower cost

You may be a software developer working on a new application that could benefit from 5G, or a telecom specialist or network engineer building a new system that needs mobile connectivity. You may be a member of technical staff at an enterprise, looking into deploying and testing available open source solutions for a cost-effective private mobile network.

Whatever your reason for exploring private 5G networks, Charmed Aether SD-Core is a free open source software that is available as beta. We have documentation pages providing you with tutorials and how-to guides that will help you on your way to cloud-native private 5G. You can test Charmed Aether SD-Core with open source radio and user equipment (UE) software simulators already, but check your country’s regulations and see if you can get a shared spectrum license for research and development purposes. Most agencies already support this at a very low cost today.

If you are curious about 5G and would like to test Charmed Aether SD-Core on your own CNCF compliant Kubernetes, such as Canonical Kubernetes, you can deploy and try it today and give us your feedback.

Aug 28

5G Energy Efficiency Metrics, Models and System Tests

By dbarton Blog

Check out this article published in RCR Wireless News to for an overview about the Aether SMaRT-5G initiative. This project has been building a series of PoCs that demonstrate progressively advanced energy savings techniques on both Open-RAN and traditional RAN architectures. The phased series of PoCs is to progressively deliver power usage models, APIs and open-source software, with the goal of accelerating MNO adoption and industry impact. The team has demonstrated two SMaRT-5G PoCs in the recent past. The first was at Fyuz in October 2023 and the second took place at the NTIA-hosted RIC forum in March 2024. The key collaborators of these PoCs were Rimedo Labs, Tietoevry, Intel Labs, Viavi Solutions and i14y Labs. More PoCs are on the way.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)is supporting the SMaRT-5G initiative with a research grant through their Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund (PWSCIF).

Read article