Radisys Proudly Supports Amber: Making the Disaggregated RAN a Reality with the O-RAN Alliance’s “Amber” Software Code Release

The promise of a flexible, open, and disaggregated Radio Access Network (RAN) took an important step toward operational reality and commercialization this month with the release of the O-RAN Alliance’s first software code release:  Amber.  With support from the O-RAN Software Community and the Linux Foundation, and with contributions of more than 60 developers delivering over one million lines of code, Amber was released in record time. Our team at Radisys is proud to be part of this important release.

Disaggregation is crucial to the success of 5G RAN, yet the RAN is the last part of the network to experience the benefits of network disaggregation. Traditionally, mobile operators have relied on proprietary equipment that was expensive and inflexible. The open RAN evolution enables mobile operators to truly open their RAN infrastructure and leverage solutions that scale from multiple vendors, increasing network flexibility, reducing costs, and improving time-to-market service delivery. 

Software solutions like “Amber” make the open standards developed by O-RAN Alliance members a reality in the form of open source software solutions that can be adapted to meet mobile operators’ needs. For open RAN evolution to succeed, these operators need open source software, coupled with hardened white box solutions, that comply with industry standards, ensuring they are ready for implementation and commercialization.

For the Amber release, we’ve contributed our open distributed unit (O-DU) protocol stack. In addition, Radisys will continue to lead as a systems integrator for O-RAN solutions, and we are active in the Open Test & Integration Center (OTIC) initiative to help test and validate RAN components based on the O-RAN Alliance specifications to help enable a multi-vendor ecosystem for 5G RAN.

Moving forward, Radisys will continue to work with both the O-RAN Alliance, our partners, and the broader open RAN ecosystem to deliver disaggregated open RAN solutions that are compliant with the O-RAN Alliance specifications while also driving new business efficiencies and economies. “Amber” signals a solid leap in making the disaggregated RAN a reality.