Mavenir 5G - NR - vRAN - Product Description Guide DRAFT

Mavenir 5G NR vRAN Product Description Guide
Release 5202
Version DRAFT
Commercial in Confidence
© Copyright 2020, Mavenir
5G NR vRAN Product Description Guide
Copyright © Mavenir 2020. All rights reserved. This document is protected by international copyright law and may not be reprinted, reproduced,
copied or utilized in whole or in part by any means including electronic, mechanical, or other means without the prior written consent of Mavenir.
Whilst reasonable care has been taken by Mavenir to ensure the information contained herein is reasonably accurate, Mavenir shall not, under any
circumstances be liable for any loss or damage (direct or consequential) suffered by any party because of the contents of this publication or the
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The products mentioned in this document are identified by the names, trademarks, service marks and logos of their respective companies or
organizations and may not be used in any advertising or publicity or in any other way whatsoever without the prior written consent of those
companies or organizations and Mavenir.

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Table of Contents
1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 7
1.1 SCOPE OF THE DOCUMENT ............................................................................................................. 7
1.2 RELATED DOCUMENTATION ............................................................................................................ 7
2 STANDARD REFERENCES ....................................................................................................... 8
3 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 10
4 MAVENIR 5G NR DIFFERENTIATORS .................................................................................... 10
5 MAVENIR PRODUCT OVERVIEW.......................................................................................... 11
5.1 NETWORK COMPONENTS ............................................................................................................. 11
5.2 SPIT ARCHITECTURE .................................................................................................................... 13
5.2.1 Split Option-2 ................................................................................................................. 14
5.2.2 Split Option-7.2 .............................................................................................................. 14
6 CLOUD NATIVE PLATFORM ................................................................................................. 15
6.1 MAVENIR WEBSCALE PLATFORM .................................................................................................. 16
7 CONTAINERIZED VRAN SOLUTION ...................................................................................... 18
7.1 CONTAINERIZED CU-CP............................................................................................................... 21
7.2 CONTAINERIZED CU-UP .............................................................................................................. 23
7.3 CONTAINERIZED VDU .................................................................................................................. 26
7.4 CONTAINERIZED O-RAN VRAN .................................................................................................... 29
8 GNB CU .............................................................................................................................. 30
8.1 OVERVIEW ................................................................................................................................ 30
8.2 SUPPORTED INTERFACES .............................................................................................................. 33
8.3 SOFTWARE ARCHITECTURE ........................................................................................................... 35
8.4 FEATURES ................................................................................................................................. 35
8.5 OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT ........................................................................................................ 35
8.5.1 CU – MWP INTERACTION ............................................................................................... 36
8.5.2 CU – SDAAS INTERACTION ............................................................................................. 37
8.6 CU CNF REDUNDANCY ........................................................................................................... 37
9 GNB DU.............................................................................................................................. 37
9.1 OVERVIEW ................................................................................................................................ 37
9.2 SUPPORTED INTERFACES .............................................................................................................. 38

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9.4 FEATURES ................................................................................................................................. 42

9.5 OPERATION MANAGEMENT .......................................................................................................... 43
9.5.1 DU – MWP Interaction ................................................................................................... 44
9.5.2 DU – SDaas Interaction .................................................................................................. 45
9.6 DU CNF REDUNDANCY ............................................................................................................... 45
10 O-RAN 7.2X SPLIT ............................................................................................................... 45
10.1 OVERVIEW ................................................................................................................................ 45
10.2 HARDWARE INTERFACES .............................................................................................................. 47
10.3 FEATURES <<NEED INFORMATION>> ............................................................................................. 47
10.4 REDUNDANCY <<NEED INFORMATION>> ........................................................................................ 47
11 RRU.................................................................................................................................... 47
11.1 OVERVIEW ................................................................................................................................ 47
11.2 INTERFACES ............................................................................................................................... 48
12 MCMS ................................................................................................................................ 48
12.1 OVERVIEW ................................................................................................................................ 48
12.2 INTERFACES ............................................................................................................................... 49
12.4 FEATURES ................................................................................................................................. 51
12.5 REDUNDANCY <<NEED INFORMATION>> ....................................................................................... 52
13 XA ...................................................................................................................................... 53
14 FAULT MANAGEMENT ........................................................................................................ 53
15 CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT ....................................................................................... 54
15.1 INITIAL CONFIGURATION .............................................................................................................. 55
15.2 CONFIGURATION UPDATE FROM MCMS ......................................................................................... 55
15.3 CONFIGURATION UPDATE FROM APPLICATION <<NEED INFORMATION>> ............................................. 55
16 ADMINISTRATION MANAGEMENT ...................................................................................... 55
17 PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT .......................................................................................... 55
18 SECURITY MANAGEMENT ................................................................................................... 57
18.1 ROLE-BASED ADMINISTRATIVE ACCESS............................................................................................ 57
18.2 AUTHENTICATION ....................................................................................................................... 57
18.3 PASSWORD MANAGEMENT .......................................................................................................... 57
19 LOGGING FRAMEWORK ...................................................................................................... 58

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20 TIMING (SYNC SOURCE) ...................................................................................................... 59

20.1.1 GPS/AGPS ....................................................................................................................... 59
21 ZERO TOUCH ORCHESTRATION AND MANAGEMENT ........................................................... 60
21.1 ANALYTICS ................................................................................................................................ 60
21.2 SERVICE ASSURANCE ................................................................................................................... 60
22 ACRONYMS ........................................................................................................................ 61

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Revision History
Version Date Change Summary

DRAFT 5/14/2020 Initial DRAFT

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1 Introduction
1.1 Scope of the Document

This document covers information about Mavenir 5G NR solution, software architecture, features and
interfaces.
1.2 Related Documentation

The following table lists the related documentation.
Document Name Description
5G vRAN Alarms and Events Describes the 5G vRAN CU, DU and RRU alarms and events.
Guide
5G vRAN Feature Guide Describes the 5G vRAN software features. It provides description of
each feature and the related alarms, KPIs supported configuration
parameters and the procedure to activate and deactivate the feature.
5G vRAN Installation and Describes the vRAN installation procedures.
Commissioning Guide
5G vRAN Key Performance Describes the 5G vRAN CU, DU and RRU Key performance indicators.
Indicators Reference
mCMS Web GUI Configuration Describes the mCMS Web GUI. It also covers information about how to
Guide configure the Cloud infrastructure and provisioning the CU, DU and
RRU features.
5G vRAN Operation Guide Describes the software upgrade procedures, Method of Procedures
(MoPs), Replacement and Migration Procedures, Network
Management and Troubleshooting.
Release Notes Summary of the new features, enhancements and known limitations
of the current vRAN release.

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2 Standard References
1. 3GPP TS 38.401: "NG-RAN; Architecture description (Release 15);

2. 3GPP TS 38.300: "NR and NG-RAN; Overall Description; Stage 2
3. 3GPP TS 38.331: "NR Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol specification (release 15)
4. 3GPP TS 38.321: "NR Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol specification (release 15)
5. 3GPP TS 38.322: "NR Radio Link Control (RLC) protocol specification (release 15)
6. 3GPP TS 38.323: "NR Packet Data Convergence Control (PDCP) protocol specification (release 15)
7. 3GPP TS 38.211: "NR Physcial channels and modulation (release 15)
8. 3GPP TS 38.212: "NR Multiplexing and channel coding (release 15)
9. 3GPP TS 38.213: "NR Physical layer procedures for control (release 15)
10. 3GPP TS 38.214: "NR Physical layer procedures for data (release 15)
11. 3GPP TS 38.413: "NG-RAN; NG Application Protocol (NGAP) (release 15)
12. 3GPP TS 38.423: "NG-RAN; Xn Application Protocol (XnAP) (release 15)
13. 3GPP TS 38.425: "NG-RAN; NR user plane Protocol (release 15)
14. 3GPP TS 38.473: "NG-RAN; F1 application protocol (F1AP) (release 15)
15. 3GPP TS 38.463: "NG-RAN; E1 application protocol (E1AP) (release 15)
16. O-RAN Alliance Working Group 4, Management Plane Specification, ORAN-WG4.MP.0-v02.00.00
17. O-RAN Operations and Maintenance Interface Specification, O-RAN-WG1.O1-Interface-v02.0
18. Fronthaul Interoperability Test Specification (IOT) v1.03
19. Control, User and Synchronization Plane Specification, ORAN-WG4.CUS.0-v02.00
20. 3GPP TS 28.532 V16.1.0 (2019-09) Management and orchestration; Generic management services;
21. 3GPP TS 28.532 V16.1.0 (2019-09) Management and orchestration; Generic management services;
22. 3GPP TR 28.890 V16.0.0 (2019-03) Study on integration of Open Network Automation Platform (ONAP)
and 3GPP management for 5G networks
23. VES 7.1 Specification https://wiki.onap.org/display/DW/VES+7.1
24. 5G - Real Time PM and High-Volume Stream Data Collection

https://wiki.onap.org/display/DW/5G+-+Real+Time+PM+and+High+Volume+Stream+Data+Collection
25. Worksheet in ONAP SA VES Specification 7 1
26. 3GPP TS 28.533 V16.2.0 (2019-12) Management and orchestration; Architecture framework
27. T-REC-X.731-199201-I!!PDF-E State Management Function

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28. ETSI GS NFV-SWA 001 Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV); Virtual Network Functions
Architecture
29. ORAN-WG4.CUS.0-v01.00 : O-RAN Fronthaul Working Group Control, User and Synchronization Plane
Specification

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3 Introduction
Exponential growth in network traffic, new use cases, and shared spectrum resources have placed a
tremendous pressure on MNOs to find the most efficient use of their allocated radio spectrum. There is a
need for a New Radio evolution to improve spectral efficiency and superior network capacity. This
evolution starts with 5G NR (New Radio) which is the new standard for 5G wireless technology capable of
a much faster, efficient and scalable network. 5G New Radio technology is based on flexible OFDM
waveforms and multiple access techniques, optimized for the various 5G services, applications, and
deployment scenarios. 5G (NR) features are defined in 3GPP standards with the first phase completion in
Rel-15 and second phase in Rel-16 which addresses identified use cases and deployment scenarios.
5G (NR) delivers high levels of capabilities to the network by increasing the spectrum efficiency, traffic
capacity, throughput, reliability, number of connected devices and reducing end-to-end latency. This
technology enables MNOs to unlock and support the diverse use cases such as Fixed Wireless Access
(FWA), Enhanced Mobile broadband (eMBB), Massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC), and Ultra-
Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC).
4 Mavenir 5G NR Differentiators
Mavenir 5G NR OpenRAN vRAN solution offers the following differentiation.
• Scalable Architecture: provides a software architecture in CU-CP, CU-UP, and gNB DU that scales
with the available cores. The CU-CP scales in terms of UEs, the CU-UP scales in terms of bearers, and
the DU scales in terms of carriers and UEs.
Network Densification: provides a flexible radio infrastructure that adapts to usage patterns for
improved coverage and enhanced user experiences. Wireless service providers can deliver extra
capacity and coverage in rural or high data traffic areas, for an enhanced user experience.
• Scalability: Cloud-native design guarantees scaling, availability and performance in a fully virtualized
environment. Each Network Function can be dimensioned independently based on the services
offered by that Network Function.
• Adaptability: Open, standardized interfaces for a disaggregated RAN (3GPP + ORAN) and continuous
adaptation for interoperability.
• Simplicity: Focus on simplifying operational complexity leading to zero touch Whitebox or COTS
deployments.

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5 Mavenir Product Overview
Mavenir 5G NR enables the service providers to grow their 5G services while leveraging the existing 4G
LTE Enhanced Packet Core (EPC). This is achieved by supporting the Non-Standalone (NSA) 3x
deployment modes. 5G NR vRAN implements SA option 2 where gNB connects with 5GC and NSA
architecture option 3x with Secondary Cell Group (SCG) bearers split between LTE node(eNB) and NR
node (gNB). 5G NR vRAN supports split architecture with gNB divided into CU (Centralized Unit) and DU
(Distributed Unit). 5G NR vRAN uses YANG for data modeling configuration, Fault and Performance data
for CU, DU and RU Nodes. Different Yang models based on 3GPP are created for CU-CP, CU- UP and DU.
ORAN based Yang models will be used for RU. gNB CU and DU (and RRH) can be distributed
geographically by the operators based on their requirements. The high-level 5G NR vRAN solution
architecture is illustrated in the following diagram.
Figure 1: 5G vRAN High Level Architecture
5.1 Network Components

The following table lists the network nodes and components involved in the vRAN solution.
Inter connected Protocol Interfaces Description
Nodes
5GC/EPC- CU CP Pods NGAP NG-C <<need information>>

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Nodes
5GC/EPC- CU-UP NGAP NG-C <<need information>>
Pods
gNB/eNB - CU CP XnAP Xn-C <<need information>>
Pods
gNB/eNB - CU UP XnAP Xn-U <<need information>>
Pods
LLS C-3 – DU Pod <<need <<need <<need information>>
information>> informatio
n>>
DU-Pods – RU NetConf eCPRI
SDaaS – mCMS gRPC/ NetConf <<need <<need information>>
informatio
n>>
SDaaS –DU PNF <<need <<need <<need information>>
n>>
SDaaS – MTCIL <<need VES <<need information>>
information>>
File Server (Optional) <<need <<need <<need information>>
n>>
mCMS – MTCIL <<need <<need <<need information>>
information>> informatio The following components in the MTCIL perform
n>> functions such as:
• TMaaS - Tracks the topology of K8 cluster.
• MmaaS - Collects and forwards service for KPI
metrics generated by CU and DU.
• CMaaS - Provides open standard APIs for the
integration with the hosted 3rd party
microservices and the configuration
management infrastructure
• FMaaS - Correlation and alarm management
functions for CU and DU.
• LMaaS - Provides common logging framework

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Nodes
for CU , DU and SDAAS.
XA – MTCIL <<need <<need <<need information>>
n>>
Service Orchestrator <<need <<need <<need information>>
E2E Orchestrator information>> informatio
n>>
Domain Orchestrator <<need <<need <<need information>>
n>>
Kabana Dashboard <<need <<need <<need information>>
n>>
FluentD <<need <<need <<need information>>
n>>
Elastisearch <<need <<need <<need information>>
n>>
5.2 Spit Architecture

Mavenir 5G NR vRAN implements 3GPP higher layer split 2 with protocols X2AP, E1AP, F1AP, NRUP, RRC,
PDCP, eGTPU, NGAP, XnAP, SDAP in CU, and Lower Layer Split 7, with protocols MAC & RLC as specified
by 3GPP 38.801. The following figure shows the possible split options in O-RAN and supported split.

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5.2.1 Split Option-2

In this option the PHY, MAC and RLC layers are at the RRU/DU. PDCP and above layers are maintained
at the CU. This split option is between PDCP and RLC. Since only the PDCP and above layers are
centralized, split option 2 is less susceptible to network latencies. Following are the key benefits of
higher layer split option-2.
• Aligns with split architecture recommended by 3GPP/ORAN
• Allows separate User Plane and a centralized Control Plane
• less aggressive mid-haul requirements, as the scheduler is closer to the cell site
• Less susceptible to network latencies
5.2.2 Split Option-7.2

In this option PHY layer’s functional modules are distributed between Low-PHY and High-PHY based
on open O-RAN specifications. The following diagram illustrates the functionality split for Mavenir
lower layer split; these are aligned with O-RAN. The 7.2 option objectives are as follows:
• Minimize impact on transport bandwidth while maximizing virtualization in gNB CU and gNB
DU
• Enable simple, low cost RRU designs for wide adoption among RRU vendors with OAM
• No performance loss compared to integrated solutions with ideal fronthaul
• No limitation on receiver architecture for performance

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• No re-design for NR vs. LTE

• Not a fixed rate streaming interface – transport data rate scales with traffic and bandwidth
• Centralization of scheduling
• Support advanced signal processing such as UL COMP
6 Cloud Native Platform
The Cloud-native technology is used to develop applications built with services packaged in containers,
deployed as microservices and managed on elastic infrastructure through agile DevOps processes and
continuous delivery workflows.
Cloud-native platforms, such as Kubernetes, expose a flat network that is overlaid on existing networking
topologies and primitives of cloud providers. Kubernetes is a portable, extensible, open-source platform
for managing containerized workloads and services, that facilitates both declarative configuration and
automation. The following diagram depicts the container deployment.
Figure 2: Container Deployment
Containers are similar to VMs, but they have relaxed isolation properties to share the Operating
System (OS) among the applications. Therefore, containers are considered lightweight. Similar to a
VM, a container has its own filesystem, CPU, memory, process space, and more. As they are decoupled
from the underlying infrastructure, they are portable across clouds and OS distributions.
Kubernetes provides a framework to run distributed systems resiliently. It handles scaling and failover
for your application, provides deployment patterns, and more. For example, Kubernetes can easily
manage a canary deployment for your system.

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Note: Mavenir vDU solution uses the open source version of Kubernetes.
Kubernetes provides the following functionalities:

• Service discovery and load balancing
Kubernetes can expose a container using the DNS name or using their own IP address. If traffic
to a container is high, Kubernetes can load balance and distribute the network traffic so that the
deployment is stable.
• Storage orchestration
Kubernetes allows you to automatically mount a storage system of your choice, such as local
storages, public cloud providers, and more.
• Automated rollouts and rollbacks
You can describe the desired state for your deployed containers using Kubernetes, and it can
change the actual state to the desired state at a controlled rate. For example, you can automate
Kubernetes to create new containers for your deployment, remove existing containers and
adopt all their resources to the new container.
• Automatic bin packing
You provide Kubernetes with a cluster of nodes that it can use to run containerized tasks. The
CPU and memory (RAM) that each container requires can be configured through Kubernetes.
Kubernetes can fit containers onto your nodes to make the best use of your resources.
• Self-healing
Kubernetes restarts containers that fail, replaces containers, kills containers that don’t respond
to your user-defined health check, and doesn’t advertise them to clients until they are ready to
serve.
• Secret and configuration management
Kubernetes allows you store and manage sensitive information, such as passwords, OAuth
tokens, and SSH keys. You can deploy and update secrets and application configuration without
rebuilding your container images, and without exposing secrets in your stack configuration.
6.1 Mavenir WebScale Platform

Mavenir Web Scale (MWP) platform is used for RAN containerization. The MWP consists of two layers:
• Mavenir Cloud Platform
• Mavenir Telecom Cloud Integration Layer (MTCIL)
All RAN nodes use services provided by MWP MTCIL for containerization. The following figure describes

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the MWP overall architecture and shows the interactions between MTCIL and the other layers, such as
PaaS, CaaS, mCMS, CI/CD, and NFs.
Note: The MWP platform provides the flexibility to be integrated with CaaS and PaaS from the third party.
MTCIL provides the following features:

• Distributed logging, tracing, telemetry, configuration interfaces, and infrastructure
• Deployable on any Kubernetes based PaaS that is instrumented on Cloud or BareMetal
• Interface with Mavenir Cloud Manager for centralized OAM.
• Interface with Mavenir and third-party MANO (ETSI VNFM, ONAP)
Modern systems must be distributed and cloud-native to deliver expected levels of reliability, agility and
scale. Containers are fundamental building blocks of a cloud-native NFs or microservices. In Kubernetes,
the embodiment of a modular container service is a pod. A pod is a group of containers that share
resources like file systems, kernel namespaces and an IP address. To build an NF or microservice from
modular containers, symbiotic groups of containers must cooperate to provide a service, not one
container per service. Telecom Network Functions (NF) are deployed on MTCIL, that employs a pluggable
service interface and infrastructure towards PaaS. This allows network functions to easily adapt and cope

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with different vendor PaaS environments and operator SLAs.
The following are the capabilities of CNF Framework:

• Provides a framework to develop, package, deploy, and manage network functions.
• Implements a set of management and infrastructure microservices to support and manage
NFs or microservices.
7 Containerized vRAN Solution
The following diagram shows high-level Product architecture for DU and CU Container Orchestration
based on the container platform.

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The following table lists the inter connected nodes, interfaces, and their functions.
Inter connected Interface Functions
Node
XA – MTCIL VES <<need information>>
mCMS - MTCIL SFTP , O1, Provides services such as configuration management, fault
NETCONF , VES management, log management, high availability, metrics
management, and topology management to the deployed NFs.
MTCIL-SDaaS VES <<need information>>
mCMS – DO 02 <<need information>>
mCMS - SDaaS gRPC <<need information>>
UPF – CU CP N3 UPF (User Plane Function) performs the following functions:
• Packet routing and forwarding
• Packet inspection and QoS handling. The UPF may
optionally integrate a Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) for
packet inspection and classification. The following figure
shows the classification and QoS handling at the UPF
• Connecting to the Internet POP (Point of Presence). The

UPF may optionally integrate the Firewall and Network
Address Translation (NAT) functions.
• Mobility anchor for Intra RAT and Inter-RAT handovers
• Lawful intercept — user plane
Maintains and reports traffic statistics
AMF – CUCP N2 Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) is
responsible for managing handovers between gNodeB's
(gNB's), within the Next Generation Radio Access Network (NG-
RAN). Formally referred to as an X2 handover, in 5G it is termed
an Xn handover.
SMF -UPF N4 SMF (Session Management Function) performs the session
management functions that are handled by the 4G MME, SGW-
C, and PGW-C.
eNB/gNB -CU CP X2-C eNB provides the LTE User-plane (UP) and Control- plane
protocol termination towards the UE.
gNB provides the NR UP and CP protocol termination towards

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Node
the User Equipment (UE).
eNB/gNB -CU CP X2-U Hosts the RRC and the control plane part of the PDCP protocol;
it also terminates the E1 interface connected with the gNB-CU-
UP and the F1-C interface connected with the gNB-DU.
CU-UP Hosts the the user plane part of the PDCP protocol of the gNB-
CU for an en-gNB, and the user plane part of the PDCP protocol
and the SDAP protocol of the gNB-CU for a gNB. The gNB-CU-
UP terminates the E1 interface connected with the gNB-CU-CP
and the F1-U interface connected with the gNB-DU.
CU CP -DU F1-C <<need information >>
CU UP -DU F1-U <<need information >>
DU - RU <<need <<need information >>
information >>
RU -UE Uu <<need information >>
CaaS / PaaS – <<need CaaS Provides the following services to each container/pod.
MTCIL information >> • K8s Orchestrator: Provides K8s API, Storage, Health checks,
Placement, Custom Resources. These services are provided
across cluster for all Pods
• Container Runtime Interface (CRI): Provides Pod/Container
Lifecycle, Image management, Status, Container
interactions. These services are provided for Pods on that
worker node
• Container Network Interface (CNI): Sets up all the required
networking on the Worker node so that Pods running on
the Worker can utilize the various networks and interface
with other containers/external network
PaaS provides the following services to each container/pod.

• Configuration Management
• Fault Management
• Performance Counters Management
Log Management
Caas / PaaS - <<need <<need information >>

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Node
CDM information >>
MTCIL
SDaaS SDaaS provides interface to PNF DUs and RRUs. SDaaS is
responsible for
• Node selection (CU-CP and DU)
• PNF (RU or DU) and any third-party
o Plug and play
o Software management
o Fault and dynamic configuration State
management
7.1 Containerized CU-CP

gNB CU-CP is a monolithic container that hosts the RRC and control plane part of the PDCP protocol.
The gNB-CU-CP terminates the E1 interface connected with the gNB-CU-UP and the F1-C interface
connected with the gNB-DU. The following figure shows the CU-CP software architecture.

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The following modules are part of gNB CU-CP.

Module Description
OAM OAM runs as a module in gNB application and is responsible for
configuration and state management of CU-CP.
gnbMgr gNB Application runs in a container. It manages global and interface
level procedures. It additionally implements Node Resource Manager
(NRM). NRM is mainly responsible for X2 / F1 / E1 / Xn / NG link
status management, local resource-based admission control, AMF
selection, measurement configuration, mobility decisions etc.

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It also implements ASN.1 codec for RRC, X2-C, F1-C, E1-C, Xn-C and NG-C
protocols. RRC protocol uses services of PDCP / RLC / MAC to send
the control messages to the UE on the Uu interface. In addition to this
RRC layer takes care of configuring the data plane protocols,
PDCP on CU-UP and RLC, MAC on DU over F1 interface.
Note: Depending on the deployment mode i.e. NSA or SA, different

functionalities are supported.
UE Connection UE Connection Manager module manages UE connection-oriented
Manager procedures.
Resource Resource Manager (RM) module manages node and UE level
Manager resource management.
IWF (X2-C, F1-C, IWF terminates SCTP connection for X2 / Xn / F1 / E1 and NG
E1-C, Xn-C, NGC) protocols. SCTP-Tx and SCTP-Rx modules are used to send and
receive the messages. Incoming ASN.1 X2 / Xn / F1 / E1 / NG
messages are routed to gNB Application or UE Connection Manager
based on message type (non-UE associated or UE associated).
7.2 Containerized CU-UP

gNB CU-UP is a logical node hosting the user plane part of the PDCP, eGTPU and the SDAP protocol of
the gNB-CU. The gNB-CU-UP terminates the E1 interface connected with the gNB-CU-CP and the F1-U
interface connected with the gNB-DU. gNB CU-UP application runs as monolithic container and spawn’s
multiple threads, namely:
• OAM
• ResourceMgr
• DL UDP Rx
• UL UDP Rx
• DL and UL module
Depending on the configuration, one or more DL / UL threads are created for handling eGTPU, NRUP
and PDCP functionality. In CU-UP, the interaction between modules eGTPU-U-Rx, PDCP-Tx, eGTPU-L-
Tx, UDP-Tx of the DL is a tightly coupled function call, whereas, across the CUUP and CU-CP is through
messages send over E1 interface. The following figure shows CU-UP software architecture.

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The following modules are part of gNB CU-CP.

Module Description
OAM OAM runs as a module in gNB CU-UP Application and is responsible for
configuration and state management of gNB CU-UP.
Bearer Manager This module manages UE connection-oriented procedures.
CU UP Manager This module manages E1 procedures at node level.
Resource Manager It manages eGTPU TEID allocation and link management for E1 and F1

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Module Description
interfaces.
DL UDP Rx Receives the UDP packets in DL direction.
UL UDP Rx Receives the UDP packets in UL direction.
DL This module processes the data in downlink direction. It consists of
UDPTx,
eGTPU-Upper-Rx, PDCP-Tx, F1UP-Tx and eGTPU-Lower-Txmodules.
UL This thread processes the data in uplink direction. It consists of UDPTx,
eGTPU-Upper-Tx, PDCP-Rx, F1UP-Rx and eGTPU-Lower-Rx modules.
eGTPU-U-Tx or This module runs as part of UL thread. It receives data from the
eGTPU-U-Tx-C PDCPRx,
removes eGTPU header and sends the data to UDP-Tx.
PDCP-Rx or PDCPRx-C This module runs as part of UL thread. It receives data from F1UP-Rx,
adds PDCP header and forwards it to eGTPU-U-Tx.
F1UP-Rx This module runs as part of UL thread. It receives data from eGTPU-LRx,
adds F1-U header and sends the data to PDCP-Rx.
eGTPU-L-Rx or This module runs as part of UL thread. It receives data from UDP-Rx,
eGTPU-L-Rx-C adds eGTPU header and send the data to F1UP-Rx.
eGTPU-U-Rx or This module runs as part of DL thread. It receives data from the UDPRx,
eGTPU-U-Rx-C adds eGTPU header and sends the data to PDCP-Tx.
PDCP-Tx or PDCPTx-C This module runs as part of DL thread. It receives data from eGTPU-
URx,
removes PDCP header and sends data to F1UP-Tx.
F1UP-Tx This module runs as part of DL thread. It receives data from PDCP-Tx,
removes F1-U header and sends the data to eGTPU-L-Tx.
eGTPU-L-Tx or This module runs as part of DL thread. It receives data from F1UP-Tx,
eGTPU-L-Tx-C removes eGTPU header and sends the data to UDP-Tx.
SDAP-Tx / SDAPTx-U This module is applicable only for SA mode of operation and performs
the following:
• Transmission of user plane data
• Mapping between a QoS flow and a DRB for UL
• Marking QoS flow ID in UL packets
• Reflecting QoS flow to DRB mapping for UL SDAP data PDUs
SDAP-Rx / SDAPRx-U This module is applicable only for SA mode of operation and performs
the following:
• Receives user plane data
• Mapping between a QoS flow and a DRB for DL
• Marking QoS flow ID in UL packets
• Reflecting QoS flow to DRB mapping for UL SDAP data PDUs

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7.3 Containerized vDU

Containerized DU Network Function provides dedicated/logically isolated run time environment for
running DU application, while allowing sharing of some resources on need basis. Compared to virtualized
Network Function (VNF), container does not need guest OS and it reduces the latency and wastage of
server memory. Dockers is the Preferred Container format used for the RAN containerization.
Kubernetes (K8s) is an open-source system for automating deployment, scaling, and management of
containerized applications. Pods are the smallest deployable units of computing that can be created and
managed in Kubernetes. A Pod (as in a pod of whales or pea pod) is a group of one or more containers
(such as Docker containers), with shared storage/network, and a specification for how to run the
containers. A Pod models an application-specific “logical host” - it contains one or more application
containers which are relatively tightly coupled. For 5G-NR vDU, single monolithic container is used,
where is all the existing DU application gets bundled as one runtime executable (i.e pod). IP Address
management of DU pod is taken care by Kubernetes. The following figure depicts the 5G-NR monolithic
containerized vDU solution.

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Node Manager
F1-C RRC
SCTP GTPU
Codec Codec
F1-U DU Manager
OAM
RLC + NRUP
RU Manager
SCH-LEVEL-1
L2 Manager
SCH-LEVEL-2
MAC HI-PHY
RRM Manager
CL WLS DPDK
mVRP
Figure 3 : Monolithic vDU
On a vDU server (ex: Dell R740) multiple vDUs can be instantiated providing 5G-NR DU service. The
following figure describes two instances of vDU on a server.

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Node Manager Node Manager

SCTP GTPU SCTP GTPU
F1-C Codec RRC Codec F1-C Codec RRC Codec

DU Manager DU Manager
F1-U F1-U
OAM OAM
RLC + NRUP RU Manager RLC + NRUP RU Manager
SCH-LVL-1 SCH-LVL-1
L2 Manager L2 Manager
SCH-LVL-2 SCH-LVL-2
MAC HI-PHY MAC HI-PHY

RRM RRM
Manager Manager
CL WLS DPDK CL WLS DPDK
mVRP mVRP
Container (Docker) Run time
Linux OS
Figure 4: Multiple Instances of Monolithic vDU
All the vDU instance have the common OS (for example, CentOS) and Docker provides the isolated
runtime environment for each vDU. In the current version, DU application is implemented as
monolithic container and runs on the environment provided by MWP CaaS and PaaS layer.
vDU container has its own DPDK module, Hi-Phy, DU App (MAC, Scheduler, RLC DL, RLC UL, eGTP
module, F1C, F1U interface, DU Manager, RU Manager) and mVRP platform. Each vDU would have
dedicated midhaul and fronthaul interface. The interface (midhaul / fronthaul) could be hosted on
same Physical Interface (i.e NIC) and the SR-IOV allows different virtual machines (VMs) in a virtual
environment to share a single PCI Express hardware interface in an isolated manner.
vDU is deployed through MWP. Orchestrator instantiates the vDU deployment on the worker K8s. After
getting the request for deploying the vDU on a specific server, if the vDU worker node is already
installed on the vDU, master CaaS node deploys worker CaaS on vDU server.

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7.4 Containerized O-RAN vRAN
Mavenir vRAN solution is based on O-RAN open interfaces and it is critical that containerize solution is
compliant to O-RAN architecture. The following figure shows the standard ORAN architecture.
Figure 5:O-RAN standard architecture (One of the option)
The following figure shows containerized vRAN solution mapping with O-RAN.

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SMO
mCMS
O2 O1
SDaaS LMaaS CMaaS FMaaS MMaaS
E1
CU-CP CU-UP
CDM
F1-C F1-U
External DU
Orchestrator
RU
Kubernetes CaaS and PaaS
Figure 6:vRAN and O-RAN architecture mapping
One of the major differences between vRAN architecture and ORAN standard architecture is that O-RAN
recommends having separate O1 interface for each CU but in vRAN architecture CMaaS service provides
only one interface from which all underline nodes could be managed. Management system still able to
manage each node configuration individually.
8 gNB CU
8.1 Overview
The overall architecture for separation of gNB-CU-CP and gNB-CU-UP is depicted in the figure (as per
3GPP TS 38.401 version 15.2.0 Release 15). The CU is split into CU-CP and CU-UP through 3GPP E1
interface.

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A gNB can consist of a gNB-CU-CP, multiple gNB-CU-UPs and multiple gNB-DUs. The gNB-CU-CP is
connected to the gNB-DU through the F1-C interface. The gNB CU-UP is connected to the gNB-DU
through the F1-U interface. The gNB-CU-UP is connected to the gNB-CU-CP through the E1 interface.
One gNB-DU is connected to only one gNB-CU-CP and One gNB-CU-UP is connected to only one gNB-CU-
CP. CU-CP and CU-UP run as monolithic applications.
5G-NR CU is implemented as CNF and supports both NSA and SA mode of deployment. CU-CP and CU-
UP are implemented as monolithic containers. The following shows 5G vRAN CU System architecture.
Figure 7:vRAN CU Functional Split

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Each CU application is maintained as a container, for example, CU-CP, CU-UP are separate containers
managed by MWP. MWP supports both stateless and stateful containers. CU-CP and CU-UP run as
stateful containers. In accordance with ORAN recommendations, CU-CP and CU-UP are considered as
two different nodes having separate instances of OAM. Due to better performance, GoogleRPC (gRPC)
as opposed to REST is used for all the inter-container / pod communication. CU containers runs on
mVRP (Mavenir Virtual Radio Platform) software platform.
mVRP is a middleware which abstracts underlying container platform (MWP) and provides range of
services for process management, buffer management etc. For inter-container communication, mVRP
also provides gRPC infrastructure / APIs to higher layers. All CU services are configured and managed
by mCMS (Mavenir Central Management Server), while the MWP (CDM) is responsible for life cycle
management of CNFs. gNB CU together with gNB DU implements the carrier grade CNF (Cloud Native
Network Function) solution for 5G-NR Cloud RAN.
One gNB CU hosts components of multiple cells. Data path and control path in gNB CU are separated
to manage different scaling requirements. gNB CU consists of LTE modules which are non-time critical.
gNB CU comprises the following modules:
o Evolved GPRS Tunneling Protocol (eGTP): hosts GTPU functionality of 5G stack
o gNB Module Manager (EMM-APP): manages gNB related interfaces with other nodes
o DU Module Manager (DMM-APP): manages interfaces with different gNB DUs
o F1 Application Protocol (F1AP): provides the signalling service between a gNB-CU and a gNB-
DU of a gNB within an NG-RAN, or between a gNB-CU and a gNB-DU of an en-gNB within an E-
UTRAN. The services provided by the F1AP are divided to UE-associated and non- UE-
associated
o Radio Resource Control (RRC): communicates information between gNB CU and UE
o Radio Resource Manager (RRM): manages cell and UE resources
o NG Application Protocol (NGAP): provides the signalling service between the NG-RAN node
and the AMF that is required to fulfil the NGAP functions
o Operations, Administration and Maintenance (OAM): communicates with mcMS and hosts
OAM functions
o Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP): hosts PDCP functionality of 5G stack
o Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP): mapping between a QoS flow and a data radio
bearer (due to new QoS framework)
o Stack Manager (SM): manages state machine
o Xn Application Protocol (XnAP): supports a variety of RAN related procedures, such as

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establishing Dual Connectivity, coordination of Xn based handovers, data forwarding and RAN
Paging. During the handover process, the source gNB will provide the target gNB with all the
necessary information it needs to handle the subscriber, including security and User Plane
connectivity information. For Dual Connectivity, the Master gNB will use XnAP to set up a
Secondary gNB, with each gNB serving the user simultaneously.
8.2 Supported Interfaces

gNB CU uses the following interfaces to communicate with other nodes. <<Need more information in
the description column>>
Node Node Interface Details
CU.CP, CU.UP MTCIL.CIM HTTP Configuration of ?
CU.CP, CU.UP MTCIL.MMaaS HTTP KPI
CU.CP, CU.UP MTCIL.CIM NATS Logs, Fault Notifications
CU.CP 5GC.AMF NGC - N2 NG-C interface supports the

exchange of signaling
information between NG- RAN
and 5GC [TS 38.410, 38.413]
CU.CP DU F1-C 5G vRAN supports Centralized

Unit (CU) and Distributed Unit
(DU) split (3GPP option-2)
through F1 interface [TS
38.473,
38.470]
CU.CP CU.UP E1 5G vRAN supports CU- Control
Plane (CU-CP) and CU-User
Plane (CU-UP) interconnection
through E1 interface [TS
38.463,
38.460].
CU.UP 5GC.UPF NG-U - N3 NG-U interface is supported
between the NG-RAN node and
the UPF.

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CU.CP CU.CP Xn-C Xn supports 5G CU to peer 5G

CU or another vendor 5G CU
interface for supporting
mobility. This interface is
applicable only for SA mode of
operation.

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8.3 Software Architecture

The CU-CP and CU-UP are implemented as monolithic containers. Refer Containerized CU-CP and
Containerized CU-UP sections of the document for information about virtualized software architecture of
CU-CP and CU-CP.
8.4 Features
The following table lists the gNB CU features.
Features Description
Mobility Management gNB CU mobility management feature handles UE mobility both on idle and
connected mode. These sets of features also control mobility within same
RAT or inter RAT.
Paging Paging function is used for Triggering RRC Setup (RRC Request and RRC
Connection Resumption). System Information Modification and PWS/ETWS
notification is done by DCI 1_0 with P_RNTI and corresponding PDSCH.
The gNB-DU is responsible for transmitting the paging information according
to the scheduling parameters provided. The gNB-DU consolidates all the
paging records for a PO, PF and PA, and encodes the final RRC message and
broadcasts the paging message on the respective PO, PF in the PA.
The gNB-CU provides paging information to enable the gNB-DU to calculate
the exact PO (Paging Occasion) and PF (Paging Frame). The gNB-CU
determines the PA (Paging Area).
Measurement Measurement reporting facilitates the following functions.

configuration • Establishment/ modification/ release of measurements (e.g. intra-
frequency,
• Inter-frequency and inter-RAT measurements)
• Setup and release of measurement gaps
• Measurement reporting to decide triggering of Handovers.
8.5 Operations Management

The gNB CU service runs inside a container. Lifecycle management (LCM) of the container is managed by
MWP. FCAPS (Fault, Configuration, Accounting, Performance, Security) is managed by mCMS and
performance monitoring and KPIs are managed by XA. The following figure highlights the different

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operational aspects of CU.
8.5.1 CU – MWP INTERACTION

MTCIL.CIM is a side car container responsible for providing interface between CU application and MTCIL
layer. MTCIL.CmaaS is responsible for interacting with mCMS over NetConf and VES protocol.
MTCIL comprises the following important modules.
• Configuration Management as a Service (CMaaS): used to manage configurations of NFs or
microservices.
• Fault Management as a Service (FMaaS): used to manage events and faults for gNB CU and gNB
DU.
• LMaaS: used to manage log services and tracing
• MMaaS : used to collect and forward service for KPI metrics generated by CU and DU.
• TMaaS : used to track the topology of K8 cluster. It publishes events for microservice and NF states.
• SDaaS : used to manage RAN PNF and 3rd party virtual nodes.

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• CU CNF creation
• CNF level lifecycle management (restart, delete)
8.5.2 CU – SDAAS INTERACTION

SDAAS is responsible for management of all RAN PNF and 3rd party virtual nodes. It is also responsible for
maintaining RAN level topology by selecting the nodes e.g.CU-CP, CUUP, DU and RU selection. When CU
initializes for the first time, SDaaS will perform selection based on the configured policy. Various selection
policies are supported by SDaaS:
• Static Selection
• Location based Selection
• System based Selection
• Cell Load base Selection
• User defined Selection
8.6 CU CNF REDUNDANCY

MWP.HAaaS support redundancy in the form of N+M model where the “M” is configured by the operator
thereby providing flexibility. IP Address of the active pod will be retained and passed over to the standby pod
when the switch over occurs. CU-CP pod. HA is implemented on Cold-Standby. In this mode, DU and CU-UP are
connected through SCTP to only active CU-CP pod. Redundancy for CU-UP is still being evaluated as the
downtime may be minimum and thereby restart of CU-UP may be prudent.
9 gNB DU
9.1 Overview
gNB DU can be deployed in two modes: DU as PNF and DU as virtual node. The overall functionality such
as the software architecture, software features and OAM functionality are the same for gNB DU and
vDU. DU containers are configured and managed by mCMS (Mavenir Central Management Server), while
the MWP (CDM) is responsible for life cycle management of CNFs.
gNB DU run as a monolithic Containerized Network Function (CNF). Each gNB DU application runs as
container and is managed by MWP. gNB DU containers runs on mVRP (Mavenir Virtual Radio Platform)

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software platform. mVRP provides range of services for process management, and buffer
management.
gNB DU consists of the following modules which are time critical.
o Medium Access Control (MAC): The MAC modules use the services of the physical layer to send and
receive data on the various logical channels. The MAC provides the services to the RLC layer to send
and receive data on various logical channels. The MAC is responsible for multiplexing and de-
multiplexing of the data on various logical channels.
o Scheduler: The scheduler does the scheduling of the air resources on both downlink and uplink. The
scheduler also manages the HARQ processes in both directions. In conjunction with the physical
layer the scheduler module implements the algorithms of power control, link adaptation. The
scheduler also implements the RACH procedure.
o Radio Link Controller (RLC): The RLC layer provides services to the PDCP layer for transferring the
control and data messages on the Uu Interface. The RLC layer uses services of the MAC and Scheduler
to send and receive messages on the Uu interface. It implements transparent mode(TM),
unacknowledged mode (UM) and the acknowledged mode (AM) entities to achieve the above
functionality. This module maintains the mapping of radio bearer to logical channel on the Uu
interface.
o Convergence Layer (CL): The convergence layer abstracts the interface to the physical layer which is
an external component from the MAC layer. The convergence layer maps the MAC lower interface
API to the Physical Layer L1 API. This is also responsible for maintaining the state machine of the
physical layer, basically configuration, starting and stopping of the PHY. This layer also abstracts the
transport that is used to communicate with the PHY.
o enhanced GPRS Tunneling Protocol (eGTP): The eGTP hosts the GTPU protocol between CU-UP and
DU.
o F1-C: F1- C provides interface between CU and DU in the control path.
o F1U: F1U provides interface between CU and DU in the data path/
9.2 Supported Interfaces

gNB DU uses the following to communicate with other nodes. <<Need more information in the
Description column>>
Node Node Interface Description
DU MTCIL.CIM HTTP Configuration
<<need more information ..
configuration for ? ??>>
DU MTCIL.MMaaS HTTP KPI <<Need information.

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Description is incomplete >>

DU MTCIL.CIM NATS Handles or Sends Logs and
Fault Notifications ?
DU.L2App CU.CP F1-C Control plane interface

between L2 and CU.CP
DU.L2App CU.UP F1-U User plane interface between

L2 and CU.UP
DU.L2App DU.L1App WLS Interface between L2 and L1
(Hi-Phy) of 5GNR stack
DU.L1App RU eCPRI Interface between Hi-Phy and
Low-Phy. Hi-Phy and Low-Phy
are implemented in DU and RU
respectively
RU Manager DU.L1App Event Pub/sub interface between
RUMgr and L1App
RU Manager RU Netconf Netconf session between DU
and RU

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The following figure shows software Architecture of gNB DU.
DU Pod
Node Manager
F1-C RRC
SCTP GTPU
Codec Codec
F1-U DU Manager
OAM
RLC + NRUP
RU Manager
CIM
SCH-LEVEL-1
L2 Manager
SCH-LEVEL-2
MAC HI-PHY
RRM Manager
CL WLS DPDK
mVRP
LEGEND POD CONTAINER SIDECAR CONTAINER PLATFORM
Figure 8: gNB DU Software Architecture
gNB DU is implemented as monolithic container. The gNB DU implements the time critical software modules
of 5G vRAN such as Layer 2 and Hi-Phy, and also implements DU-OAM comprising of DU and RU Manager for
supporting bring up of DU applications and RU.
• DU software performs following processing in downlink direction:
• Reception of PDCP PDU for different radio bearers
• Implements Downlink Misalignment handling for F1U plane packets
• Provides Logical channel mapping for transmitting RRC signaling and User plane data
• Performs RLC TM, RLC UM, RLC AM functionalities

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• Multiplexing different transport channel data, Transport Block creation at MAC, Control Element
addition
• Scheduling, HARQ Management
• High-Phy Layer1 Processing as per O-RAN 7.2b Split in DU
In the Uplink, the DU performs following functionalities:

• High-Phy processing in the Layer1
• TB demultiplexing in the MAC Layer, UL Scheduling and UL power control
• RLC UL implementation for RLC TM, UM, AM Mode
• RLC to PDCP mapping of different bearers
gNB DU software consists of multiple application binaries along with platform libraries. The application binaries
are listed in the following table.
Binary Name Description
dumgr Runs DU Manager application
rumgr Runs RU Manager application
l1app Runs Hi-PHY application
gnb_du OAM, RRM, MAC, RLC, Scheduler, CL modules will as part of gnb_du
application
gNB DU OAM functionality is provided by two modules:

• DU Manager: <<Need Information >>
• RU Manager: RU Manager runs as a process in DU pod and provides following functionalities:
o Interfaces with L1App for CU plane information
o RU Manager and L1App communicates over event manager interface
o Reads RU capabilities and creates CU plane information
o RU sends CU plane information to L1App and RU

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XA mCMS
Netconf /
gRPC
NETCONF / VES
VES
CU-CP CU-UP MTCIL SDaaS

E1
F1-C F1-U
DU CNF DHCP Server

DUMgr RUMgr +
NAT Func
EventManager
DB interface
Netconf
L2 App L1 App
Netconf
eCPRI
RU
Figure 9: DU OAM Interfaces
9.4 Features
The following table lists the gNB DU/vDU features.
IEEE 1588v2 time IEEE 1588V2 Precision Time Protocol (PTP) is a packet based two-way protocol
and phase sync between nodes in a network to synchronize their clocks. The PTP protocol enables
time distribution over a network so that nodes in the network are time
synchronized to a high level of accuracy – sub-nanoseconds granularity. The PTP
protocol defines a hierarchical (master-slave) clock architecture to achieve time
distribution.
DU achieves PTP time synchronization as a slave clock to PTP master sources in the
network. Once DU has achieved time lock, DU would serve as master clock to a PTP
client in the CPRI adaptor over the front haul interface. CPRI adaptor, after

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achieving a time lock, would synchronize the RRU over the CPRI interface.
For vDU- PTP synchronization for the vDU solution has two parts: Slave part at the
server level which synchronizes the server with a PTP Master source and Master
part at each vDU level which provides PTP services to Slave at CPRI associated with
the vDU.
O-RAN CU PLANE DU is configured with the C/U-plane information to manage the DU and RU
SUPPORT interface. The C/U-plane application is uniquely associated with specific data flows.
This is achieved by the DU by defining an RU “processing element” which can then
be associated with particular C/U-plane endpoint address. A processing element
defines both the local and remote endpoints used with a specific data flow.
9.5 Operation Management

The gNB CU service runs inside a container. Lifecycle management (LCM) of the container are managed
by MWP. FCAPS (Fault, Configuration, Accounting, Performance, Security) is managed by mCMS and
performance monitoring and KPIs are managed by XA. The following figure highlights the different
operational aspects of CU.

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mCMS XA
kafka
SDaaS
O1 / NETCONF / VES
DB+
VES
SDaaS
DU 1 DU 2
TMaaS CMaaS FMaaS
DU DU
L1 App L1 App
App App
CIM CIM
MMaaS LMaaS HAaaS
mVRP mVRP
kafka
kafka MTCIL
PaaS
CaaS
Figure 10: DU Operation Management
9.5.1 DU – MWP Interaction

MTCIL.CIM is a side car container responsible for providing interface between DU application and
MTCIL layer. MTCIL.CMaaS is responsible for interacting with mCMS over NetConf and VES protocol.
Following functionalities are provided by MWP:
• Creating DU CNF
• Topology Management as a Service (TMaaS)
• Configuration Management as a Service (CMaaS)
• Fault Management as a Service (FMaaS)
• Metrics Management as a Service (MMaaS)
• Log Management as a Service (LMaaS)
• High Availability as a Service (HAaaS)
• CNF level lifecycle management (restart, delete etc.)

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9.5.2 DU – SDaas Interaction

SDaaS is responsible for management of all RAN PNF and 3rd party virtual nodes. It is also responsible
for maintaining RAN level topology by selecting the nodes e.g.CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU selection.
When DU initializes for the first time, SDaaS will perform selection based on the configured policy.
Various selection policies are supported by SDaaS:
- Static Selection
- Location based Selection
- System based Selection
- Cell Load base Selection
- User defined Selection
9.6 DU CNF Redundancy

gNB DU and vDU does not support redundancy. Due to the nature of a containerized solution, recovery
of failed vDUs are automatically handled by the platform leading to quicker recovery and availability
of services.
10 O-RAN 7.2x Split
10.1 Overview
ORAN 7.2x Split is a specification for functional splitting between O_RAN Distributed Unit (O-DU) and O-
RAN Radio Unit (O-RU) adopted by O-RAN fronthaul specifications.
O-RAN based Split 7 .2x solution offers the following benefits:

• Centralized scheduling
• Joint processing across sites (COMP)
• Increased RAN virtualization, management, feature upgrades
Layer1 modules are split between DU and RU as per O-RAN 7.2x split definition. The following figure
shows the functionality split between Hi-Phy (in DU) and Low-Phy (in RU) for different O-RU category.

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Mavenir O-RAN solution implements 7.2x split option which keeps the RU complexities and required
fronthaul bandwidth to be reasonable.
Figure 11: O-RAN 7.2x Split Functionality Split
Hi-Phy / Upper-Phy block implements the 5GNR Layer1 processing blocks in the downlink - channel
coding, scrambling, modulation, layer mapping, PreCoding and REMapping.
• Supported DownLink Channels: PDSCH, PDCCH, PBCH(SSB)
• Supported DownLink Signals: PDSCH DMRS, PDCCH DMRS, CSI-RS, PSS, SSS, PTRS
In the Uplink, Hi-Phy block implements the RE-De-Mapping, channel estimation, channel equalization,
Demodulation, De-scrambling and Decoding to uplink channels. It also implements the PRACH detection
module.
• Supported Uplink Channels: PUSCH, PUCCH, PRACH
• Supported Uplink Signals: PUSCH DMRS, PUCCH DMRS, SRS
These have been split by processing into FPGA or directly run in software on IA based on the hardware

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splits.
Note: Cat-A O-RUs is used for processing Layer1 (Hi-Phy + Low-Phy) for different physical channels in
DownLink and UpLink.
10.2 Hardware Interfaces

The following table lists the O-RAN Split 7.2x interfaces.
Interface Name Nodes Interconnect Protocol
eCPRI interface RRH to DU CPRI
PCIe interface DU server PCIe Gen 3 x8 interface PCIe
10 G SFP+ interface PCIe card to DU interface 10G Ethernet over Fiber optics
10.3 Features <<Need information>>

The following table lists the ORAN 7.2x Split features.
U-Plane Data: Compression The data rates increase linearly with spatial streams
(or layers) in split option 7.2x.
10.4 Redundancy <<Need information>>
11 RRU
11.1 Overview
With the CPRI adapter PCIe card in gNB DU, upper PHY functions are performed in the gNB DU and lower
PHY functions are performed on the CPRI adapter. CPRI link connects the Remote Radio Unit via the CPRI
adapter card in the DU. Ethernet interface is provided between the gNB DU and CPRI adapter support
ORAN defined functional split 7.2x between HIGH PHY on gNB DU and low PHY on the CPRI Adapter.

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CPRI adapter provides interface to three RRUs over the CPRI Links.
Figure 12: RRU
Mavenir vRAN solution provides the support for the integration of RUs from different vendor; Sunwave HP-F
RUs with A2 can be used for providing integrated GSM + LTE on the same RU hardware; where HP-F is an
FDD/TDD based Radio Unit and A2 aggregates LTE and GSM carriers towards HP-F.
11.2 Interfaces
The following table lists the RRU interfaces.
Interface Name Nodes Interconnect Protocol Description
mCMS-RU OAM mCMS to RRU NETCONF To configure RRU from

ORAN M-Plane mCMS
interface
DU-RU OAM ORAN DU to RRU NETCONF To configure RRU from
M-Plane interface DU
DU HP- F RU OAM DU to A2 / A2 to HP-F / NETCONF To configure A2 from
ORAN M-Plane mCMS to A2 mCMS
interface
12 mCMS
12.1 Overview
mCMS is the central management node which manages FCAPS functionality except accounting for all
deployed nodes. mCMS also provides NB interfaces for toward operator OSS/BSS to manage inventory,
faults and configuration. The mCMS provides central configuration storage to support NFV management

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and maintains the application software, software versions, and configurations as they are deployed
during the life cycle management of a VNF. mCMS is also used for the management of gNB DUs and
RRUs. The Single Sign-on (SSO) functionality is supported in XA/ MSIS GUI. The mCMS allows automatic
login to the MSIS using the single sign-on.
12.2 Interfaces
The following table lists the interfaces and protocols supported by mCMS.

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Interconnect
Interface Protocol Description
Nodes
User User HTTP/HTTPS Access to mCMS via web user interface.

Interface browsers
VNF-mCMS VNFs NETCONF mCMS acts as NETCONF client to each VNF

NETCONF Server.
VNFM- VNFM NETCONF Life Cycle Management Procedures.

mCMS
CMS-VNFM VNFM Ve-VNF VNFM interface to control scaling of mCMS.

(REST)
LDAP Active LDAP/LDAPS For user access and authentication, and roles
Directory definition.
Service (AD)
DNS DNS (not DNS Used for address resolution.

shown)
FM OSS: FM SNMP Alarms and Events Notification.

v2c/v3,
REST
CM OSS: CM NETCONF, Automated configuration management.

REST
(custom)
PM mCMS or rSync, REST Transfer of periodic raw data counters to

OSS: PM analytics system.
DU mCMS-DU NETCONF DU reaches out to mCMS over NETCONF call

home feature
RRU mCMS-RRU NETCONF RU reaches out to mCMS over NETCONF call

home feature
XA mCMS-XA NETCONF / The required configuration data is pushed to XA

HTTPs using NETCONF protocol. Single sign-on (SSO)
from mCMS to XA GUI happens using HTTPS.

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mCMS uses the micro services paradigm. The individual services are designed as independent web
applications that communicate with each other using a REST interface. These services can be run
independently to ensure modularity and scalability. The following figure depicts the high level mCMS
architecture and its interfaces.
Figure 13: mCMS Software Architecture
12.4 Features
The following table lists the mCMS features.
Functions and Features Description
Dashboard Displays the mCMS specific statistics and the
statistics collected from VNF.
Topology Provides Network Topology in an intuitive form.
Cloud Management Provides administrative functions for configuring
cloud provider details on VNFM.

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Virtual Network Functions (VNF) Performs VNF operations.

Configuration Management Used to configure the gNB CU, gNB DU/vDU, RRU.
Fault Management Displays all active alarms per NS, LVN and individual
VNF levels with an indication of fault severity and
actions
Administration Used to manage users, user roles, LDAP, LDAP user
roles, and view the activity log from the
Administration screen.
Life Cycle Management Support Used to perform Life Cycle Management on VNFs.
Network Management Used to support Network Management functions on
VNFs.
Northbound Interfaces Used to support traditional and new northbound
(OSS/BSS) interfaces.
Performance Management Used to support standard compliant (3GPP, IETF)
performance counters for all application
components. The KPI reports are generate at mCMS.
Security Management Used to enable consistent policy enforcement and
quick troubleshooting of security events.
DU Device Management Used to perform management operation on DU
device.
RRU Device Management Used to perform management operation on RRU
device.
XA Management Single sign on is provided from mCMS to XA GUI over
HTTPS.
12.5 Redundancy <<Need information>>

mCMS is deployed in Active: Standby Mode. mCMS supports local Active/Standby redundancy or Geo-
Redundancy when the standby is located at a different data center. When it is deployed under local
active standby setup, VIP (virtual IP) is used and attached to the active system always. When a critical
module in the active system goes down, switchover is triggered and the standby becomes active.

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Figure 14: mCMS Redundancy
13 XA
Refer Mavenir Analytics Product Description guide for information about the XA functional architecture
and features supported. The Mavenir Analytics Product Description guide is available as part of the 5G NR
vRAN Product Documentation Suite.
14 Fault Management
gNB CU (CU-CP and CU-UP) and gNB DU use mVRP services to generate an alarm or event. gNBCU /gNB
publish the events over NATs interface on EVENT subject. Payload follow the Flat buffer format and event
definition follows the JSON format. CIM encapsulates application payload with additional headers and
publishes the event to FmaaS over Kafka.

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15 Configuration Management
Configuration Management for all the applications on DU is handled by CMaaS module in MTCIL
layer. CMaaS acts as an interface between north bound management system e.g. mCMS and all CNFs.
For DU, OAM thread and L2 Manager is responsible for configuring all the layers and software
modules.

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15.1 Initial Configuration

When DU pod initializes, it uses underlying services of mVRP to read initial configuration data from local
file present of the pod. Initial configuration data contains basic configuration details for instantiation of
process. CMaaS generates configMap for each pod.
Note: The initial configuration is packaged as part of Helm charts.
15.2 Configuration Update from mCMS

CMaaS module of MTCIL layer handles the dynamic parameter update. On receiving config update,
CmaaS updates corresponding configMap using Kubernetes API and generates a configuration change
event, which will carry details of the change – change id, module, version, path sets. CMaaS
generates a JSON patch which is delivered to CU pod by CIM. CIM-uS sends config update request to
CU application with change-set payload (JSON Patch) over REST interface using HTTP PATCH. Using
underlying mVRP services, CU.CP / CU.UP processes the update and the response is sent as
configUpdateStatus notification over NATS to CIM-uS
15.3 Configuration Update from Application <<Need information>>
16 Administration Management
17 PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
PM infrastructure is implemented by Prometheus client and mVRP in both CU and DU. mVRP
provides APIs to application for pegging PM counters. PM counters are pegged on event basis and

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stored in Prometheus dictionary. PM counters are stored in the dictionary until pulled by MmaaS
module in MTCIL layer.
MMaaS scrapes the metrics from each pod when kpi collection timer expires or an application
terminates unexpectedly. CU / DU application will send the PM data over HTTP to MMaaS. MMaaS
process the counters further and send it to XA over VES interface.

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18 Security Management
18.1 Role-based Administrative Access

mCMS provides role-based administrative access for Operations and Maintenance (O&M) to allow
varying degrees of command privileges assigned across several administrator roles, to vary the types
of access to the CMS system.
Types of access correspond to Read, Write and Read-Write privileges. Also, security classification
can be applied for each data set, for example, Data configuration and Data Monitoring. By default,
mCMS supports following administrative basic roles (can be expanded).
• Admin - Has access to permitted network elements. Can perform Add, Delete, Modify, or
Review on all the parameters of assigned network elements
• Guest - Review only permission for permitted network elements. Cannot perform Add or
Delete or Modify on any parameter
Note: Only Admin users have the right to change User privileges
18.2 Authentication
mCMS ensures secure administrative access by using flexible and robust password control. Alpha-
numeric, aging, reuse checking rules are enforced to ensure optimum password integrity. mCMS
authenticates GUI users, using an internal encrypted database or through interaction with an external
administrative domain (AD). Authentication can be performed by using:
• LDAP and LDAPS (secured version) - both Simple Authentication and Kerberos Authentication
• RADIUS
18.3 Password Management

For local authorization, CMS can assign a unique logic ID and password based on user input. CMS
uses the following password management rules:
• Passwords are more than six characters in length
• Passwords must contain at least one capital letter, one non-alphanumeric character, and a number

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• Option to configure the number of days after which users must change the password. For example, 90
(days) or 0 (never change)
19 Logging Framework
The Logging framework allows an operator to log and trace subscriber activity at the cell level on one or
more UEs and serves as an additional source of information (along with Performance Measurements)
for monitoring and optimization operations. Operator can also get system and application logs. These
logs can be set for transfer periodically where your set the periodicity of the logs and they get
downloaded. Operator can also download the logs on demand if required Logs and traces need to be
collected for all layers and on gNB CU, gNB DU nodes and gNB RRU.
Logging framework utilizse services of LMaaS module in MTCIL for log storage and processing. The gNB
CU and gNB DU streams the logs over NATS interface with CIM. CIM writes the logs to a file on local disk
which is read by Fluent Bit.
Applications
Application Threads
Application Threads
Logger
Log Buffer
Log Reader
Logs written
into persistent
storage of pod
Logging Framework
Logging framework has following components:

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• Logger: It provides logging macros that are used to write to the log buffer.
• Log Buffer: Log Buffer is a lock free wait free circular buffer.
• Log Reader: It reads the logs from log buffer, convert the binary logs to ascii format and write to
the file.
CU and DU directly writes the logs to the disk. Apart from logs, core files generated are also written into
local disk. MTCIL ensures that these logs are copied to persistent storage before the pod restarts.
The Log framework supports following severity levels.

Log Level Symbol Description
Critical CRI Critical conditions
Error ERR Error conditions
Warning WAR Warning conditions
Notice NOT Normal but significant condition
Information INF Informational messages
Debug DEB Debug-level messages
Verbose <<Need description >>
20 Timing (Sync Source)
20.1.1 GPS/AGPS
GPS is the primary source of clock and the GPS signal is used to synchronize the System. In the absence
of GPS signal, secondary source (1588 PPS) is used for synchronization (in-progress). Similarly, in the
absence of both primary (GPS) and secondary source (1588 PPS), 25 MHz Internal Oscillator will be
used for Synchronization.
The RRH recovers clock from CPRI Gateway, which is used to generate Downlink Center frequency.
The CPRI Gateway derives the clock signals from GPS Signal. The DU synchronizes with CPRI Adaptor
UL symbol boundary. The GPS is the primary source of clock in entire product since all frequencies
generated in the system are aligned with GPS.

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RRH
GPS
UE
Clock
Oscillator Data Path
Synthesizer
CPRI Gateway
DU
Figure 15: GPS
21 Zero Touch Orchestration and Management
21.1 Analytics
To effectively monitor the network and derive insightful actions, it is important to be able to process large
quantities of data as fast as possible in near real-time. Static measures and statistics are soon going to be
obsolete. Analytics engine needs to support intelligent aggregation and categorization, adaptive and scenario
specific algorithms, to enable self-learning and better predications. This would be the critical factor in achieving
operational efficiency with automation.
21.2 Service Assurance

Service Assurance is the ability to manage performance, faults, experience, etc. Mavenir Service assurance
platform monitors VNFs, PNFs, NFVI resources, Open networking components like virtual switches, white box
switches and SDN-Controllers and provides a single pane of glass view for service monitoring. It also integrates
with 3rd Party Monitoring tools via REST interface. On the northbound XA exposes REST interface, SNMP, CSV
to integrate with existing OSS/BSS or Operator’s existing Service Assurance platform.

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22 Acronyms
Abbreviation Description

Page 61 of 62
Abbreviation Description

Page 62 of 62

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9.4 FEATURES ................................................................................................................................. 42

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20 TIMING (SYNC SOURCE) ...................................................................................................... 59

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Version Date Change Summary

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1.1 Scope of the Document

1.2 Related Documentation

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1. 3GPP TS 38.401: "NG-RAN; Architecture description (Release 15);

24. 5G - Real Time PM and High-Volume Stream Data Collection

© Copyright 2020, Mavenir

© Copyright 2020, Mavenir

Mavenir 5G NR OpenRAN vRAN solution offers the following differentiation.

© Copyright 2020, Mavenir

5 Mavenir Product Overview

Figure 1: 5G vRAN High Level Architecture

5.1 Network Components

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Inter connected Protocol Interfaces Description

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Inter connected Protocol Interfaces Description

5.2 Spit Architecture

© Copyright 2020, Mavenir

5.2.1 Split Option-2

5.2.2 Split Option-7.2

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• No re-design for NR vs. LTE

6 Cloud Native Platform

Figure 2: Container Deployment

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Kubernetes provides the following functionalities:

6.1 Mavenir WebScale Platform

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MTCIL provides the following features:

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with different vendor PaaS environments and operator SLAs.

The following are the capabilities of CNF Framework:

7 Containerized vRAN Solution

© Copyright 2020, Mavenir

• Connecting to the Internet POP (Point of Presence). The

gNB provides the NR UP and CP protocol termination towards

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Inter connected Interface Functions

PaaS provides the following services to each container/pod.

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Inter connected Interface Functions

7.1 Containerized CU-CP

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The following modules are part of gNB CU-CP.

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Note: Depending on the deployment mode i.e. NSA or SA, different

7.2 Containerized CU-UP

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The following modules are part of gNB CU-CP.

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© Copyright 2020, Mavenir

7.3 Containerized vDU

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Figure 3 : Monolithic vDU