Glossary
3rd Generation Partnership Project
A mobile communications industry collaboration that organizes the development and management of mobile communications standards. With respect to 5G, 3GPP is managing the evolving 5G standards.
The part of the network responsible for transporting communication data between the baseband unit (BBU) and the core network.
Central Unit
CU stands for Central Unit, which is a component of the 5G mobile communications standard. It provides centralized processing and control functions for the component of the 5G radio access network.
Distributed Unit
DU stands for Distributed Unit. It is a component of the 5G mobile communications standard that provides the radio processing and control functions for the component of the 5G radio access network.
Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network
E-UTRAN (Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network) is a new radio interface specified by the 3GPP consortium that was introduced in 2008 with LTE.
E-UTRAN New Radio
EN-DC (Evolved Non-standalone Dual Connectivity) is a feature of 5G mobile networks that allows for simultaneous 4G LTE and 5G NR connectivity, prescribed by 3GPP Release 15.
Evolved Node B or eNodeB
An eNB (Evolved Node B) is a type of cellular base station used in LTE (Long-Term Evolution) networks.
Evolved Packet Core
EPC (Evolved Packet Core) is the core network of the LTE (Long-Term Evolution) mobile communications standard.
Frequency division duplex
Using two different radio frequencies for transmitter and receiver operation to establish a full-duplex communications link.
Refers to links in the O-RAN that connect radio equipment at the tower with DU. Fronthaul data is generally transported over fiber optics using the eCPRI (evolved common public radio interface) standard.
gNodeB
The gNB stands for Next Generation Node B and is a component of the 5G mobile communication standard.
An antenna diversity technique using multiple antennas on both the transmit side and receive side to take advantage of multi-path propagation and improve the quality and reliability of wireless communication.
O-RAN Near-Real-Time RAN Intelligent Controller
The Near-RT RIC (Near-Real-Time Remote Intervention Control) is a 5G technology that provides efficient control and optimization of network functions and services in real-time or near-real-time through fine-grained data collection and actions.
Next Generation Radio Access Network
The NG-RAN is responsible for transmitting and receiving data between the LTE device and the core network and is connected to the 5GC (5G Core) via the NG interface. It provides a scalable and flexible solution for the increasing demand for mobile broadband services.
O-RAN Non-Real-Time RAN Intelligent Controller
The Non-RT RIC (Non-Real-Time Remote Intervention Control) is a component in the 5G network architecture that provides control of network functions and services.
Refers to how cellular communications waveforms are created based on underlying structures.
O-Cloud
A cloud computing platform that comprises a collection of physical infrastructure nodes that meet O-RAN requirements to host the relevant O-RAN functions.
O-RAN Central Unit
The O-CU is a logical node in the 5G network architecture that provides centralized control and management functions for the network.
O-RAN Central Unit Control Plane
O-CU-CP stands for Operations and Control Unit Control Plane it is a logical RAN node in a 5G network that provides centralized control and management of network operations.
O-RAN Central Unit User Plane
a logical RAN node with the same functionality as (en-)gNB-CU-UP, except that it can also terminate the E2 interface to the near-RT RIC.
O-RAN Distributed Unit
a logical RAN node hosting RLC, MAC and High-PHY layers, based on a lower layer functional distribution defined by O-RAN (Open FH).
O-RAN Radio Unit
a logical RAN node that hosts the low-PHY layer and RF processing based on a lower layer functional partitioning defined by O-RAN (Open FH) and terminates the Uu interface to the UE.
Random access channel
A channel shared among wireless devices to access the mobile network for call setup and data transmission bursts such as text messages.
O-RAN ALLIANCE’s RAN architecture defines a function called RAN Intelligence Controller (RIC), RIC is a logical node for realizing intelligent network operations utilizing AI / ML.
Service Management and Orchestration System
it provides management functionalities such as fault monitoring, performance assurance, trace, file, SW management, communication monitoring, PNF handling (start-up, registration, ...), VNF handling (instantiation, termination, scaling, ...).
Time division duplex
Duplex communication where the uplink is separated from downlink by different time slots in the same frequency band.
An xApp is a software tool used by a RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) to manage network functions in near-real time.