Prototyping near-real time RIC O-RAN xApps for Flexible ML-based Spectrum Sensing
Iago Rêgo, Lucas Oliveira de Medeiros, Pedro V. A. Alves, Mateus A. S. de S. Goldbarg, Vítor V. Lopes, Daniel Flor, Wysterlânya K. P. Barros, Vinicius Filho, Vicente A. de Sousa, Eduardo Henrique da Silva Aranha, Allan De Medeiros Martins, Marcelo A. C. Fernandes, Ramon dos Reis Fontes, Augusto Neto · 2022
The O-RAN Alliance conceived an open architecture model that aims at driving new levels of openness in the radio access network (RAN). O-RAN defines the RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) as a microservices-based platform for implementing RAN monitoring and control techniques in the form of xApps. This paper uses the O-RAN open-source platform to exercise accessibility and versatility aspects to implement xApps with control strategies over a simplified RAN based on GNU Radio. A spectrum sensing algorithm is proposed as a use case to demonstrate how SDR platforms, allied to the O-RAN paradigm, can be easily used in teaching, research initiatives, and even as testbeds for small applications.