Nokia has officially evolved its MantaRay product family into MantaRay SMO. The evolution sees Nokia commit to opening up its MantaRay SON portfolio to act as a non real time RIC (non-RT RIC) with the vendor saying it is committing to developing an open app ecosystem, with “an extensive catalog of O-RAN apps”.
The launch sees Nokia align itself with vendors such as Ericsson, which launched its SMO product, Intelligent Automation Platform, in late 2021.
Previously, Nokia took the path of backing the near real time RIC (nrt-RIC), which deploys xApps to carry out low latency radio control applications on the RAN. The vendor led contributions in the O-RAN Alliance on this aspect, and signed trials with BT and AT&T, among others, for the close to the network control applications that reside on a near real time RIC.
Meanwhile rival vendor Ericsson was committed only to the non-real time RIC, which deployed its applications as rApps. Ericsson judged that xApps were better off being combined at the radio baseband, and not broken out into the Open RAN free-for-all. Developing its IAP, Ericsson has launched an rApp Directory, which is sort of akin to an app store for rApps, with a number of this party companies joining the platform. Notably it is IAP which is driving AT&T’s network management for its all-Ericsson Open RAN deployment. Samsung, too, is more interested in the non-RT RIC than the non-RT.
However, although its public commitment to a non-RT RIC comes later than others, Nokia is not accepting that its current move is putting it or its customers at any sort of timeline disadvantage. It is emphasising that the launch of the SMO is an evolution of its existing platform, using the platform, tools and software that its customers already use.
Level 4 Autonomous Networks
At launch, the non RT RIC will have 30 Nokia rApps, built from its existing SON functions – and Nokia said that thanks to its built in existing AI capabilities, MantaRay SMO is the only SMO platform that meets the TM Forum’s specifications for Level 4 automation.
Mark Atkinson, who heads the Radio Access Networks (RAN) Business Unit within Nokia’s Mobile Networks Business Group, said, “This is a unique differentiator compared to any of our competitors.”
The SMO platform is formed of multi-supplier network management, application automation comprising the rApps, and their intelligent control and orchestration:
- MantaRay NM – a common radio network management solution that supports purpose-built RAN and Cloud RAN. As it launches its SMO, Nokia is enhancing this element with O-RAN-compliant interfaces.
- MantaRay SON, which is already available for the application automation layer evolves with O-RAN interfaces and rApps towards a multi-supplier non-real-time Radio Intelligent Controller (non-RT RIC) environment.
- MantaRay AutoPilot, which is an intent-based solution that autonomously orchestrates the SON modules and rApps
- At the orchestration layer is the Digital Operations Center, which also integrates the RAN Slice Controller. It provides dynamic orchestration and resource management capabilities, so that each network slice meets specific service level agreements.
Atkinson said, “For operators aiming for a standards-compliant SMO solution, the waiting is over. Our Manta Ray is O-RAN R1 [interface] compliant; with upcoming O-RAN O1 and O2 support we will provide multi supplier network management capabilities while supporting ran suppliers, existing interfaces.” (O2 is the interface between the SMO and Infrastructure Management (O-Cloud) Framework)
Nokia’s announcement made no mention of its work in the nrt-RIC, which it calls the MantaRay RIC. Although a nrt-RIC does not sit in the SMO, as it is sited in the RAN network function, there is an interface between a non and a near real time RIC, known as A1, which is not shown in Nokia’s diagram.
TMN asked Nokia if the company’s commitment to the net-RIC continues, and received the following answer: “Development on near RT RIC will be based on market and customer demand.”
