At the beginning of the year, the OpenRAN@Brasil Programme announced the results of the Call for 5G Open RAN Applications and Hosts, an initiative aimed at promoting innovative solutions based on open radio access networks. The selected proposals aim to boost the development of 5G Open RAN applications in areas of strategic importance to the country.
Of the six proposals selected, three are coordinated by researchers from INCT ICoNIoT. They are: GreenRAN: Sustainable Open RAN for Smart Agriculture and Campuses/Coordinator: Eduardo Cerqueira (UFPA); OpenHealth5G: Open 5G Networking for Digital Health/Coordinator: Juliano Wickboldt (UFRGS); and Sentinel-5GO: Collaborative Security and Environmental Monitoring in 5G Open RAN Networks/Coordinator: Augusto Neto (UFRN). Learn more about the proposals:
GreenRAN: Sustainable Open RAN for Smart Agriculture and Campuses
The proposal “GreenRAN: Sustainable Open RAN for Smart Agriculture and Campuses‘ offers the ORAN-Green Solution, which will be systematically and extensively evaluated based on two applications developed in different use cases, in the verticals ’Agro 4.0 and Rural Connectivity‘ (primary) and ’Smart Cities and Campuses” (secondary). These applications will use 5G connectivity provided by the Green-5G Network, hosted on the UFPA campus in Belém.
OpenHealth5G
OpenHealth5G, a partnership between UFRGS, PUC-RS, Federal University of Health Sciences, and UNISINOS, proposes the development and testing of innovative applications in Digital and Connected Health, exploring the potential of open 5G and Open RAN network technologies. Prioritised use cases include emergency telehealth, which will enable remote care in critical situations with support for connected medical devices and sensors, and immersive medical education, which will use augmented and virtual reality resources to train students and healthcare professionals.
National expansion of the testbed
In addition to selecting applications, the call also approved new host institutions that will receive the OpenRAN@Brasil Programme islands. The increase in the number of hosts strengthens the national expansion of the testbed, allowing for greater infrastructure capillarity and expanding access for researchers in the North, Northeast, and South regions of the country. In the Northeast region, UFRN will be awarded the island, also under the coordination of Professor Augusto Neto.
Research infrastructure
The projects approved by OpenRAN@Brasil are aligned with UNICAMP’s goal of developing and implementing research infrastructure, as well as the associated control tools to enable experimentation in Europe and Brazil, in order to promote experimental research at the point of convergence between optical and wireless networks. Also in 2016, UNICAMP developed the FUTEBOL project with UFRGS, UFMG, UFES, UFCE, and European universities. The project’s objective was to develop and implement research infrastructure, as well as the associated control tools to enable experimentation in Europe and Brazil, in order to promote experimental research at the point of convergence between optical and wireless networks.
Open innovation
One of the great potentials of OpenRAN@Brasil is to implement a testbed environment that opens up many possibilities for research, as it is open. Such testbed environments usually have a cost that can deter researchers with fewer resources. The approved applications will explore the potential of the Open RAN ecosystem, which, in addition to experimentation, will enable technological validation and the generation of applied knowledge in different contexts of use, aligned with national demands for innovation and digital transformation.
The programme is run by RNP, CPQD, Inatel and the Eldorado Institute. It encourages collaboration between industry and academia and seeks to promote collaborative development models, without limiting itself to open source. It seeks to meet the demands of service providers and users of private networks, promote the innovation ecosystem through experimentation and demonstration space, promote application scenarios (public and private networks) and support human resources training.