This paper addresses how to achieve efficient programmability and software portability in the data plane of a software-defined radio access network (SDRAN). We assume a cloud RAN environment that builds on multi-vendor hardware components. Recent literature on SDRAN data plane indicates that software portability remains an issue in terms of efficient execution of software, even if the software is abstracted from the underlying hardware. In addition, software interfaces typically vary across different hardware components in the SDRAN data plane, leading to platform-dependent software management. Generalizing the European Telecommunications Standards Institute approach for a mobile device architecture, this paper presents a novel SDRAN data plane framework, providing efficient hardware platform-independent programmability and software portability. First, to resolve the software portability issue, the proposed data plane framework employs a specific (radio) virtual machine as well as a radio library; the heterogeneous hardware platforms are abstracted, enabling the joint optimization of the radio application code and hardware platform. Second, to achieve platform-independent software management, the proposed data plane framework adopts a double-layered structure enabling users to exploit high-level software management for the SDRAN data plane. Third, the feasibility of the proposed data plane framework is verified through a proof-of-concept (PoC) system with the proposed double-layered structure. Based on this PoC system, we show that users can efficiently perform software management. According to the numerical results obtained from the PoC system, the proposed double-layered structure introduces negligible additional footprint in terms of computational resources, memory requirements, and latency. INDEX TERMS Software-defined RAN, C-RAN, ETSI-standard, data plane programmability, software portability.
Abstract-The vehicles typically have a lifetime of several years, possibly even longer than 10 years, over which communication technology will almost certainly evolve dramatically. The challenge of automotive communication platform is to ensure that a radio communication component remains relevant over the entire lifetime of a vehicle. A highly efficient software reconfiguration solution is introduced in this paper. ETSI Reconfiguration Radio System technology provides a suitable framework for automotive communication platform which allows to either add or replace entire Radio Access Technologies or to upgrade specific components across any of the entire layers.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.