Demonstration of Cooperative Transport Interface using open-source 5G OpenRAN and virtualised PON network

TL;DR

This work tackles latency and resource allocation challenges in 5G fronthaul over PON by enabling cross-domain scheduling between optical access and mobile networks. It introduces the Cooperative Transport Interface (CTI) that synchronises a PON virtual DBA (vDBA) with the 5G NR MAC scheduler, implemented with open-source components (srsRAN) and open hardware (Tibit OLT, NI USRP). Key contributions include the architectural design for CTI, integration of ZeroMQ for grant signaling, AF_XDP/DPDK-based low-latency processing, and FAPI bridging to translate MAC decisions to PON actions. Results from a live demonstration show reduced latency and robust throughput under varying PON loads, supporting scalable, small-cell densification with open networking.

Abstract

We demonstrate a real-time, converged 5G-PON through the Cooperative Transport Interface, synchronising 5G and PON-DBA upstream schedulers. This innovative approach, implemented using 5G and PON open network implementations, significantly enhances network resource allocation, reducing latency.

Figures (2)

• Figure 1: (a) non-optimised dataflow and (b) optimised dataflow
• Figure 2: Demonstration Physical Architecture