WASHINGTON – The National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS), in Boulder, CO, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Defense OUSD(R&E) FutureG Office, have selected presenters for their radio access network (RAN) Intelligent Controller (RIC) Forum happening March 26-28, 2024, in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. (A radio access network (RAN) is the component of a wireless telecommunications system that connects individual devices to other parts of a network through a radio link.)
The RIC Forum provides a venue for application (App) vendors and universities to demonstrate viable RIC Apps and their use cases. This sharing of technical knowledge aims to inform the current state of the Open RAN RIC App market. RIC Apps manage network functions in near-real time (xApps) and non-real time (rApps). Presenters will showcase RIC App demonstrations (not simulations) that measure and display the effects of their xApps and rApps on a 5G Open RAN network.
NTIA/ITS and DoD selected 10 main presenters to demonstrate Apps on day one and day two of the RIC Forum, addressing these wireless network use case categories: energy saving, traffic steering, and wild card (e.g., spectrum management, cybersecurity, network slicing, and quality of experience)
- AT&T Corp.
- Accelleran
- Capgemini Engineering
- Singapore University of Technology and Design
- Juniper Networks with Vodaphone, Keysight, AirHop Communications and Rimedo as project partners
- Mavenir Systems Inc.
- Microsoft
- Northeastern University
- Radisys Corporation
- Telecom Infra Project (TIP)
Due to the high level of interest in this event, NTIA/ITS and DoD expanded the RIC Forum by selecting an additional eight applicants to participate in “lightning talks” during the event.
- Cohere Technologies
- Compal Electronics, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University and Taiwan Mobile
- Northeastern University and George Mason University
- Novowi
- Open Networking Foundation (ONF)
- Rakuten Mobile USA LLC.
- Rimedo Labs
- University of California San Diego (UCSD) and Texas A&M University
The third day of the RIC Forum will focus on the Open RAN value proposition.
- Business case for RIC and Open RAN
- Government roll in accelerating Open RAN
- RIC use cases now and in the future
- Open RAN market and deployment use cases
- Operators who have deployed Open RAN
- Enterprise 5G private network deployment
- Open RAN vendors’ vision for full deployment
About the Forum
Attendance will be by invitation only to include, in addition to presenters, thought leaders from NTIA, DoD, industry, and academia. The Forum will comprise:
- On-site presentations with live-streamed demonstrations from the site where the RIC App is deployed wherein each presenter will describe their App and demonstrate dynamic network changes triggered by the RIC App. Virtual registration will be made available in early 2024.
- Interaction between presenters and attendees where the 10 main presenters will showcase their RIC xApp or RIC rApp in a separate room using any mixture of 5G equipment, live video streams from remote installations, and pre-recorded videos.
- Panelists and keynote speakers to be announced.
ITS, the Nation’s Spectrum and Communications Lab, supports the Department of Defense OUSD (R&E) FutureG Office through a combination of its subject matter experts in 5G and its research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) laboratory infrastructure in Boulder, Colorado, including the Federal Advanced Communications Test Site at the Table Mountain Radio Quiet Zone.
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About the National Telecommunications and Information Administration
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, is the Executive Branch agency that advises the President on telecommunications and information policy issues. NTIA’s programs and policymaking focus largely on expanding broadband Internet access and adoption in America, expanding the use of spectrum by all users, advancing public safety communications, and ensuring that the Internet remains an engine for innovation and economic growth.
Last Updated: December 4, 2023