5G OpenRAN controller

1 . A 5G OpenRAN controller, comprising:

a 5 th generation core (5GC) and evolved packet core (EPC) virtualization stack interface for virtualizing core resources having distinct technology characteristics;

a radio virtualization stack interface for virtualizing radio resources having distinct technology characteristics; and

a slice pairing function executing on the 5G OpenRAN controller,

wherein the 5G OpenRAN controller provides a pool of virtualized radio access network (RAN) resources that can be allocated dynamically, the pool of virtualized RAN resources simultaneously including virtualized RAN resources supporting a 5G standalone network architecture and virtualized RAN resources supporting a 5G non-standalone network architecture; and

wherein the 5G OpenRAN controller provides a pool of virtualized core resources for supporting at least two radio access technologies, and

wherein the slice pairing function connects a virtualized RAN resource and a virtualized core resource to create a network slice, thereby providing any-G network slicing.

2 . The 5G OpenRAN controller of claim 1 wherein the 5G OpenRAN controller virtualizes a plurality of base stations to look like at least one virtualized supercell to a core network.

3 . The 5G OpenRAN controller of claim 1 wherein the 5G OpenRAN controller aggregates S1 and X2 interfaces from nodes under its management.

4 . The 5G OpenRAN controller of claim 3 wherein aggregating of S1 and X2 interfaces allows anchoring of traffic across different access technologies for seamless handoffs between at least two of 5G, 4G, 3G, 2G, and Wi-Fi access technologies.

5 . The 5G OpenRAN controller of claim 1 further comprising software configured to: use 3GPP standard interfaces to communicate to nearby 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G macros or Wi-Fi access points; use standard X2 interfaces to communicate with nearby 4G macros as a virtual radio network controller (RNC); use Iu-CS and Iu-PS interfaces to communicate with one or both of a mobile switching center (MSC) and a 3G packet core; and use a SWu interface to talk to Wi-Fi UEs.

6 . The 5G OpenRAN controller of claim 5 wherein the software uses collective information to mitigate interference; to make real-time decisions based on its direct position in the signaling and data path and interworking of various multi-technology virtualized gateway functions; and handles mobility and session continuity across UMTS, Wi-Fi, LTE or 5G with local anchoring on the OpenRAN controller.

7 . The 5G OpenRAN controller of claim 1 further comprising software configured to aggregate multi-RAT traffic, enable signaling reduction towards the core, and mitigating signaling storms.

8 . The 5G OpenRAN controller of claim 1 further comprising software that allows operators to deploy multiple packet cores, support multi-operator core networks (MOCN), optimize IoT traffic, and enable evolved multimedia broadcast multicast service (eMBMS).

9 . A method of operating a 5G OpenRAN controller, comprising:

providing an interface for a 5 th generation core (5GC) and an evolved packet core (EPC) virtualization stack interface for virtualizing core resources having distinct technology characteristics;

providing an interface for a radio virtualization stack for virtualizing radio resources having distinct technology characteristics; and

providing a slice pairing function on the 5G OpenRAN controller,

wherein the 5G OpenRAN controller provides a pool of virtualized radio access network (RAN) resources that can be allocated dynamically, the pool of virtualized RAN resources simultaneously including virtualized RAN resources supporting a 5G standalone network architecture and virtualized RAN resources supporting a 5G non-standalone network architecture; and

wherein the 5G OpenRAN controller provides a pool of virtualized core resources for supporting at least two radio access technologies, and

wherein the slice pairing function connects a virtualized RAN resource and a virtualized core resource to create a network slice, thereby providing any-G network slicing.

10 . The method of claim 9 further comprising virtualizing a plurality of base stations to look like at least one virtualized supercell to a core network.

11 . The method of claim 9 further comprising aggregating S1 and X2 interfaces from nodes under management.

12 . The method of claim 11 wherein aggregating of S1 and X2 interfaces allows anchoring of traffic across different access technologies for seamless handoffs between at least two of 5G, 4G, 3G, 2G, and Wi-Fi access technologies.

13 . The method of claim 9 further comprising using all 3GPP standard interfaces to communicate to nearby 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G macros or Wi-Fi access points; using standard X2 interfaces to communicate with nearby 4G macros as a virtual radio network controller (RNC), using Iu-CS and Iu-PS interfaces to communicate with mobile switching center (MSC) and 3G packet core; and using SWu interface to talk to Wi-Fi UEs.

14 . The method of claim 13 further comprising using collective information for mitigating interference; making real-time decisions based on its direct position in the signaling and data path and interworking of various multi-technology virtualized gateway functions; and handling mobility and session continuity across UMTS, Wi-Fi, LTE or 5G with local anchoring on the OpenRAN controller.

15 . The method of claim 9 further comprising aggregating multi-RAT traffic, enabling signaling reduction towards the core, and mitigating signaling storms.

16 . The method of claim 9 further comprising deploying multiple packet cores, supporting multi-operator core networks (MOCN), optimizing IoT traffic, and enabling evolved multimedia broadcast multicast service (eMBMS).

17 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions for operating a 5G OpenRAN controller which, when executed, cause the OpenRAN controller to perform steps comprising:

providing an interface for a 5 th generation core (5GC) and an evolved packet core (EPC) virtualization stack interface for virtualizing core resources having distinct technology characteristics;

providing an interface for a radio virtualization stack interface for virtualizing radio resources having distinct technology characteristics; and

providing a slice pairing function on the 5G OpenRAN controller,

wherein the 5G OpenRAN controller provides a pool of virtualized radio access network (RAN) resources that can be allocated dynamically, the pool of virtualized RAN resources simultaneously including virtualized RAN resources supporting a 5G standalone network architecture and virtualized RAN resources supporting a 5G non-standalone network architecture; and

wherein the 5G OpenRAN controller provides a pool of virtualized core resources for supporting at least two radio access technologies, and

wherein the slice pairing function connects a virtualized RAN resource and a virtualized core resource to create a network slice, thereby providing any-G network slicing.

18 . The 5G OpenRAN controller of claim 1 , wherein the slice pairing function connects a virtualized radio resource that supports 2G or 3G with a virtualized core network that supports 2G or 3G.

19 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising connecting a virtualized radio resource that supports 2G or 3G with a virtualized core network that supports 2G or 3G.

20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the slice selection function connects a virtualized radio resource that supports 2G or 3G with a virtualized core network that supports 2G or 3G.