Telco infrastructure for disaggregated, virtual, and open RAN architectures
Build a resilient RAN infrastructure with Canonical’s secure, cloud-native stack. Purpose-built for Open RAN, it features a native real-time kernel for ultra-low latency, maximum hardware efficiency, and fail-safe updates across your entire cell-site footprint.
Disaggregated, distributed and interoperable Open RAN infrastructure
Open radio access networks (Open RAN) represent an evolution towards open, intelligent, virtualized and fully interoperable RANs.
Canonical provides the foundational elements for a cost-efficient, interoperable Open RAN infrastructure built on security-maintained open source software.
From the OS-level to orchestration and networking, Canonical provides the software you need to build reliable Open RAN infrastructure with the best of open source.
This versatile substrate adapts to your specific architectural needs:
A trusted foundation
From Ubuntu at the OS level to orchestration and networking, Canonical provides 5 years of long-term security maintenance across all of our telco solutions, as well as automated CVE patching, and read-only immutable system protections.
Enterprise-grade support
Lengthen this to up to 15 years with Ubuntu Pro, Canonical’s comprehensive subscription for open source security and support.
Real-time operations
Ensure real-time responsiveness as needed by Open RAN distributed units (DU) and mission-critical edge applications alike with a real-time kernel that can be used on bare metal.
Multi-site operations
Performance
Make use of built-in support for enhanced platform awareness (EPA) features offered by all major hardware vendors, whether you are hosting virtualized workloads on OpenStack, running cloud-native network functions at the edge, or in the cloud with Kubernetes.
Scalability
Deploy your radio software on edge clouds that scale as needed, and flexibly adapt to dynamic traffic loads.
An open foundation for disaggregated, virtual, and open RANs
Comprehensive 24/7 support to ensure continuous network availability
Up to 15 years of security maintenance
Real-time kernel for deterministic, low-latency processing
Cost-effective deployments and operations
Silicon-optimized operating system
Support for enhanced platform features
Canonical’s telco infrastructure portfolio
Canonical’s open source infrastructure products address the needs of Open RAN and 5G edge clouds. Our infrastructure portfolio is modular and optimized for the latest hardware, enabling you to design your infrastructure stack according to your specific needs. Our goal is enabling your telecom workloads to run on an efficient and highly performant software infrastructure.
Ubuntu for Open RAN
To achieve carrier-grade Open RAN deployments, virtual RAN software requires an operating system that is robust, immutable, and proven in real-world telecommunications environments.
Ubuntu delivers the low latency, security features, and hardware-level optimizations necessary to support next-generation cellular connectivity.
Real-time compute
Real-time Ubuntu ensures latency in data processing is bounded and low, supporting even the most stringent use cases, such as ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC) applications.
An immutable embedded OS
Ubuntu Core, the embedded Linux operating system for devices, delivers an immutable foundation for remote cell sites. This design protects your virtual RAN software against unauthorized modifications and ensures only designated system administrators can alter the environment.
Device management
Canonical provides the right tools to manage your fleet of RAN systems at scale. With Canonical Landscape, you get a single pane of glass to manage your entire Ubuntu fleet, simplifying automated security patches, auditing, and access management at scale across your multiple RAN sites.
Native hardware support
Whether hosting virtualized RAN functions or edge-native applications, Ubuntu automatically detects underlying hardware features. Built-in support for GPUs, smartNICs, and specialized network accelerators maximizes data-path efficiency at the edge.
Cloud-native execution environments for Open RAN
Canonical Kubernetes delivers a production-grade, cloud-native execution environment suited for virtual RAN functions for Open RAN and MEC workloads. Built from fully upstream components running in a confined execution environment, it offers a reliable and trusted software platform, supporting:
- Multiple platform awareness features, such as SR-IOV, CPU pinning, DPDK, Hugepages, and GPU acceleration
- Various storage solutions, like Ceph, OpenEBS, and hostpath storage
- Popular CNIs, like Cilium, Calico, Flannel, and Multus
- Support for Cluster API for declarative cluster deployment and management operations
Open source data and AI/ML platforms for Open RAN
RAN Intelligent Controllers (RIC) introduce closed-loop AI/ML automation to Open RAN. To optimize performance, the RIC uses xApps for near-real-time control, and rApps for non-real-time policy decisions.
To run these intelligent applications, the RIC requires data pipelines and MLOps tools. With Canonical’s Data and AI products, you can build and run carrier-grade network intelligence for your Open RAN deployments
Resilient telemetry pipelines
Ingest, process, and analyze high-frequency network metrics for xApp, rApp, and RIC workflows. Canonical’s data solutions automate and support open source tools like Kafka, MongoDB, OpenSearch, Postgres, and Spark.
Streamline the machine learning lifecycle
From experimentation to edge inference, deploy and run AI/ML workflows with ease, thanks to our software automation and tooling. Discover how you can build the perfect environment for your Open RAN xApps and rApps at every stage of your AI/ML journey.
Optimized for all major hardware platforms
We work with all major hardware vendors to optimize our infrastructure products, ensuring that they are ready to run Open RAN CU, DU, and RU at the highest performance and reliability levels.
Security-maintained and compliant
Telecom networks form part of critical national infrastructure. Open RAN deployments must be both safeguarded and compliant with all telecom security standards.
With Ubuntu Pro, operators get a trusted, comprehensive security subscription service for open source software.
- Patching: with Livepatch, OpenRAN fleets of servers get live CVE patches and streamlined updates and upgrades without downtime.
- Stability: benefit from up to 15 years of vulnerability fixes for the OS, infrastructure layers, and open source packages.
- Compliance: benefit from hardening automations for major cybersecurity standards, including NIST.
Ubuntu Pro enables compliance with security standards, and supports security hardening features to reduce the minimum attack surface.