Telecom networks traditionally run on proprietary hardware and software stacks that lock operators into rigid vendor roadmaps. If you want to change a single component, you often have to overhaul the entire system. Fortunately, the industry is moving toward open, disaggregated, and AI-native architectures. Our latest Technical Reference guide shows exactly how we made this shift possible in the lab.
The Quest for Low Latency and High Performance
Open source telco solutions must meet extreme performance demands and deterministic sub-millisecond latency. To achieve this, SUSE teamed up with Software Radio Systems (SRS) to integrate the OCUDU RAN stack on SUSE Telco Cloud. This architecture aligns with the Sylva project guidelines and leverages standard, off-the-shelf hardware. Specifically, we validated the design using Intel Xeon 6 SoC processors and Supermicro edge servers. Consequently, this software-defined platform reduces deployment complexity and slashes hardware costs.
Simulating the Radio in Software
In typical deployments, physical radio units (RUs) require complex external clock synchronization. However, our reference architecture simplifies early-stage validation. It co-locates the OCUDU Distributed Unit (DU) and a software-defined RU emulator on a single physical host. This smart design allows both components to share the host’s physical clock directly. As a result, engineers can validate hardware readiness and run performance benchmarks without buying expensive physical radios.
Fine Tuning the Infrastructure for Real Time Traffic
Getting standard servers to process high-speed radio traffic without dropping packets is a major hurdle. Because of this, our guide outlines the precise system-level configurations required.
- First, we isolate specific CPU cores exclusively for the RAN workload using the SUSE Linux Micro real-time kernel.
- Second, we configure 40 GB of hugepages to support fast DPDK memory access.
- Finally, we use a custom systemd service to override randomized virtual network card MAC addresses.
This last step is critical. Mismatches at the Ethernet Layer 2 level will drop packets and stall your deployment.
Real Performance Validation
Our testing proves that standard servers can handle intense radio processing. When properly configured, this software-only setup achieves near-native network speeds. We measured downlink throughput of approximately 1.4 Gbps and uplink speeds of 100 Mbps using a 100 MHz TDD configuration. These metrics show that you do not need proprietary black boxes to run high-performance 5G networks.
Ultimately, disaggregating the telco stack is no longer an experimental dream. We proved that open software on general-purpose servers can successfully handle heavy-duty 5G workloads.
You can find the complete implementation details, code configurations, and testing scripts for AI-native disaggregated RAN in detail at the SUSE Documentation Portal. A huge thank you goes to Nils Fürste (DevOps Engineer) and Andre Puschmann (VP of Engineering) at Software Radio Systems, alongside our SUSE colleagues Alberto Morgante (Principal Telco Engineer), Antonio Alonso Alarcon (Senior Telco Engineer), Tim Irnich (Senior Distinguished Telco Product Manager), and Terry Smith (Partner Solutions Director) for their outstanding collaboration on this project. How are you planning to incorporate open standards and disaggregated architectures into your next-generation edge deployments?
BTW: Our broader collection of Technical Reference Documentation provides you with peer-reviewed, reproducible blueprints designed to validate and optimize modern, open-source infrastructure across diverse enterprise workloads. Just have a look and have fun!