In recent years, the radio access network (RAN) domain has witnessed a sea change with increasing levels of virtualization and softwarization driven by emerging paradigms such as the Open RAN (O-RAN) movement. However, the fundamental building block of the cellular network, i.e., the base station, remains unchanged and ill-equipped to handle this architectural evolution. In particular, with reference to existing base station architectures, there exists a general lack of programmability and composability along with a protocol stack that grapples with diverging and often conflicting requirements set forth by 3GPP and O-RAN. Recognizing the need for an "O-RAN-native" approach to base station design, this paper introduces HexRAN- a novel base station architecture characterized by key features relating to RAN disaggregation and composability, 3GPP and O-RAN protocol integration and programmability, robust controller interactions, and customizable RAN slicing. Furthermore, the paper also includes a concrete systems-level prototype and comprehensive experimental evaluation of HexRAN on an over-the-air testbed, showcasing the scalability and performance benefits associated with the proposed architecture.

翻译：近年来，在开放无线接入网（O-RAN）等新兴范式的推动下，无线接入网领域经历了深刻的虚拟化与软件化变革。然而，作为蜂窝网络基本构建单元的基站系统却保持不变，难以适应这一架构演进。具体而言，现有基站架构普遍缺乏可编程性与可组合性，其协议栈同时面临3GPP与O-RAN标准提出的差异化且时常冲突的需求。基于对"原生O-RAN"基站设计理念的必要性认知，本文提出HexRAN——一种新型基站架构，其核心特征包括：无线接入网解耦与可组合性、3GPP与O-RAN协议集成及可编程性、鲁棒的控制器交互机制以及可定制的网络切片功能。此外，本文还构建了完整的系统级原型，通过在空口测试平台上进行综合实验评估，验证了所提架构在扩展性与性能方面的显著优势。