ns-o-ran-flexric

Table of Contents

1. Overview
2. Project Introduction
3. ns-O-RAN-flexric Code Structure
4. Sample xApps
   • 4.1 Cell Switch On/Off Energy Saving xApp
   • 4.2 RF Channel Reconfiguration xApp
   • 4.3 Custom your xApps
5. New ns-3 Features
6. RIC-TaaP Studio — GUI
7. Digital Twin Setup
8. Installation Instructions
   • 8.1 FlexRIC Installation Instructions
   • 8.2 ns-O-RAN-flexric Installation Instructions
   • 8.3 GUI Deployment
   • 8.4 Usage/Deployment
9. Further Resources
10. Contributors
11. License

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1. Overview

ns-O-RAN-flexric is an integral component of the RIC Testing as a Platform (RIC-TaaP) project — an open-source framework designed for comprehensive testing of xApps and rApps in 5G networks.

The RIC-TaaP project aims to provide:

• Comprehensive 5G system-level environment for RIC testing: RIC-TaaP integrates a 5G system-level environment.
• Proven digital twin testing: The platform verifies and calibrates various use cases and test scenarios using real KPIs generated from operational 5G environments.
• User-friendly RIC-TaaP Studio for streamlined testing: RIC-TaaP includes a graphical user interface (GUI) with multiple dashboards and operational functionalities, facilitating an intuitive testing experience.
• AI-based innovation: Study the possible benefits of LLM-powered algorithms and Agentic-AI frameworks to enhance RAN optimization automation and reduce the rigid operational nature of the RAN.

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2. Project Introduction

RIC Testing as a Platform (RIC-TaaP) is an open-source initiative designed to streamline xApp/rApp functional and operational testing, foster innovation in xApp/rApp design, and provide proven digital-twin networks.

Recognizing the need for a robust, fully open-source testing ecosystem, Orange Innovation Egypt and Poland (OIE & OIP) have focused on enabling system-level use cases by integrating leading open-source components. This includes:

• FlexRIC from EURECOM
• The ns-O-RAN simulator, originally developed by the Institute for the Wireless Internet of Things (WIoT), University of Padova, and Mavenir
• The 5G-LENA module, developed by the OpenSim Research Unit at the Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya (CTTC)
• Sionna Ray Tracing (RT), developed by NVIDIA and translated to ns-3 here

RIC-TaaP extends and integrates these five leading open-source components to create a complete O-RAN testing environment. The platform achieves full compliance with the following standards for the Near-RT RIC control loop, supporting the E2 Application Protocol (E2AP) along with its Service Models (SMs):

Standard	Version	5G Simulation Environment
E2AP	v1.01	ns-3-mmwave / LENA-nr V3.3
E2SM-KPM	v3.00	ns-3-mmwave / LENA-nr V3.3
E2SM-RC	v1.03	ns-3-mmwave / LENA-nr V3.3
E2SM-CCC	v06.00	LENA-nr V3.3

This advanced platform facilitates the validation of complex use cases that require a sophisticated LTE/5G simulation environment. The team has also introduced a user-friendly dashboard, RIC-TaaP Studio, enabling intuitive test scenario design and a range of operational features — including a GUI for ns-3 that lets users run and observe simulations in an intuitive, user-friendly manner.

The E2 termination for ns-3 modules and the closed-loop control architecture of the Near-RT RIC are shown below:

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3. ns-O-RAN-flexric Code Structure

ns-O-RAN-flexric is composed of five main components, as shown in the figure below:

• e2sim, originally developed by the OSC community
• ns3-mmWave, originally developed by the University of Padova and NYU
• ns-O-RAN, developed by Northeastern University and Mavenir — an external module that plugs into ns-3 and uses e2sim to create an SCTP connection with the RIC
• The 5G-LENA NR module, covering SU-MIMO and enhanced PHY/MAC layer capabilities
• The ns-3 version of Sionna RT, which enables highly accurate propagation modeling via GPU-accelerated ray tracing — ideal for simulations in complex environments at any frequency, including urban and vehicular scenarios

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4. Sample xApps

Two xApps have been developed and validated on the RIC-TaaP platform. Each has dedicated documentation covering the concept, operation logic, demo video, and step-by-step instructions for running with or without the GUI.

4.1 Cell Switch On/Off Energy Saving xApp

O-RAN Use Case 21 — Carrier and Cell Switch On/Off (Sub-use Case 4.21.3.1)

The ES xApp monitors per-cell PRB utilization through KPM indication reports and triggers cell switch-on/off decisions via RC control messages in a closed-loop fashion.

Full documentation · Demo video

4.2 RF Channel Reconfiguration xApp

O-RAN Use Case 21 — RF Channel Re-configuration (Sub-use Case 4.21.3.2)

The RF Reconfiguration xApp uses the CCC service model to dynamically adjust the number of active antenna ports and transmission power at the gNB in response to observed network conditions.

Full documentation · Demo video

4.3 Custom your xApps

A dedicated reference document maps every reportable KPI (76 total) to its exact source in the 5G-LENA NR module, and provides a step-by-step guide for enabling custom KPI reporting: LENA Model Reporting Parameters.

What it provides:

• A layer-by-layer KPI catalogue (PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP, RRC, E2/O-RAN) with implementation status for each parameter
• The exact file, class, function, and TraceSource for each metric
• A step-by-step guide using orange-rf-kpi-reporting.cc to enable any KPI for custom xApp reporting

Summary:

Layer	IMPLEMENTABLE	DERIVABLE	Total
PHY	24	2	26
MAC	6	2	8
RLC	9	2	11
PDCP	7	2	9
RRC	14	0	14
E2 / O-RAN	6	2	8
Total	66	10	76

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5. New ns-3 Features

1. --E2andLogging=(bool) — traces KPIs to file and to the E2 termination simultaneously; every "indication period," KPIs are sent to the E2 termination (RIC) and saved to files (CU-CP, CU-UP, DU).

2. New scenario scenario-zero-with_parallel_loging.cc — an example using --E2andLogging=(bool).

3. New scenario orange-rf-kpi-reporting — helps developers understand what information is available from each layer and how it can be used for monitoring, analytics, and O-RAN xApp development.

4. Cell deep-sleep implementation.

5. Dynamic port power reallocation.

6. New run flags:

   --KPM_E2functionID=(double)
   --RC_E2functionID=(double)
   --N_MmWaveEnbNodes=(uint8_t)
   --N_Ues=(uint32_t)
   --CenterFrequency=(double)
   --Bandwidth=(double)
   --IntersideDistanceUEs=(double)
   --IntersideDistanceCells=(double)
   

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6. RIC-TaaP Studio — GUI

RIC-TaaP Studio is a web-based interface that makes the platform accessible without requiring deep command-line knowledge. It provides end-to-end control over the simulation and xApp lifecycle.

Features

Feature	Description
Simulation Control	Start / stop simulations with configurable scenario parameters directly from the browser
Cell & UE Visualization	Live grid showing cell positions and UE locations
Real-time KPI Dashboard	KPIs refresh every 1 second, or on each E2 indication when FlexRIC is connected
Energy Saving Dashboard	QoS KPIs, cell energy state, and power consumption before/after ES xApp execution
RF Reconfiguration Dashboard	UE DL throughput, average power, indication and control message content
A1 Policy Management	Set and retrieve A1 policies from the browser
Grafana Integration	Historical KPI analysis via a pre-deployed Grafana dashboard

Access URLs

Once deployed (see §8.3 GUI Deployment):

Interface	URL	Credentials
RIC-TaaP Studio	http://127.0.0.1:8000	—
Grafana	http://127.0.0.1:3000	admin / admin

Note: RIC-TaaP Studio can take up to 5 minutes to fully deploy on first run.

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7. Digital Twin Setup

This setup leverages a hybrid of open-source tools and Orange's internal platforms, such as C-SON, to recreate operational environments with high accuracy. The simulation environment supports automated testing of RAN algorithms, enables performance comparison through Cumulative Distribution Functions (CDFs), and drives innovation through safe, rapid experimentation.

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8. Installation Instructions

System Requirements

• Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (recommended)
• Minimum 8GB RAM
• 20GB free disk space

Required Packages

# Update package list
sudo apt-get update

# e2sim requirements
sudo apt-get install -y \
  build-essential \
  git \
  cmake \
  libsctp-dev \
  autoconf \
  automake \
  libtool \
  bison \
  flex \
  libboost-all-dev

# ns-3 requirements
sudo apt-get install -y \
  g++13 \
  python3.8 \
  libc6-dev

# nlohmann JSON (required for the CCC service model)
sudo apt-get install -y nlohmann-json3-dev

# Optional: SQLite (for LENA comparison examples)
sudo apt-get install -y sqlite sqlite3 libsqlite3-dev

# Optional: Eigen3 (for MIMO features)
sudo apt-get install -y libeigen3-dev

# Optional: Docker Compose (for GUI features)
# Follow instructions at: https://docs.docker.com/compose/install/

Note for Ubuntu 24.04+ users: installing Python 3.8 directly can break the system Python. Use a virtual environment instead:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:deadsnakes/ppa
sudo apt update
sudo apt install python3.8 python3.8-venv python3.8-dev

python3.8 -m venv myenv
source myenv/bin/activate

Environment preparation for running test examples happens once the near-RT RIC is initialized, as shown in the sequence diagram below:

8.1 FlexRIC Installation Instructions

Follow the FlexRIC installation instructions. Once you reach section 2.2, note that FlexRIC is configured by default to build the near-RT RIC with E2AP v2.03 and KPM v2.03. The ns-O-RAN simulator instead uses E2AP v1.01, KPM v3.00, and CCC v6.00.

After completing the prerequisites above, run:

git clone https://gitlab.eurecom.fr/mosaic5g/flexric.git && 
cd flexric

Now checkout a stable commit on the oie-ric-taap-xapps branch:

git checkout f56d4487507c7ace392f1ec3f598e7eeda670acc

mkdir build && cd build && cmake .. -DE2AP_VERSION=E2AP_V1 -DKPM_VERSION=KPM_V3_00 && make -j8

Finally, install the Service Models (SM) on your machine:

sudo make install

8.2 ns-O-RAN-flexric Installation Instructions

Clone the project:

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/Orange-OpenSource/ns-O-RAN-flexric

Note: If you cloned before and there are new updates, pull recursively:

git pull --recurse-submodules https://github.com/Orange-OpenSource/ns-O-RAN-flexric

When checking out any branch, make sure the associated submodule branch is checked out too:

git checkout <branch_name> && git submodule update --init --recursive

Or, to make this automatic going forward:

git config --global submodule.recurse true
git checkout <branch_name>

To set up the environment for the O-RAN E2 simulator:

cd e2sim-kpmv3/e2sim/
mkdir build
sudo ./build_e2sim.sh 2

The final argument to build_e2sim.sh sets the log level, useful for debugging message exchange between ns-3 and the RIC:

Log Level	Value	Description
LOG_LEVEL_UNCOND	0	Show only unconditional logs
LOG_LEVEL_ERROR	1	Previous logs, plus failures on the e2sim side (e.g. encoding errors)
LOG_LEVEL_INFO	2 (default)	Previous logs, plus message size info
LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG	3	All possible logs, including xer-printing of ASN.1 messages

Navigate to the ns3-mmWave project and build ns-3:

cd ../../mmwave-LENA-oran
./ns3 configure
./ns3 build

8.3 GUI Deployment

cd GUI
nano docker-compose.yml
# Set NS3_HOST to the IP address of the machine running ns-3, e.g.:
#   - NS3_HOST=192.168.100.21
# This is needed so the GUI can control ns-3.

docker-compose up --build -d   # deploys the GUI and an InfluxDB database with the latest images
pip3 install influxdb

8.4 Usage/Deployment

8.4.1 Run RIC-TaaP Studio

1. Run python3 gui_trigger.py in the mmwave-LENA-oran folder — this pushes ns-3 KPIs to the database.
2. In your browser, go to 127.0.0.1:8000 or <NS3_HOST>:8000 (e.g. 127.0.0.1:8000). First-run deployment can take up to 5 minutes depending on hardware.
3. Start FlexRIC in the background, then click Connect to FlexRIC on the webpage.
4. Click Show form, choose your run flag values, and click Start — cells and UEs should appear on the grid shortly.
   • Select a scenario from the list and click its scenario flags to run that configuration. If scenario flags are disabled, the system uses your custom configuration.
   • Runtime logs from ns-3 are saved to mmwave-LENA-oran/ns3_run.log.
5. Click Source Data to see current KPIs.
   • If the FlexRIC connection is enabled, GUI KPIs refresh only while an xApp is running and indication messages are being exchanged.
   • If FlexRIC is disabled in the GUI, KPIs refresh every 1 second.
6. To run scenario-zero-with_parallel_loging from the GUI: first set the RIC-TaaP parameters as shown here, then navigate to /path/to/flexric/build/examples/xApp/c/orange/ and run ./xapp_kpm_rc_Enhanced, waiting a few seconds.
7. To stop the simulation, click Stop in the Show Form window.
8. To close the GUI when it's no longer needed, run docker-compose down in the ns-3-mmwave-oran/GUI folder.

9. [Optional] To view KPIs from past simulations via Grafana, see §8.4.4 below.

8.4.2 mmWave Scenarios

Scenario Zero features a Non-Standalone (NSA) 5G setup consisting of one LTE eNB and four gNBs. One gNB is co-located with the LTE eNB at the center; the remaining three are positioned at an inter-site distance of 1000 meters from the center.

To run the scenario:

1. Enable KPI logging in the xApp. Navigate to example/xApp/c/kpm_rc/ and open the xApp source file. Locate the functions log_int_value and log_real_value, and update their else blocks as follows:

   // In the else block of log_int_value:
   printf("Name = %s, value = %d\n", name.buf, meas_record.int_val);
   
   // In the else block of log_real_value:
   printf("Name = %s, value = %d\n", name.buf, meas_record.real_val);

2. Build FlexRIC:

   cd /path/to/flexric/build/
   make

3. Start the RIC:

   cd /path/to/flexric/build/examples/ric/
   ./nearRT-RIC

4. Run the scenario — either from RIC-TaaP Studio by selecting scenario-zero-with_parallel_logging.c, or from the terminal:

   cd /path/to/mmwave-LENA-oran
   ./ns3 run "scratch/scenario-zero-with_parallel_loging.cc --e2TermIp=127.0.0.1 --hoSinrDifference=3 --indicationPeriodicity=0.1 --simTime=1000 --KPM_E2functionID=2 --RC_E2functionID=3 --N_MmWaveEnbNodes=4 --N_Ues=3 --CenterFrequency=3.5e9 --Bandwidth=20e6 --IntersideDistanceUEs=500 --IntersideDistanceCells=600"

5. Run the xApp:

   cd /path/to/flexric/build/examples/xApp/c/kpm_rc
   ./xapp_kpm_rc

If everything works, you should see the expected message sequence — see this Wireshark capture walkthrough for reference.

8.4.3 5G-LENA Module Scenarios

To report any parameter from any protocol layer in the LENA module to a custom xApp:

1. Navigate to ../mmwave-LENA-oran/scratch and open orange-rf-kpi-reporting.cc in your editor. This scenario was created to let users enable reporting flags for any layer they want to report from.

2. In the NrKpiReportingConfig object kpiCfg, choose the specific KPIs you want to enable. For example:

   kpiCfg.enablePhyReporting = true;
   kpiCfg.selectedPhyKpis = {
       "PHY.DlDataSinr", "PHY.DlCtrlSinr", "PHY.Rsrp", "PHY.Rsrq",
       // "PHY.Cqi", "PHY.Mcs", "PHY.Ri",
       // "PHY.RxPacketTbSize", "PHY.Tbler", "PHY.CorruptTb",
       // "PHY.PrbUtilizationDl", "PHY.ActivityFactor",
       // "PHY.TxPowerWatts", "PHY.AntennaPortsOn",
       // "PHY.EnergyConsumptionJ", "PHY.InstantaneousPowerW",
       // "PHY.SlotDataUsedSym", "PHY.SlotAvailRb", "PHY.SlotCtrlUsedSym",
   };

3. Save your edits.

4. Start the RIC:

   cd /path/to/flexric/build/examples/ric/
   ./nearRT-RIC

5. Run the scenario:

   cd /path/to/mmwave-LENA-oran
   ./ns3 run scratch/orange-rf-kpi-reporting

6. Run the xApp:

   cd /path/to/flexric/build/examples/xApp/c/orange/
   ./xapp_kpm_rc_Enhanced

8.4.4 Observe KPIs with Grafana

1. Grafana is deployed together with the GUI via Docker Compose.
2. Access it at 127.0.0.1:3000 or <NS3_HOST>:3000 in your browser.
3. Default credentials: admin / admin.
4. Select Dashboards in the left sidebar, then click Manage.
5. Choose per_Cell_stats or per_UE_stats.
6. Set the correct observation time period in the top-right corner.
7. Optionally enable auto-refresh, also in the top-right corner.
8. A full list of available KPIs and their queries is in /docs/Grafana KPIs.

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9. Further Resources

Participation in the 10th OpenAirInterface Anniversary Workshop

• RIC Testing as a Platform Demo Architecture — full architecture
• FlexRIC Community Announcement — GitLab link
• OAI Demo Brochure
• OAI Demo Video — OpenAirInterface 10th Anniversary Workshop
• KPM-RC xApp Demo — YouTube

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10. Contributors

Name	Organization	Contact
Mina Yonan	Orange Innovation Egypt	mina.awadallah@orange.com
Mostafa Ashraf	Orange Innovation Egypt	mostafa.ashraf.ext@orange.com
Kamil Kociszewski	Orange Innovation Poland	kamil.kociszewski@orange.com
Adrian Oziębło	Orange Innovation Poland	adrian.ozieblo@orange.com
Abdelrhman Soliman	Orange Innovation Egypt	abdelrhman.soliman.ext@orange.com
Aya Kamal	Orange Innovation Egypt	aya.kamal.ext@orange.com
Bartosz Rak	Orange Innovation Poland	bartosz.rak@orange.com
Andrzej Denisiewicz	Orange Innovation Poland	andrzej.denisiewicz@orange.com

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11. License

GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE