radio access network RAN

What Is a Radio Access Network (RAN) and How Does It Work?

The word radio is clearly associated with a device that is becoming increasingly obsolete and is used for listening to music and a variety of broadcasts. Despite this, the radio access network (also referred to as RAN) has little to do with the commonly known radio. They are used in mobile networks. Few people know exactly what RAN is and how it works. However, this knowledge can be useful.

  1. What is a radio access network?
  2. How do they work?

What is RAN and how does it work? Let’s try to find out more about it.

What is a radio access network?

A RAN allows connecting through wireless communication user equipment, such as a mobile phone, computer or any remotely controlled machine to a core network. RAN is part of a mobile telecommunication system. The correct operation of the entire radio access network is ensured thanks to silicon chips, which are placed in the devices located at the beginning and end of the communication process. RAN in telecom is an extremely important system whose widespread use makes many people choose to deepen their knowledge of them. Ran in telecom is worth to know.

There are a lot of radio access network types, such as:

  • C-RAN – cloud RAN
  • O-RAN – open RAN
  • UTRAN – universal mobile telecommunications system RAN or universal mobile telephone system,
  • E-UTRAN – evolved universal terrestrial RAN,
  • GRAN – GSM radio access network,
  • GERAN – containing EDGE packet radio services.

RAN has been in use for many years and there has been tremendous development since it was first introduced. Although RAN was first used in 1979 on a 1G network, it is still in use today after the introduction of the modern 5G network. Most of the 5G networks take advantage of the capabilities provided by the radio access network.

How do they work?

It works as follows: using radio waves from the mobile device, information is sent. They go first to the RAN transceivers and then to the core network, which has an Internet connection. The RAN uses antennas, radios and BBUs, or so-called baseband units (which allow wireless communication), to function properly. However, this is only theory, how does it actually work? It is very simple. For example, when you send a text message, the antennas convert it into radio waves. The radios then convert the waves into signals that go to the BBUs.

RAN is a system that is widely used. For this reason, it is useful to know how it works and what it can be used for. The radio access network is essential for many communication processes.

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