The AT&T-inspired XRAN open framework has gained support from antenna maker CommScope, which is tapping into the trend for open source hardware in the evolving 5G landscape. The firm has announced a 5G radio/antenna solution based on the XRAN interface specifications, which allow RAN hardware from multiple vendors to be mixed and matched, which will be particularly important in Cloud-RAN, enabling basebands to be connected to radio/antennas from other suppliers. The CommScope radio/antenna takes instructions from a virtualized baseband via the open interface and integrates a beamforming active antenna array operating in the 28 GHz millimeter wave band. Initially, it is targeted at fixed wireless access (FWA) – the US operators are trialling fixed 5G networks in this band –…