Application for Intelligent QoS Management for O-RAN Networks (IQoS-xApp)

Add a paragraph about the application here...

Requirements

• python3-dev;
• libsctp-dev;
• librdkafka-dev;
• ninja-build;
• swig v4.1 or newer;

Getting Started

Flexric

To use the xApp, it is necessary to utilize the near RT RIC. In this work's context, we use Flexric. Therefore, before compiling and running the xApp, we first need to deploy Flexric.

Requirements

• Cmake (at least v3.22);
• SWIG ((at least v4.1);
• GCC (gcc-10, gcc-12, or gcc-13) - no support for gcc-11;

Installing SWIG

git clone https://github.com/swig/swig.git
cd swig
git checkout release-4.1
./autogen.sh
./configure --prefix=/usr/
make -j8
make install

Installing Dependencies

The required dependencies can be installed using the following command:

sudo apt install libsctp-dev python3.8 cmake-curses-gui libpcre2-dev python3-dev

Clone the FlexRIC Project, Build, and Install It

After installing all prerequisites, clone the Flexric repository using the following command:

git clone https://gitlab.eurecom.fr/mosaic5g/flexric.git 
# Recommended to use the dev branch
git checkout <here put the release tag>

Then, build the near RT RIC using the following commands:

mkdir -p build && cd build
cmake -GNinja -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DE2AP_VERSION=E2AP_V3 -DKPM_VERSION=KPM_V3_00 ..
ninja install 

NOTE: We use version 3 of KPM and E2AP, which are compatible with our xApp.

Flexric Deployment

cd ~/flexric/build/examples/ric/
./nearRT-RIC

In addition to Flexric, we will need the E2 Node agents. The gNB can be deployed as a monolithic instance or using the CU/DU split:

• gNB-mono

cd ~/flexric/build/examples/emulator/agent
./emu_agent_gnb

• gNB-split

cd ~/flexric/build/examples/emulator/agent
./emu_agent_gnb_cu
./emu_agent_gnb_du

Once the deployment is successful, the xApp can be used.

NOTE: This tutorial is based on the official Flexric documentation.

Using Docker image

docker container run -itd --name iqos-xapp -e NEAR_RIC_IP="<NEAR_RIC_IP>" muriloavlis/iqos-xapp:latest

Building the xApp

Clone the xApp repository with the following command.

git clone --recurse-submodules -j8 git@github.com:gercom-ufpa/iqos-xapp.git

Build the xApp.

mkdir -p build && cd build
cmake -GNinja -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DE2AP_VERSION=E2AP_V3 -DKPM_VERSION=KPM_V3_00 ..
ninja xapp_iqos

Running the xApp

After building, the xApp can be run with the following command.

./xapp_iqos -c ../configs/xApp.conf 

NOTE: In the xApp.conf file we can set the Flexric IP.