Realizing Flexible and Practical Multi-BS Cooperation with a Fully-Decoupled RAN Architecture

The current RAN lacks flexibility due to tightly coupled UL/DL, making it difficult to handle increasingly asymmetric UL/DL traffic and realize multi-BS cooperation. To overcome these limitations, we proposed a Fully-Decoupled RAN (FD-RAN) architecture that splits the gNB functionalities into specialized Control-BS, Uplink-BS, and Downlink-BS entities, decoupling control/data planes and UL/DL paths. This demo showcases the first FD-RAN hardware prototype, implemented by SDR-based BSs and UEs, and an x86 server-based core network. Our live demonstration presents UE initial access and dynamic resource allocation over control plane, location-based feedback-free cooperative downlink transmission, and uplink joint reception, validating FD-RAN's feasibility for flexible and practical muti-BS cooperation.