SpotLight -- An Open RAN Anomaly Detection and Identification System
Year: 2024
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: The Open RAN architecture, featuring disaggregated and virtualized RAN functions communicating over standardized interfaces, promises a diverse, multi-vendor ecosystem. However, these features also increase operational complexity, complicating the troubleshooting of RAN performance issues and failures. Addressing this challenge requires a reliable, explainable anomaly detection method, which Open RAN currently lacks. To address this problem, we have developed SpotLight, a tailored distributed deep learning method running across the edge and cloud. SpotLight continuously detects and localizes anomalies by analyzing a diverse, fine-grained stream of metrics from the RAN and platform. It employs a novel multi-stage generative model to identify potential anomalies at the edge using a lightweight algorithm, followed by anomaly confirmation and an explainability phase in the cloud, which pinpoints the minimal set of KPIs responsible for the anomaly. In this demo, using a carrier-grade indoor Open RAN testbed with configurable anomaly event generation and replay, we highlight (1) the difficulty of troubleshooting problems in Open RAN and (2) accurate, efficient, and explainable online anomaly detection with SpotLight and corresponding visualization in comparison with prior art.
Institutions: University of Edinburgh, Microsoft Research (United Kingdom)
Language: English
Subfield: Computer Networks and Communications
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4405014073