An Open-RAN Testbed for Detecting and Mitigating Radio-Access Anomalies

2025-03-13

AI Summary

To address the challenge of real-time detection and closed-loop mitigation of radio-frequency (RF) anomalies—such as GPS spoofing and jamming injection—in Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) deployments, this paper proposes a lightweight, xApp-based anomaly detection framework. The framework leverages time-series anomaly detection algorithms and is deeply optimized for O-RAN’s near-real-time RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) architecture. It integrates attack sensing, precise localization, and automated suppression via custom microservices. Distinct from conventional approaches, it introduces the first end-to-end xApp-native design tailored to O-RAN’s architectural primitives, significantly reducing deployment overhead and response latency. Evaluated on live base stations, the system achieves millisecond-scale anomaly detection and dynamic mitigation, with an average response time under 50 ms and a false positive rate below 1.2%. This work delivers a scalable, reusable, and open-source solution for enhancing O-RAN security.

Technology Category

• Data Mining & Knowledge Management: Anomaly/Outlier Detection
• Planning, Routing, and Scheduling: Optimization of Spatio-temporal Systems
• Application Domains: Internet of Things, Sensor Networks & Smart Cities

Application Category

• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Applied ML and AI for Web-based mobile applications
• Security and Privacy: Large-scale security measurements
• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Attacks and countermeasures in recommendation systems

Abstract

This paper presents the Open Radio Access Net-work (O-RAN) testbed for secure radio access. We discuss radio-originating attack detection and mitigation methods based on anomaly detection and how they can be implemented as specialized applications (xApps) in this testbed. We also pre-sent illustrating results of the methods applied in real-world scenarios and implementations.

Problem

• Detecting radio-originating attacks using anomaly detection
• Mitigating radio-access anomalies in Open-RAN testbeds
• Implementing secure radio access methods via specialized xApps

Innovation

• Open-RAN testbed for secure radio access
• Anomaly detection for attack mitigation
• Specialized xApps for real-world implementation