Frequency Scanning xApps: O-RAN RIC and GNU Radio with RTL-SDR use case

The O-RAN Alliance conceived an open architecture model that aims at driving new levels of openness in the radio access network (RAN). Allied to the trend of softwarized networks, the open-access network covers most of the telecommunications system when combined with the Software Defined Radio (SDR) paradigm. O-RAN defines the RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) as a platform based on microservices for implementing RAN monitoring and control techniques, called xApps. This work uses the O-RAN open-source platform to exemplify its accessibility and versatility to implement xApps with control strategies of a simplified RAN based on GNU Radio. A frequency scanning algorithm is proposed as a use case to demonstrate how SDR platforms allied to the O-RAN paradigm can be easily used in teaching and research initiatives.