Enabling NS-3 Simulations Integrated with Latest Versions of Open RAN Near-RT RICs

This paper presents the development of NORI (New Open RAN Interface), a modular and scalable solution to integrate the NS-3 simulator with the Near-RT RIC of the Open RAN architecture. NORI supports recent NS-3 versions and enables metric collection via the standardized E2 interface, without requiring modifications to the simulator core. It is compatible with the 5G-LENA module and the full Near-RT RIC from the O-RAN Software Community. Experimental results demonstrate the viability of NORI for realistic 5G simulation scenarios, enabling performance evaluation and metric reporting in disaggregated RAN environments.