Can ZMQ-Based RU Connect to COTS UE (Xiaomi Note 13 Pro 5G)?

[ambattukum]

Hi all,

I am working on a project where I need to use ZMQ instead of my Liteon FlexFi O-RU as the gNB due to certain legal constraints. My goal is to perform a 7.2 deployment using a ZMQ-based RU and connect it to a COTS UE (Xiaomi Note 13 Pro 5G).

However, after reading through this discussion, I realized that the current ZMQ virtual RF driver in srsRAN sends/receives baseband IQ samples and does not handle Open Front Haul (OFH) frames as required in the 7.2 split architecture.

My Key Questions:

1. Is it possible to use ZMQ to connect to a COTS UE like Xiaomi Note 13 Pro 5G in any form?

   • If not, what would be the technical blockers for achieving this?

2. I also have access to a Gialer X02 SIM card programming kit and Gialer programmable LTE USIM cards.

   • Are these compatible with srsRAN and my 5G setup?
   • Can they work with my COTS UE?

I apologize if my questions are broad or generic, but I am trying my best to explore all possibilities to achieve this. Connecting to the COTS UE using ZMQ is my utmost priority at work right now.

Any insights or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!