Project Janus: Now Open Source

We are excited to announce that Project Janus is now available as open-source software on GitHub. This release includes the jbpf library, which implements dynamic service models that can be used to make current O-RAN service models much more flexible. We are also releasing jrt-controller, a reference implementation of a real-time controller that supports the use cases currently under study in the O-RAN RT-RIC study item.

Previously, at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2024, we announced Project Janus along with leaders across the telecommunications industry. Project Janus uses telco-grade cloud infrastructure compatible with O-RAN standards to draw on fine-grained telemetry from the radio access network (RAN), the edge cloud infrastructure, and other sources of data. This enables a communication service provider (CSP) to gain detailed monitoring and fast closed loop control of their RAN network.

Project Janus helps CSPs optimize RAN performance through visibility, analytics, AI, and closed loop control. To meet this objective, Microsoft and industry collaborators built a set of capabilities including RAN instrumentation tools that can improve the existing E2 O-RAN interface and update its service models to communicate with components of a CSP’s RAN and SMO architecture.

Project Janus’ dynamic service models can add new functionality to operational RAN deployment without disruption. They allow developers to obtain RAN telemetry and, where required, exert control over its behaviour, both at microsecond time scales. The dynamic service models can be directly consumed by xApps on a nRT-RIC, or further coupled with the real-time apps (dApps) on the real-time controller we are also releasing. The flexibility and richness of data allows network operators and developers to harness the full power of AI for RAN, which is further discussed in our paper, “Distributed AI Platform for the 6G RAN.”

This architecture enables several new use cases, such as precise analytics for anomaly detection and root cause analysis, interference detection, and optimizing other RAN performance metrics. The framework also enables new applications of particular interest to macro network deployments, such as fast vRAN power savings, failover, and live migration. It also allows for easy customization of RAN performance for niche requirements in different industrial use cases (as discussed in our paper  “The Future of the Industrial AI Edge is Cellular.”). More details about Project Janus and the use cases are available on the project’s website.

Project Janus has already garnered significant interest and support from our partners. They have already built and deployed several new applications on top of it, such as RAN performance optimization through fine grained L1 telemetry, interference mitigation and accurate localization.

Learn more about how our top partners are integrating Project Janus into their product offerings and research:

“The Project Janus framework enhances Mavenir's cloud-native, software-based Open RAN solutions with additional real-time capabilities. This enables the creation of customizable solutions, such as low-latency intelligent controllers. Furthermore, Project Janus serves as a flexible framework for supporting decentralized applications (dApps), playing a crucial role in advancing AI-driven Radio Access Networks (RAN) and laying the groundwork for the development of 6G technology.” – Bejoy Pankajakshan, EVP, Chief Technology and Strategy Officer, Mavenir

“Project Janus introduces innovative ways of collecting RAN data in real-time without causing performance deterioration of RAN. The Project Janus framework has been integrated with 5G RAN solutions to control the behaviour of RAN algorithms in real-time by writing simple codelet to aggregate and compress the large volume of timeseries of data received in real-time and pass it to the external entity (e.g. xApp or analytics software). Capgemini is leveraging this solution to enrich our 5G RAN software frameworks, to boost its xApp capabilities and demonstrate improved RAN performance. This framework has been utilized to demonstrate several state-of-the-art features, such as power saving, mobility load balancing, RU sharing, failsafe fronthaul, and more. Additionally, Project Janus provides real-time graphical insights into execution scenarios, significantly enhancing our analysis and debugging capabilities to further optimizes and improve RAN performance.” – Utkarsh Malik, Senior Director of Product Management, Capgemini

"AI in RAN is the next frontier, and it continues to evolve as the industry further uncovers its potential. This is why a software centric architecture, coupled with this exciting collaboration with Microsoft and Project Janus, demonstrates how you can deploy hardware and software now, while enabling new AI use cases in the future. Project Janus allows real time dynamic access to L1 telemetry, allowing the type of telemetry to be controlled based on new future AI use cases, expanding the developer scope." - Dan Lynch, Senior Director, FlexRAN at Intel

“Project Janus promises to revolutionize real-time network telemetry, programmability and optimization through its flexible, dynamically loadable service models. The ability to implement new functionality and deploy at run-time without affecting RAN operations unlocks a new dimension of RAN efficiency, resilience and performance. We're excited to bring this game-changing functionality to our commercial srsRAN Enterprise partners and to our broad community of open-source srsRAN Project users.” – Paul Sutton, CEO, SRS

"Project Janus makes it easy for a RAN vendor to add our sub-meter positioning capability to their products. It has also allowed us to accelerate our development to come to market at least a year ahead of other 5G positioning solutions and with 10-100x better performance than any other 5G positioning solution.” –  Daniel Jacker,CEO, ZaiNar

“EdgeRIC is an open-source platform developed through a collaboration between Texas A&M University and UC San Diego, designed to enable real-time AI-in-the-loop feedback control for radio access networks. By integrating EdgeRIC with Microsoft's Project Janus framework, we are advancing the programmability of open-source 5G platforms, allowing precise, low-latency control at the edge. This integration enhances spectrum efficiency, optimizes resource allocation, and provides a robust foundation for AI-driven network intelligence. Through this collaboration, we are fostering an open ecosystem where researchers and industry leaders can accelerate innovation in intelligent wireless communications.” – Professor Srinivas G Shakkotai, Department of ECE and Department of CSE, Texas A&M University

"RAN Intelligent Controllers standardization is typically slow, requiring multiple vendors to align on a constrained set of information sharing between RAN and RICs. Microsoft open-sourcing Project Janus, which works with existing commercial stacks, enables rapid access to information without requiring standardization changes. UC San Diego and Texas A&M University developed the EdgeRIC platform and micro-apps that support open-source RAN stacks (srsRAN and OAI). EdgeRIC's integration with Project Janus allows apps to be directly translated to commercial stacks, enabling them in more industry-accepted stacks. These tools are key to unlocking novel applications, revenues, and business productivity for enterprises, from AI-driven networking to networking-driven AI to network infrastructure-driven sensing, fostering rapid innovation in the 6G ecosystem. The technology has the potential to lead to a world where our phones and base stations are upgrading every other day, much like software releases for apps," - Professor Dinesh Bharadia, Electrical Engineering, Klein Gilhousen Chancellor's Endowed Faculty Fellow for Next Generation Wireless, University of California San Diego.

 “RAN is undergoing a transformation toward data-driven operations. Project Janus provides a key enabling technology to make the RAN data accessible for intelligent monitoring and control applications. As such, we have adopted it as the primary RAN telemetry system in our testbed and research efforts.” – Professor Mahesh Marina, University of Edinburgh

We look forward to seeing the community's contributions and innovations with Project Janus. You can read more about our Project Janus announcement, plus our additional telco industry news, ahead of MWC here.