A survey of public datasets for O-RAN: fostering the development of machine learning models

The O-RAN architecture allows for unprecedented flexibility in Radio Access Networks (RANs). O-RAN’s components designed to control RANs, such as RAN Intelligent Controllers (RICs), places intelligence at the center of the management and orchestration of 5 G/6 G cellular networks. RICs run applications based on machine learning models, which require massive RAN data for training. Nonetheless, building testbeds to collect these data is challenging since RANs use expensive hardware and operate under a licensed spectrum, usually not available for the academy. Even though producing RAN datasets is challenging, some research groups have already made their data available. In this paper, we survey the primary public datasets available online that are considered in O-RAN papers. We identify the main characteristics and purpose of each dataset, contributing with a complement to their documentation. Also, we empirically showcase the viability of using publicly available datasets for machine learning applications within the O-RAN domain, such as spectrum and traffic classification.