PAWR Platform ARA Debuts Open Source 5G Core Integrated With Commercial RAN

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research (PAWR) Project Office announces the successful integration of an open source mobile core with a commercial-grade 5G standalone radio access network (RAN) powered by Ericsson at the ARA wireless testbed in Iowa. The one-of-a-kind deployment by ARA, which is part of the PAWR program created by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), enables a powerful and flexible test network for next-generation wireless research.

Previously, ARA operated the Ericsson RAN in conjunction with an Ericsson core hosted remotely in California. The testbed team completed the transition to a local core using the Open5GS software stack in March.

The Ericsson RAN at ARA includes four base station sites operating in the 3.4 Gigahertz band. The network is also connected to end-user equipment on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware. Measurements collected on site show that with the new Open5GS core, the 5G network delivers a throughput rate of 445.56 megabits per second (Mbps). That is lower than the 557.49 Mbps produced when the Ericsson RAN connected back to an Ericsson core, but it is still well above the threshold needed to support enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) applications. In addition to the positive throughput results, ARA improved latency in the control plane of the network by shifting the mobile core to a nearby data center in Ames, Iowa.

“This is a significant step toward proving the commercial readiness and interoperability of open source mobile networking software,” said Dr. Hongwei Zhang, leader of ARA and head of the Center for Wireless, Communities and Innovation (WiCI) at Iowa State University. “The new network integration gives us the opportunity to combine programmable flexibility in the core with robustness in the RAN. We are actively leveraging the deployment to support 5G applications at local research farms including the remote operation of sensor-equipped robots and video monitoring of livestock.”

As a multi-modal wireless testbed, ARA employs both commercial and more experimental network systems for end-to-end connectivity research. In addition to hosting Ericsson radios as base stations, the platform includes numerous base stations powered by software defined radios (SDRs) with open source RAN software. While these open source RAN deployments are not commercial grade, they are a vital part of the research ecosystem and enable development and testing of new network features and functions.

“ARA’s new open source 5G deployment represents exactly the kind of bold innovation that NSF envisioned when launching the PAWR program,” said Dr. Ellen Zegura, Acting Assistant Director of Computer and Information Science and Engineering at NSF. “By pairing open and flexible software with commercial-grade wireless infrastructure, ARA is accelerating the development of future wireless technologies while reinforcing America’s position as a global leader in advanced communications. This work directly supports national infrastructure priorities by enabling hands-on research that will shape the next generation of wireless networks—critical for agriculture, manufacturing, and national defense.”

The rural ARA testbed extends more than a dozen miles across Central Iowa and includes seven total base station sites, more than 30 endpoint radios, a LEO satellite terminal, and a multi-hop mesh network for wireless backhaul. The platform is designated as an Open Testing and Integration Center (OTIC) by the O-RAN Alliance. For more information on ARA, visit https://arawireless.org/. For more information on the PAWR program, visit, https://advancedwireless.org/.

About the PAWR Project Office (PPO)

The Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research Project Office (PPO) manages the $100 million public-private partnership and oversees the research platforms. The PPO is co-led by US Ignite and Northeastern University, and funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and PAWR industry consortium. The PPO collaborates closely with the wireless research community, local communities, and industry, in part through the industry consortium, in the design, development, deployment, and initial operations of the research platforms.