Virtualized 5G Tesbed using OpenAirInterface: Tutorial and Benchmarking Tests

Matheus Dória; Vicente Sousa; Antonio Campos; Nelson Oliveira; Paulo Eduardo; Paulo Filho; Carlos Lima; João Guilherme; Daniel Luna; Iago Rego; Marcelo Fernandes; Augusto Neto

doi:10.5753/jisa.2024.4454

Authors

Matheus Dória Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2278-3953
Vicente Sousa Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2859-6136
Antonio Campos Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4350-6389
Nelson Oliveira Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte https://orcid.org/0009-0003-9014-3725
Paulo Eduardo Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte https://orcid.org/0009-0003-4499-4254
Paulo Filho Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7909-4331
Carlos Lima Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7933-289X
João Guilherme Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3092-7603
Daniel Luna Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4194-924X
Iago Rego Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2082-0140
Marcelo Fernandes Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7536-2506
Augusto Neto Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9936-3770

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5753/jisa.2024.4454

Keywords:

OpenAirInterface, USRP, benchmarking, 5G, Open RAN

Abstract

The development of 5G and its evolutionary path to 6G brings virtualization as close as possible to the antennas. Native 3GPP systems are now software running at servers boosted by accelerator cards to cope with computationally intense signal processing. Meanwhile, the Radio Frequency (RF) front-end is still proprietary hardware, sheltering specific PHY-layer procedures like passband amplification/modulation. This approach takes advantage of the software's flexibility while keeping the complex microsecond signal processing performance from modern telecommunication systems. This paper provides tutorial material on the Core Network and Radio Access Network of OpenAirInterface (OAI) 5G stack on top of Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) platforms. A set of blueprints showcases OAI's ability to provide a virtualized 5G network with different transmission capabilities and the possibility to use it with commercial mobile phones. Configuration discussions and throughput benchmark analyses follow installation and deployment instructions. Our results show that 5G prototyping using OAI and USRP frontends can lead to good reproducibility and consistent throughput.

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Virtualized 5G Tesbed using OpenAirInterface: Tutorial and Benchmarking Tests

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