Open-Source 5G Projects
Introduction
It’s so easy these days to set up your Wi-Fi network. You order a router online, plug it into the electrical socket, define a password and you’re good to go. Wi-Fi is fast, reliable, and easy to use. But if you want to cover a wider area or connect hundreds of small devices it quickly becomes inefficient and expensive. Is the only way to go to your local mobile network operator and sign a contract? No! Thanks to open-source technology, you can build your LTE or 5G network. Out of the many existing open-source projects, this implementation focus on Openairinterface (OAI) project. Due to the high community support, this project is leading compared to others. EURECOM is the founding member of OpenAirInterface Alliance. The OpenAirInterfaceTM Software Alliance (OSA) is a non-profit consortium to develop an ecosystem for open-source software/hardware development for the core network (EPC) and access-network (EUTRAN) of 3GPP cellular networks. The Alliance sponsors the initial work of EURECOM to create OpenAirInterfaceTM towards the development of 5G Cellular Stack on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware.
OAI License Model
The OpenAirInterfaceTM (OAI) Software Alliance uses various licenses to distribute software and documentation and to accept contributions from individuals and corporations. The following figure shows the OAI software packages and the licenses under which they are distributed.
OAI Project Groups
5G RAN
The scope of the OAI 5G RAN project is to develop and deliver a 5G software stack under the OAI Public Licence V1.1.
5G Core Network
The scope of 5G CN project developments is to deliver a 3GPP compliant 5G Core Network under the OAI Public License V1.1. OpenAirInterface CN 5G project is one of the main projects under OSA’s umbrella. The main objective is to develop a fully 3GPP compatible 5G CN stack as open-source software for the OAI community. In the scope of this project, we focus only on Standalone Mode.
MOSAIC5G
The newly created MOSAIC5G (M5G) PROJECT GROUP aims to transform radio access (RAN) and core networks (CN) into agile and open network-service delivery platforms. Such a platform allows for exploring new use-cases of interest to different vertical industries. Mosaic5G introduces the world’s first ecosystem of 5G R&D open-source platforms ranging from centralized network control to mobile edge network deployment.
CI/CD
The mission of the OAI DevOps team is to make high-quality resources available to the community, it is dedicated to, Maintaining and improving existing methods and CI/CD pipelines. Developing new methods and pipelines. Implementing new tests. Maintaining and improving documentation.