Northeastern said that the private 5G network follows the O-RAN architecture in a multi-vendor environment, with open interfaces and near real time RAN Intelligent Controller (RICs)
The Institute for the Wireless Internet of Things (WIoT) at Northeastern University and its Open6G R&D Center announced the availability of its private 5G network fully automated through Artificial Intelligence (AI).
In a release, the university noted that the private network is built on open-source components enabling a fully virtualized O-RAN-compliant network in a campus environment.
The network provides connectivity to 5G devices for video conferencing, browsing and streaming, which are key activities for experiential learning activities at the university. “This O-RAN network provides WIoT researchers and industry partners with a fully customizable platform for research and development in new wireless use cases and technologies beyond 5G,” said Tommaso Melodia, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Northeastern and WIoT director.
The WIoT 5G network is built on open-source components from vendors including Dell Technologies and NVIDIA, software-defined radios and dedicated automation and orchestration pipelines through zTouch, Northeastern’s AI-based management, control, and orchestration framework. zTouch enables the deployment of the software-based infrastructure though a quick process with automated configuration from high-level intents and management of the software-defined radio frontends.
The private network runs on Dell servers and uses OpenAirInterface and Open5Gs as the main radio access and core network implementations. It also features base stations based on the NVIDIA Aerial Research Cloud, integrating a GPU-based physical layer and OpenAirInterface, the university said.
Northeastern highlighted that the network follows the O-RAN architecture in a multi-vendor environment, with open interfaces, near real time RAN Intelligent Controller (RICs) and non-real time RIC. Components are based on open or open-source software that can be updated to track the latest research in algorithmic and data-driven control and optimization of the RAN, it added.
The platform can also automatically instantiate and orchestrate xApps, rApps, and dApps while managing conflicts. This is done through a graphical interface that converts high-level intents into a set of intelligent network functions, data flows and control outputs, the university added.
The network is deployed and serving indoor users in the Northeastern University campus in Boston, Massachusetts, with an extension to the Burlington campus planned in the upcoming weeks. These two locations are part of Northeastern’s FCC Innovation Zone, thus enabling over-the-air experimentation in a number of frequency bands, including the CBRS band.
This private 5G network can be used to develop and test advanced use cases including spectrum sharing mechanisms, AR/VR, end-to-end slicing solutions, and advanced security solutions, among others, the university added.
