Platform for Advanced Radio Research (PAWR) Project Office Announces Collaboration between PAWR Platform POWDER and Industry Innovator Mavenir to Test First-Ever O-RAN 5G SA Network Deployment Using Millimeter Wave (mmWave) Spectrum Did. The solution leverages Mavenir’s Open Radio Unit (O-RU), Open Distributed Unit (O-DU), Open Centralized Unit (O-CU), and 5G Core. The team has successfully completed the “first call” of setup and is ready to begin extensive testing and evaluation on a variety of user devices.
The Open RAN system is hosted on the POWDER testbed, part of the PAWR program created by the National Science Foundation, with the majority of its footprint located on the University of Utah campus. User devices are distributed across campus and up to 5 kilometers away. After deploying and integrating Mavenir equipment and software, POWDER provides automated end-to-end testing using the Test Orchestration and Test Automation (TOTA) framework.
This partnership is an example of POWDER fulfilling its charter to support U.S.-based wireless technology development. In the summer of 2023, POWDER was designated by the O-RAN ALLIANCE as an Open Testing and Integration Center (OTIC). The platform continues to expand commercial industry partnerships through its “BYOD test model” and spectrum access enabled by Experimental Program and Innovation Zone licenses granted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
“The POWDER team is excited to collaborate with Mavenir to test the O-RAN 5G mmW SA solution on POWDER’s radio setup. This collaboration also enables us to run the POWDER TOTA framework in new configurations. ” he said. Kobus Van der Merwe, Professor of Computing, University of Utah Carlat School of Computing, Director of the POWDER Platform.
BG Kumar, President, Access Networks, Platforms and MDE at Mavenir said: We have proven that 5G mmW can provide ultra-fast and reliable connectivity for a variety of use cases such as enhanced mobile broadband, fixed wireless access, and smart cities. We are pleased to introduce our end-to-end 5G mmW solution, which leverages our cloud-native software architecture and open interfaces and enables carriers to deploy and scale their 5G networks with agility and efficiency. Masu. ”
The PAWR program includes four testbeds across the country. In addition to POWDER, New York City also has COSMOS. AERPAW in the Research Triangle Region of North Carolina. and ARA in Ames, Iowa. The PAWR program also includes Colosseum, the world’s largest radio frequency emulator, located in Boston.
