SOPHIA ANTIPOLIS, France, February 3, 2021 – The OpenAirInterface Software Alliance (OSA) today announced two leading collaborative initiatives reinforcing its open source 5G core network leadership with the support of its industrial partners.
The OSA believes that the open source arena needs a comprehensive 5G Stand Alone (SA) core network implementing all functions of the 3GPP release 15 and release 16 as a cloud native service-based architecture platform. The main application of this open source software is for the purposes of research and testing that many 5G use-cases need. Towards this goal, the OSA today announced the launch of the OAI 5G Core Network Project Group with the initial support of its Strategic Members: Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., Facebook and InterDigital Corporation.
The OSA has also joined Facebook, Qualcomm Technologies and other organizations as founding members of a joint collaboration under the Linux Foundation to accelerate the path to production use cases at scale for Magma, an open source software platform that gives network operators an open, flexible and extendable mobile core network solution. The Magma program will develop and test Magma’s 4G components and its evolution and convergence with 5G.
Raymond Knopp, President of OSA says, “The OAI community works on a multitude of 5G use cases, including those of the academic and research communities. There is not only a strong need for a functional, easy-to-use core network to demonstrate end-to-end deployment of 5G technology with commercial 5G phones, but also a need for flexibility and openness that allows testing new functionality still in the nascent stage.”
“The Alliance is a proud supporter and active contributor to Magma, where it has contributed the 4G seed code and is currently participating in the development and testing of the converged multigenerational open source core,” Raymond further adds. “We realize that Magma is a project of industrial ambition with different objectives as compared to the OAI 5G CN project and we are excited to apply our open source expertise to both. We believe the two initiatives are fully complementary, and the OSA presence in both projects allows us to align the architecture and testing frameworks and replicate best practices.“
“The establishment of a stable reference framework and publicly available software implementation for the full functionality of the 3GPP 5G Core Network is an essential element for advancing 5G academic, government, and commercial research and development efforts,” said Douglas Knisely, Engineer, Principal, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “OAI has played a key role in filling this essential role for 4G Core Network open source code, and the 5G CN Project Group will ensure that this work advances quickly for the benefit of the entire ecosystem.“
“We are thrilled to support the acceleration of the 5G Core program within OAI and look forward to deepening our collaboration with Magma,” said Laurent Depersin, Home & Enterprise Director at InterDigital. “The addition of this program puts OAI and its members on a path to pioneering a full end-to-end software-driven Standalone (SA) solution that serves as a foundation for an affordable 5G and beyond Open RAN ecosystem.”
“We are excited about the potential for the transition to 5G to move the industry towards the use of cloud-native software and open interfaces to reduce cost, speed innovation and improve network performance,” says Dan Rabinovitsj, vice president for Facebook Connectivity. “The OSA’s collaborative efforts to test 5G use cases is an important step in validating practical drivers for 5G adoption.”
About the OPENAIRINTERFACETM SOFTWARE ALLIANCE
OSA is a non-profit organization accelerating and democratizing wireless innovation by promoting 3GPP networks using Open-Source Software over Commercial-Over-The Shelf (COTS) hardware. The OpenAirInterface software stack today offers full 4G and 5G Radio Access Network as well as Core Network implementation. The OSA has more than 80 members from across the globe and proudly claims that the OAI software is used in one way or another in almost all ongoing activities in 5G.
For more information, please navigate www.openairinterface.org.
Contact: Irfan Ghauri, Email: irfan.ghauri@openairinterface.org Ph.:+33 493 008 100
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