OAI Foundation Hands-on Workshop at North Carolina State University
The OpenAirInterface (OAI) Foundation will host the OAI Foundation Hands-on Workshop at North Carolina State University from 13 to 14 October 2026 in Raleigh, North Carolina.
This second edition advances the OAI Foundation’s workforce development mission with a stronger focus on AI-native wireless systems and Integrated Sensing and Communications (ISAC). In collaboration with universities and U.S. Government agencies, OAI is preparing the next generation of engineers to design, build, and experiment with open, intelligent communication platforms spanning RAN, UE, Core Network, and RIC. Through hands-on training in open-source software development, AI-assisted engineering, network automation, and sensing-aware control loops, participants will gain practical experience with the technologies shaping 5G-Advanced and future 6G systems.
Over two days of hands-on sessions, participants will work directly with OAI instructors to develop and experiment with the OAI software stack across RAN, UE, Core Network, and RIC. The workshop will combine guided exercises with realistic deployment and automation scenarios, showing how AI-native methods can support software development, network optimization, telemetry analysis, and sensing-aware control. Participants will gain practical experience across the full OAI platform while exploring how open-source 5G systems can evolve toward ISAC-ready and future 6G architectures. They will also get the opportunity to exchange ideas with the engineers behind OpenAirInterface, discuss implementation challenges, and learn about the latest OAI developments in open RAN, Core Network, RIC integration, and AI-assisted engineering.
- 📅 Dates
13–14 October 2026- 📍 Location
NC State University, Raleigh, NC
Workshop sponsor
The workshop is organized with the sponsorship of Red Hat
Hackathon
Participants will build extensions across OAI RAN, UE, Core Network, and RIC which can be useful for ISAC use cases. Teams will collect RAN/UE/Core telemetry, train or integrate lightweight AI models, and close the loop through RAN scheduling, power control, RIC xApps, or NWDAF/NEF-driven QoS adaptation. The goal is to understand how communication and sensing objectives interact across the full mobile network stack.
Hackathon topics are:
Topic 1: RAN/GPU Offload
Challenge: Pick one of the following possible offloading tasks and implement it while running in RFsim:
- PBCH detection
- Symbol rotation and FFT
Relation with ISAC: ISAC depends on fast PHY processing of waveforms/channel features. Participants learn where sensing
Topic 2: RAN MAC/RRM
Challenge: Write a simple scheduler PRB policy that ensures a given percentage of resources is reserved for a given UE.
Relation with ISAC: ISAC is a resource tradeoff problem: spectrum/time/power must serve both data and sensing.
Topic 3: Real-Time RAN Control with dApps
Challenge: Create a policy for real-time PRB blocking control based on PHY-layer RF telemetry.
Relation with ISAC: Real-time RF sensing enables closed-loop RAN control decisions.
Topic 4: FlexRIC Traffic Steering Use Case
Challenge: Write a RAN optimization policy for the UE handover management. Monitor traffic load, compute policy and trigger a handover for a targeted UE.
Relation with ISAC: An observation xApp that monitors real-time traffic and triggers HO upon decision.
Topic 5: Application Function (AF) managing QoS via NEF based on NWDAF
Challenge: Write an application function that can dynamically change QoS via the NEF based on metrics from the NWDAF.
Relation with ISAC: NWDAF, analytics and intelligence layer can be used for making predictions, and based on that, AF can take necessary actions.
Agenda:
Day 1 (2026/10/13):
| Time Slot | Speaker(s) | Affiliation | Title |
| 08:00 – 08:30 | REGISTRATION & WELCOME COFFEE | ||
| 08:30 – 08:40 | Dr. Veena Misra Irfan Ghauri | NC State University OAI Foundation | Welcome to the Workshop |
| 08:40 – 09:00 | Robert Schmidt | OAI Foundation | Introduction to Duranta Project and OAI Foundation |
| 09:00 – 09:30 | Dr. Sudharman K. Jayaweera | U.S. National Science Foundation | Road to NextG Leadership: Technology Innovation & Workforce Development |
| 09:30 – 10:00 | Vijay Shah | NC State University | From Open RAN to Open AI-RAN: The Future Connectivity Fabric That Learns and Senses |
| 10:00 – 10:30 | COFFEE BREAK & DEMO VISITS | ||
| 10:30 – 12:00 | OAI Foundation Team Andrea Lacava | OAI Foundation Northeastern University | Hackathon Introduction |
| 12:00 – 13:00 | LUNCH BREAK | ||
| 13:00 – 15:00 | OAI Foundation Team Andrea Lacava | OAI Foundation Northeastern University | Hackathon Time |
| 15:00 – 15:30 | COFFEE BREAK & DEMO VISITS | ||
| 15:30 – 17:00 | OAI Foundation Team Andrea Lacava | OAI Foundation Northeastern University | Hackathon Time |
| 17:00 – 18:00 | DEMO VISITS | ||
| Ejaz Ahmed Junyao Zheng Filipe Peixoto Simeon Wuthier Md Saidur Rahman Ali Abbas Ali Abbas Md Sharif Hossen Pranshav Gajjar Andrea Lacava Connor Blasie Alex Orange | Applied Intuition, Inc. Duke University FEUP Georgetown Univeristy/NIST Iowa State University NC State University NC State University NC State University NC State University Northeastern University OAI Foundation University of Utah | NR Sidelink Mode-1 U2N Relay over an F1 CU/DU Split in OAI Real-Time GPU Processing of Zak-OTFS for High-Mobility 6G A Modular Coding-Agent Toolkit for OpenAirInterface Development Real-Time ZeroMQ I/Q Channel Emulation for Multi-Cell OpenAirInterface Experimentation Enabling Agricultural Connectivity with 5G NR Sidelink in OAI CellSense: A Sub-6 GHz Cellular ISAC System for Clutter-Robust Passive Sensing SlotScope: Slot-Aligned Observability for AI-RAN Co-location on a CPU-Only OAI DU O-RAN-Assisted Closed-Loop Aerial Connectivity Experimentation in AERPAW Digital Twin OWL: Closing the Wireless ML Development Cycle, from Paper to Verified Model dApps: Enabling Real-Time AI-based Open RAN Control TBD Experimenting with OAI on POWDER: From Controlled Environments to Over-the-Air |
Day 2 (2026/10/14):
| Time Slot | Speaker(s) | Affiliation | Title |
| 08:30 – 09:00 | WELCOME COFFEE | ||
| 09:00 – 10:00 | LIGHTNING TALKS | ||
| 09:00 – 09:10 | Tingjun Chen | Duke University | Scalable Wireless Digital Twins and ML Models for High-Fidelity RF Signal Mapping |
| 09:10 – 09:20 | Sofia Martins | FEUP | Energy Profiling of OpenAirInterface5G Baseband Software |
| 09:20 – 09:30 | Syed Ibad Ur Rahman | National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University | Latency Improvement and FPGA Accelerator |
| 09:30 – 09:40 | Andrea Lacava | Northeastern University | dApps: Enabling Real-Time AI-based Open RAN Control |
| 09:40 – 10:10 | COFFEE BREAK & DEMO VISITS | ||
| 10:10 – 12:00 | OAI Foundation Team Andrea Lacava | OAI Foundation Northeastern University | Hackathon Time |
| 12:00 – 13:00 | LUNCH BREAK | ||
| 13:00 – 15:00 | OAI Foundation Team Andrea Lacava | OAI Foundation Northeastern University | Hackathon Time |
| 15:00 – 16:30 | OAI Foundation Team Andrea Lacava | OAI Foundation Northeastern University | Hackathon Results |
| 16:30 – 18:00 | AERPAW SITE VISIT |
Accommodation & access:
Accommodation: Here are different hotel recommendations near North Carolina State University:
Access: The workshop will take place in Duke Energy Hall, located on the second floor of the James B. Hunt Jr. Library on NC State University’s Centennial Campus. If you enter the library from the street, follow the large yellow staircase to the second floor, where Duke Energy Hall and the surrounding commons are located.
Address:
Duke Energy Hall – James B. Hunt Jr. Library
1070 Partners Way
Raleigh, NC 27606, USA
Getting to NC State Centennial Campus
- By air: Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) is approximately 15–20 minutes by car from the venue.
- By car: Parking is available on and around Centennial Campus.
- By taxi or rideshare: Uber and Lyft operate throughout the Raleigh area, providing convenient access to the venue.
- By public transportation: The NC State Centennial Campus is served by local GoRaleigh bus routes and the university’s Wolfline shuttle system, making it easily accessible from downtown Raleigh and other parts of the city.