2023 5G Challenge Update: Three Contestant Pairs Pass Stage Three End to End Interoperability Testing

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is working to catalyze the development of an open 5G wireless ecosystem to help the private sector move away from a highly consolidated marketplace with few vendors and technologies. One way it is doing this is through the lab at the Institute of Telecommunications Sciences, which is partnering with the Department of Defense on the 2023 5G Challenge. The 2023 5G Challenge tests whether an open 5G ecosystem can work in real-world scenarios. There are four stages of the challenge. During Stage Three, a central unit and distributed unit pair (CU+DU) contestant and an radio unit (RU) contestant work together to establish end-to-end (E2E) interoperability and work to ultimately create a 5G network. This requires collaboration and teamwork to identify and fix areas where contestants have different interpretations or implementations of 3GPP standards and O RAN ALLIANCE specifications. The 2023 5G Challenge relies on two main US Open RAN test system vendors: Keysight and Viavi. During Stage Three, contestants use real equipment, like a cell phone, and simulated phone traffic, to test and evaluate system performance. The pairings that passed Stage Three are:

• Capgemini CU+DU and QCT/Benetel RU
• Mavenir CU+DU and NewEdge RU
• Radisys CU+DU and Lions RU

Next, during Stage Four, two pairs from Stage Three work together to demonstrate mobility.