By 31 August 2024
by Jonathan Andrews
A new research and development lab has been established in the Texan city of Richardson’s innovation quarter to test and evaluate next generation 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) products and services.
Through a partnership with AT&T, Verizon and the University of Texas Dallas (UTD), the OpenLab will provide opportunities for testing 5G network performance, interoperability and security and will facilitate development of an open and interoperable multivendor wireless network infrastructure.
“The two companies are partnering with multiple academic campuses, including Richardson-based University of Texas at Dallas,” Chris Shacklett, Director of Economic Development, City of Richardson, told Cities Today. “The type of work they are doing fits well into the business ecosystem available in the Richardson Innovation Quarter.”
The goal of the lab is to accelerate the development and deployment of Open RAN technologies that will be critical for future wireless communications.
“[And] the vision of the [innovation quarter] is to promote collaboration across businesses and to strengthen partnerships between [the university] and the business community,” said Shacklett. “The work taking place on [the lab] is a good fit in meeting this vision.”
The innovation quarter is jointly shared by UTD and the city to spur creativity and collaboration to drive innovation and growth.
Open RAN consortium
The lab is part of a recently announced Acceleration of Compatibility and Commercialisation for Open RAN Deployments (ACCoRD) consortium, whose work is funded by a grant of over US$42 million in US federal funding.
In addition to AT&T and Verizon, the consortium includes major network operators like India-based Reliance Jio and Japanese telecommunications company NTT DOCOMO, as well as vendors such as Keysight, Ericsson, Samsung, Fujitsu and CommScope. Academic members include experts from UTD, Virginia Tech, Northeastern University, Iowa State University, Rutgers University, and Idaho National Laboratory.
Joe Russo, President of Global Network and Technology with Verizon, said in a statement: “The work resulting from this grant will drive the evolution of multi-vendor Open RAN capabilities. We are pleased to join AT&T in leading this consortium to build on the substantial work we have driven in this area and drive adoption across the industry at scale.”
Image: Trong Nguyen | Dreamstime.com
