Networks for Experimentation

This research item addresses the use of OAI in infrastructure deployment for remote experimentation.  This is addressed firstly at a regional level (region PACA, in France) through Com4Innov, then in a European dimension through our involvement in the FIRE+ and finally in a North American level via GENI (https://www.geni.net/).  Com4Innov is an experimental 4G network deployed in Sophia Antipolis using commercial Ericsson basestations and core network.  We have access to the Ericsson core at Eurecom premises and have successfully interconnected it with OAI eNodeB’s and commercial UEs.  This opens the door to deployment of TD-LTE solutions (2.6 and 3.5 GHz) on the SophiaTech campus in the coming months which can allow for experimentation with fully open-source basestations interconnected with a commercial core network. EURECOM is involved in one central FIRE+ project, FLEX, which aims to interconnect OAI equipment with a commercial core at several sites (Volos, Gent) to allow for remote experimentation.  Finally, OAI is currently one of the candidates for the cellular wireless components of the GENI research infrastructure in the USA.  Several main labs in GENI are strong supporters of the software and are deploying test systems.