Date: Friday, Mar 27, 2026
Time: 11:00 AM CT
Abstract : This hands-on webinar will introduce participants to building, configuring, and evaluating end-to-end open-source 5G and Open RAN systems using srsRAN and OpenAirInterface5g (OAI) on the ARA wireless living lab. The session will demonstrate how to deploy containerized gNB, UE, and core network components, establish indoor and outdoor over-the-air links, and collect performance metrics across real-world rural testbed environments. By leveraging ARA sandbox and outdoor 5G standalone deployments, participants will learn how open-source 5G platforms expose programmable interfaces across the entire RAN and core network, and how automated scripts can be used to collect, monitor, and analyze RAN performance metrics in real time or during post-experiment evaluation.
Bio: Joshua Ofori Boateng is a Ph.D. candidate in Computer Engineering at Iowa State University and a graduate researcher at the Center for Wireless, Communities and Innovation (WiCI), where he works under Profs. Hongwei Zhang and Daji Qiao on the ARA platform. He codesigned the ARA wireless living lab testbed, contributing to publications such as “Design and Implementation of ARA Wireless Living Lab for Rural Broadband and Applications” and “AraSDR: EndtoEnd, FullyProgrammable Living Lab for 5G and Beyond.” Joshua holds a bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications Engineering from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana, and his research focuses on opensource NextG wireless platforms, Open RAN, and virtualization of software-defined radio platforms. To date, he has published 10 peerreviewed papers and has over 100 citations.