Joshua R. Villaver, Alberto S. Banacia
Open-source 5G technologies have enabled researchers to prototype and evaluate mobile networks with reduced cost and complexity. To facilitate cost-effective experimentation with private 5G networks, an open-source 5G Standalone (SA) testbed was developed using the OpenAirInterface (OAI) framework and a software-defined radio (SDR) platform. The testbed supports flexible deployment, configuration, and operation of a complete 5G SA system, integrating a 5G Core (5GC) and a 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) implemented as a gNodeB (gNB). The core and radio components were deployed on separate Linux hosts running Ubuntu 22.04 hosts, with the OAI 5GC containerized using Docker Compose and the OAI gNB configured to operate with a USRP B200 SDR on the 3.6 GHz (n78) band. Alignment of key identifiers such as PLMN, MCC/MNC, and TAC ensured end-to-end interoperability between network components. The resulting system demonstrates the feasibility of deploying a functional 5G SA private network using opensource software components and commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware. Future work will focus on evaluating network performance in terms of throughput and latency using commercial 5G user equipment. © 2026 IEEE.
University of San Carlos, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Cebu City, Cebu, Philippines
