First OAI Foundation U.S. Hands-on Workshop

OpenAirInterface (OAI) Foundation is excited to announce the First OAI Foundation U.S. Hands-on Workshop taking place from 17-19 November 2025 at the University of Texas at Austin.

The Foundation’s mission is to address the growing need for open source-based reference implementations of 5G/6G technologies and continually invest in training a highly skilled workforce for the U.S. cellular wireless industry. This first U.S. workshop is part of that effort — a concrete step to deepen engagement with the U.S. research and developer community and promote the use of OAI as a reference platform for 5G, 6G, and AI-native networks.

Program: The event will open on Monday (November 17) with a full day of presentations, including keynotes from leading voices in the wireless industry and academia, panel discussions, technical talks, and live demos showcasing the latest OAI developments. The following two days, November 18 and 19 will be dedicated to hands-on training sessions. During these sessions, participants will work directly with the OAI technical leaders to deploy and configure its software components, explore various use cases, and engage in technical discussions.

This workshop is designed for those who work with the code, test it, contribute to it, and deploy OAI for their use cases. We encourage students and those interested in enhancing their skills in OAI to attend the event.

REGISTRATION HERE

Invitation Letter

If you need an invitation letter for your visa application, please email us at workshop@openairinterface.org.

Workshop sponsor

Three cheers to our sponsors for supporting this workshop

Agenda

Day 1 (2025/11/17): Presentations

Time Slot (CDT)	Speaker(s)	Affiliation	Title
08:30 – 09:00 — REGISTRATION & BREAKFAST
09:00 – 09:30	Kaushik Chowdhury Raymond Knopp	UT Austin OAI Foundation	Welcome from UT Austin and to the Workshop
09:30 – 10:00	Sudharman K. Jayaweera	National Science Foundation	From Open-source, Open RAN to Next-G Open & Integrated Networks
10:00 – 10:45	Paulo Marques Hongwei Zhang Syed Hussain Dinesh Bharadia Ian Wong	Allbesmart Iowa State University Penn State UC San Diego VIAVI	Panel: Building the 6G Human Resource: Training and Upskilling for the Wireless Industry Moderator: Kaushik Chowdhury – UT Austin
10:45 – 11:15 — COFFEE BREAK
11:15 – 12:00	Tommaso Melodia Ben Coffin Chris Dick Doug Knisely Ganesh Shenbagaraman Hanen Garcia	Northeastern University NI/Emerson NVIDIA Qualcomm Radisys Red Hat	Panel: From Ideas to Reality in 6G Times: Open Reference Designs for AI-Enabled Next Generation Cellular Networks Moderator: Florian Kaltenberger – EURECOM
12:00 – 13:00 — LUNCH BREAK
13:00 – 13:20	Hanen Garcia	Red Hat	Principles for 6G Infrastructure: Architecting Agile, Intelligent, and Sustainable Networks with OpenAirInterface
13:20 – 13:40	João Morais	Arizona State University/NVIDIA	Data Generation for AI in 6G: Connecting the Ray Tracing Databases to OpenAirInterface
13:40 – 14:00	Tingjun Chen	Duke University	Scalable and Real-time Baseband Processing using Heterogeneous Compute Resources
14:00 – 14:20	Ahan Kak	Nokia Bell Labs	Toward RAN-Core Convergence for the 6G User Plane
14:20 – 14:40	Karim Imtiaz	UT Dallas	Gotta Detect ‘Em All: Fake Base Station and Multi-Step Attack Detection in Cellular Networks
14:40 – 15:00	Daehyeok Kim	UT Austin	Toward SLO-Aware 5G Multi-Access Edge Computing
15:00 – 17:00 — COFFEE BREAK & DEMO VISITS

Day 2 (2025/11/18): Hands-on

Time Slot (CDT)	Speaker(s)	Affiliation	Title
08:00 – 08:30 — BREAKFAST
08:30 – 10:00	Jaroslava Fiedlerova Robert Schmidt Sagar Arora Teodora Vladić	OpenAirInterface	First Training Steps – Getting started with tutorials and documentation – How to install OAI
10:00 – 10:30 — COFFEE BREAK
10:30 – 13:00	Sagar Arora	OpenAirInterface	OAI Core Network Hands-on Session – Understand the OAI Core Network architecture: Learn about Core Network components, their roles, and supported 5G features. – Deploy the OAI Core Network using containers: Use Docker and Docker Compose to build and launch CN functions efficiently. – Perform end-to-end testing: Connect with simulated RAN and UEs, trace the complete call flow using Wireshark, and analyze OAI logs. – Apply GitOps principles with Nephio: Automate the deployment and lifecycle management of network functions using Nephio’s declarative framework.
13:00 – 14:00 — LUNCH BREAK
14:00 – 17:00	Jaroslava Fiedlerova	OpenAirInterface	OAI RAN Hands-on Session – Understand the OAI RAN codebase: Learn the repository structure, 5G NR components, and how to navigate and modify the code effectively. – Build and run an end-to-end 5G NR standalone setup: Use the RF simulator and OAI 5G CN to establish a working gNB-UE connection. – Use scopes to observe physical layer signals: Visualize PHY-layer behavior using tools like nrscope and ImScope, which include support for dynamic channel simulation. – Containerize RAN components: Build Docker images for gNB and nrUE using multi-stage Docker builds for streamlined deployment. – Connect multiple UEs: Launch and manage multiple UEs in parallel within the RF simulator. – Explore gNB functional splits: Deploy and test with F1, E1, and nFAPI interfaces in a modular and scalable setup.
17:00 – 18:00	Bartosz Podrygajło	OpenAirInterface	Channel/O-RU Emulator Hands-on Session The OAI community is working toward a flexible, versatile, and evolving real-time O-RU and channel emulation environment to test advanced features in the 5G RAN CU-DU stack, including beamforming. We believe this emulator will provide the community with a powerful tool to test and prototype advanced ideas, including AI-based ones, as we enter the 6G era. More details will be provided about this special session as the event approaches.

Day 3 (2025/11/19): Hands-on

Time Slot (CDT)	Speaker(s)	Affiliation	Title
08:00 ‒ 08:30 — BREAKFAST
08:30 ‒ 10:30	Mahdi Sharara Teodora Vladić	VIAVI OpenAirInterface	OAI OAM and VIAVI AI RSG Hands-on Session ‒ Get an introductory overview of the OAI OAM project group: Understand its scope and see a brief presentation of existing demos. ‒ Deploy and monitor a basic testbed: Set up FlexRIC with the OAI RAN in RF simulator (rfsim) mode and analyze collected data using Grafana dashboards. ‒ Explore the VIAVI AI RSG simulator: Learn about its components and capabilities. ‒ Integrate VIAVI AI RSG with FlexRIC: Demonstrate resource allocation in a single-cell setup with three slices (eMBB, URLLC, V2X) under a proportional fair scheduler, visualize per-slice PRB utilization and throughput using E2SM-KPM, then dynamically reconfigure resources via E2SM-RC and observe real-time adaptation in the DU. ‒ Hands-on experimentation: Participants follow a guided walkthrough of the slicing scenario and test their own configurations.
10:30 ‒ 11:00 — COFFEE BREAK
11:00 ‒ 13:00	Neel Pandeya	NI / Emerson	Open Source SDR Hands-on Training with NI Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) Users can expect to get hands-on experience with the NI USRP X310, USRP Hardware Driver (UHD), and exposure to specific application examples around the Open-Source SDR Toolchain options in relation to OAI.
13:00 ‒ 14:00 — LUNCH BREAK
14:00 ‒ 17:00	Luìs Pereira Paulo Marques	Allbesmart / IPCB	5G Operational Walkthrough with OAIBOX™ and OpenAirInterface ‒ Learn how quickly and easily a 5G test network can be set up using OAIBOX and OAI ‒ Understand the 3GPP 5G New Radio (NR) protocol stack and its core components ‒ Observe how different 5G NR air interface configurations — including bandwidth, TDD slot formats, and SISO/MIMO modes — affect end-to-end connectivity ‒ Observe how 5G network operations are monitored and troubleshooted using live component logs and deep packet inspection with Wireshark<br ‒ Discover how the OAI codebase can be extended or modified to test custom algorithms
14:00 ‒ 17:00	Luìs Pereira Hugo Marques	Allbesmart / IPCB	Understanding 5G NR security with OpenAirInterface (advanced) ‒ Introduction to the 3GPP security architecture ‒ Observe the default 5G NR NAS and AS security algorithms preference<br ‒ Observe the UE Security Capabilities information element sent by the UE, using Wireshark<br ‒ Observe the NAS and AS security algorithms selected by the network, using Wireshark<br ‒ Observe the default security protection applied to User Plane messages, using Wireshark<br ‒ Observe default user plane data protection (null encryption and integrity protection disabled)<br ‒ Modify 5G NR security to activate user plane integrity protection<br ‒ Modify 5G NR security to apply NEA2 (AES) ciphering protection on SRBs and DRBs

Accommodation & access:

Accommodation

Here are the different hotel recommendations near the University of Texas at Austin:

– AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
– AC Hotel by Marriott – Austin University
– Hampton Inn & Suites Austin, University/Capitol
– Hotel Ella
– Moxy – Austin University
– The Otis Hotel

Access

The workshop will take place over three days, with Day 1 (November 17th) and Days 2 and 3 (November 18th–19th) held in two different auditoriums at the university: the Mulva Auditorium and the Avaya Auditorium. In the PDF, you will find information on accessing the auditoriums, including details about the address, parking, and Wi-Fi.

Mulva auditorium (november 17th)

Avaya auditorium (november 18th + november 19th)