Title:
Open-Source 5G Emulation Framework for Simulated to Real Autonomous Vehicle Communications
Abstract:
As research progresses in wireless technology, wireless emulation environments become increasingly important for controlled, repeatable, and scalable evaluation of these advancements. EMANE (Extendable Mobile Ad-Hoc Network Emulator) is an open-source wireless emulation software with extensive capabilities in wireless channel modeling, but it relies on a provided software communication protocol for modern network testing. There are several open-source software implementations of modern protocols by companies such as OAI (OpenAirInterface) and srsRAN. Building upon the integration of srsRAN 4G with EMANE, this thesis presents an open-source, scalable, 5G-NR software emulation environment using a combination of srsRAN 5G project for the 5G protocol stack frontend, Open5GS for the 5G core, and EMANE for network emulation. The emulator is assessed within a mixed-reality simulation framework for autonomous vehicle testing. The result is a large 5G network composed of simulated and real vehicles communicating over a wireless emulation, with tracked packet loss and timing statistics enabling accurate assessment of wireless capabilities for both physical and simulated environments.
Research Advisor:
Prof. Alex Wyglinski
ECE Department, WPI
Research Committee:
Prof. Christo Thomas
ECE Department, WPI
Prof. Hunter Zhang
MME Department, WPI