Open-Source 5G RAN Platforms: A Dual Perspective on Performance and Capabilities

Researchers published a comparative evaluation of open-source 5G Radio Access Network platforms OpenAirInterface (OAI) and srsRAN, presented at IEEE WCPNS 2025, offering one of the first head-to-head analyses spanning multiple software-defined radios, RAN configurations, and real user equipment. The study assessed both qualitative factors—supported features and deployment flexibility—and quantitative performance, including radio resource control setup procedures, compliance with theoretical data rates, and real application workloads. Testing covered Video on Demand for throughput, plus latency-sensitive Live Streaming and Cloud Gaming scenarios with diverse quality-of-service requirements. The work addresses a gap in prior research, which relied largely on single-testbed evaluations or partial comparisons, and is relevant to vendors and enterprises pursuing rapid prototyping and low-cost private 5G deployments. Watch for follow-up studies incorporating larger UE counts and broader SDR hardware, and for adoption signals from the private 5G ecosystem as open-source RAN matures.