Investigation, Analysis and Implementation of Open Source Mobile Communication Software

Over the past few years, open source software has transformed the mobile communication networks. The development of VoIP technologies has enabled the migration of telco protocols and services to the IP network with help of open source software. This allows for deployment of mobile networks in rural areas with lower cost. The usage of open source GSM is very useful for developing countries which do not yet have full mobile coverage. Open source GSM allows very rapid and economical deployment of GSM. The companies like Range Networks and Osmocom have developed OpenBTS and OpenBSC respectively which offer varying network architecture and allow the user to implement GSM depending on their needs. Besides this, open source GSM is quite useful for students in order to understand 2G protocol stack. Companies such as Fraunhofer FOKUS, Core Network Dynamics, and EURECOM have developed open source projects like OpenIMS, OpenEPC, OpenMTC, Open Air Interface (OAI) etc. These testbeds are essential for experimental evaluation as well as for product development. In the context of LTE networks, existing testbed platforms are limited either in functionality and/or extensibility or are too complex to modify and customize. Openairinterface is an open source platform for LTE experimentation designed for maximum modularity and code reuse and fully compliant with LTE Release 10. Today, testbeds are an essential platform for experimental research and prototype development. They enable researchers to test, validate and assess the performance of new technologies for wireless networks. Software-Defined Radio (SDR) is a popular concept for implementing radio equipment in software, using low cost general purpose computers and radio frontends. In recent years, it is gaining popularity as a tool to build close-to-reality testbeds for experimental research. This flexibility and openness can be much more valuable for many research problems. The most popular open source LTE SDR software available for testbed today is Eurecom´s OpenAirInterface (OAI). The OAI currently provides a standard-complaint implementation of a subset of Release 10 LTE for UE, eNB, MME, HSS, SGW an PGW on standard Linux-based computing equipment. Key Words: OpenBTS, OpenBSC, OpenLTE, OpenIMS, SDR, USRP, OpenAirInterface, NGN, SDN NF