The Department of Defense and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration have partnered to launch a challenge that seeks to speed up the development and implementation of open-system 5G interfaces and interoperable components.
DOD said Wednesday the 5G Challenge Preliminary Event: RAN Subsystem Interoperability seeks hardware and software capable of advancing open ecosystem for 5G.
The challenge envisions a diverse vendor community that works to drive interoperability and plug-and-play characteristics in 5G technology.
Participants will submit distributed, central or radio unit entries to compete for up to $3 million in prizes while ensuring compliance with O-RAN Alliance specifications and the 3GPP Release 15 standard.
DOD and NTIA’s Institute for Telecommunication Sciences want the challenge to employ existing open interface standards, observe virtualization and cloud trends, foster modular product development, reduce entry barriers for new vendors and exhibit multi-vendor interoperability,
Interested parties may submit applications until May 5.