Linux Foundation Forms OCUDU Ecosystem Foundation for Open Source AI-RAN Innovation

The Linux Foundation announced in a press release the creation of the Open Centralized Unit Distributed Unit (OCUDU) Ecosystem Foundation, an open collaboration initiative to accelerate development of open source radio access network (RAN) software for 5G and early 6G. The foundation will serve as the home for CU and DU open source RAN software and related continuous integration, delivery, and testing assets.

Founding members include AMD, AT&T, DeepSig, Ericsson, Nokia, NVIDIA, SoftBank Corp., SRS, and Verizon, along with 21 general members and 17 research institutions. The initiative was initially supported by the National Spectrum Consortium and the FutureG Office, which funded DeepSig and Software Radio Systems to build the initial OCUDU software.

The OCUDU Ecosystem Foundation aims to provide a neutral, open governance model for RAN development, integrating contributions from telecom operators, equipment vendors, cloud providers, and universities. Participating institutions include Georgia Tech, Rice University, Texas A&M, and the University of Texas at Austin. The foundation’s work will complement global standards bodies such as 3GPP and the O-RAN Alliance.

By establishing a shared open source platform, the OCUDU Ecosystem Foundation seeks to enable industry partners to co-develop AI-native, software-defined RAN technologies and support global 5G and 6G network innovation.