Getting Started

This guide will help you quickly set up a complete 5G NR private network lab environment.

System Architecture

┌──────────────┐     ┌──────────────┐     ┌──────────────┐
│     UE       │────▶│    gNB       │────▶│   5G Core    │
│ (Phone/srsUE)│ Air │  (srsRAN)    │ N2/N3│  (Open5GS)   │
└──────────────┘     └──────────────┘     └──────────────┘
                           │
                     ┌─────┴─────┐
                     │   SDR     │
                     │ (USRP)    │
                     └───────────┘

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following:

Hardware Requirements

Device	Recommended	Notes
Server/PC	Ubuntu 22.04, 16GB+ RAM	Run core network and gNB
SDR	USRP B210 / BladeRF x40	RF frontend
Antenna	700-2700MHz	Select based on band
SIM Card	Programmable SIM	sysmoUSIM-SJS1 recommended
Test UE	5G SA capable phone	Or use srsUE

Software Requirements

• Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (recommended)
• Open5GS v2.7+
• srsRAN Project 24.04+
• UHD driver (for USRP users)

Installation Overview

1. Install Open5GS Core Network

# Add Open5GS repository
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:open5gs/latest
sudo apt update

# Install Open5GS
sudo apt install open5gs

For detailed configuration, see Open5GS Installation Guide.

2. Install srsRAN gNB

# Install dependencies
sudo apt install cmake make gcc g++ pkg-config \
    libfftw3-dev libmbedtls-dev libsctp-dev libyaml-cpp-dev \
    libgtest-dev libzmq3-dev

# Clone and compile srsRAN
git clone https://github.com/srsran/srsRAN_Project.git
cd srsRAN_Project
mkdir build && cd build
cmake ..
make -j$(nproc)
sudo make install

For detailed configuration, see srsRAN Installation Guide.

3. Configure Subscriber

Add subscriber in Open5GS WebUI:

IMSI: 001010000000001
Key: 465B5CE8B199B49FAA5F0A2EE238A6BC
OPc: E8ED289DEBA952E4283B54E88E6183CA

4. Start Services

# Start Open5GS services
sudo systemctl start open5gs-amfd
sudo systemctl start open5gs-smfd
sudo systemctl start open5gs-upfd
# ... other services

# Start gNB
sudo gnb -c gnb.yaml

Verify Connection

After successful startup, you should see gNB connection info in AMF logs:

[amf] INFO: gNB-N2 accepted[192.168.1.100]:38412 in ng-path module (../src/amf/ngap-sctp.c:113)
[amf] INFO: gNB-N2 accepted[192.168.1.100] in master_sm module (../src/amf/amf-sm.c:754)

Next Steps

• Prerequisites - Detailed system configuration
• Open5GS Configuration - Core network parameters
• gNB Configuration - Base station configuration

Warning

Before conducting over-the-air experiments, ensure:

1. You have legal spectrum authorization
2. Use shielded box or low power settings
3. No interference to public wireless networks