This Project Grant award, funded by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) under the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund Grant Program (CFDA 11.038), will enable Episys Science Inc. (Episci) to develop, demonstrate, and evaluate a software-defined radio (SDR) system that integrates 3GPP sidelink with a 7.2b Open RAN (Radio Access Network) split supporting uplink performance improvement (ULPI) capabilities. The $8,168,674.03 award, spanning from February 2025 to January 2028, will fund Episys Science's efforts to validate a lab-based prototype demonstration, quantify performance improvements, integrate ULPI techniques for massive MIMO and higher data rates, and conduct AI/ML-based trade space analysis. The goal is to demonstrate a new capability that combines sidelink and ULPI functionalities, which can be commercially provided to 5G Advanced/6G radio vendors to enable optimal resource allocation between low-latency, highly reliable sidelink and ULPI applications. The project will involve collaboration with OpenAirInterface5G (OAI) and the University of Washington (UW) to integrate the SDR hardware and software.
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