Hardware node access for multi-UE real-radio experiment

[Yoon Jae Hwang]

Hi Powder Team!

I'm a researcher working on a 5G resource allocation project using the POWDER testbed. I'm currently running a single-node experiment with the ORAN profile (srsRAN Project gNB + FlexRIC nearRT-RIC + Open5GS) using ZMQ for RF simulation.

I'd like to extend this to a real over-the-air experiment with multiple UEs at different physical locations in order to study per-UE CQI variation over time. Specifically, I need:

  - 1 compute node for the gNB, FlexRIC RIC, Open5GS 5GC, and an xApp (d430 or d740 is fine here as long as a USRP can be attached)

  - 3 UE nodes, each with a USRP B210 (or equivalent) for real radio transmission — ideally nuc5300 nodes or fixed SDR endpoints at different physical locations

When I instantiate the ORAN experimental profile, the only available node type shown is d430 (compute-only, no radio hardware). I have a few questions:

  1. Which POWDER profile and node type combination gives access to nodes with USRPs attached (e.g., nuc5300 or fixed indoor/rooftop SDR endpoints)?

  2. Is there a way to request radio hardware nodes alongside a compute node within the same experiment topology?

  3. Are there specific times or procedures for requesting fixed SDR endpoint allocations?

Our software stack is srsRAN Project (br-flexric compatible), FlexRIC (br-flexric branch), and Open5GS, all built from source. The UEs would run srsRAN_4G srsUE with UHD driver against USRP B210 hardware.

Thank you for your help.

Best regards,

Yoonjae Hwang