Updated: January 2, 2023

Description

This page explains all the steps required to connect the UERANSIM (UE+gNB) simulation to a 5GC (5G Core) based on OAI-5GCN. The following specifications show the hardware and software used to deploy the environment.

Prerequisites

Before executing the step-by-step of this guide, it is important to install the next tools:

Intall docker and docker-compose

Environment Variables

The list of environment variables used for this implementation are summarized in the following exports:

export UERANSIM_IP="192.168.20.85"
export OAI5GC_N2_IP="192.168.70.132"

NOTE: Replace or configure each of the variables according to your environment.

UERANSIM Installation

Reference: Install UERANSIM (UE+gNB) in a Single Machine

The hardware and software it was tested on a single-machine with the next considerations:

Feature	Value
OS Used	Ubuntu Server 22.04 LTS
vCPU	2
RAM (GB)	4
Disk (GB)	40
Home user	ubuntu
Number of NICs	1 (enp0s3)
UERANSIM branch	master

OAI-5GCN Installation

Reference: Deploy OAI-5GCN using Docker

The hardware and software for the OAI-5GCN was tested on this:

Feature	Value
OS Used	Ubuntu Server 22.04 LTS
vCPU	4
RAM (GB)	8
Disk (GB)	80
Home User	ubuntu
Docker Version	Client: 20.10.22, Server: 20.10.22
Docker Compose Version	v2.14.2
Number of NICs	2 (enp0s3, enp0s8)

The contents of the page are:

Description
Prerequisites
Deploy the 5G environment

Deploy the 5G environment

After the installation of OAI-5GCN and UERANSIM, the connection between them is made from the server where UERANSIM is hosted. For this, go to the ~/UERANSIM/config folder and consider create and edit the oai5gc-gnb.yaml and oai5gc-ue.yaml with the following information.

Edit the `oai5gc-gnb.yaml`

Consider this content for the file:

mcc: '001'          # Mobile Country Code value
mnc: '01'           # Mobile Network Code value (2 or 3 digits)

nci: '0x000000010'  # NR Cell Identity (36-bit)
idLength: 32        # NR gNB ID length in bits [22...32]
tac: 1              # Tracking Area Code

linkIp: $UERANSIM_IP    # gNB's local IP address for Radio Link Simulation (Usually same with local IP)
ngapIp: $UERANSIM_IP   # gNB's local IP address for N2 Interface (Usually same with local IP)
gtpIp: $UERANSIM_IP    # gNB's local IP address for N3 Interface (Usually same with local IP)

# List of AMF address information
amfConfigs:
  - address: $OAI5GC_N2_IP 
    port: 38412

# List of supported S-NSSAIs by this gNB
slices:
  - sst: 1
    sd: 0x1

# Indicates whether or not SCTP stream number errors should be ignored.
ignoreStreamIds: true

NOTE: Replace $UERANSIM_IP and $OAI5GC_N2_IP with your values.

Edit the `oai5gc-ue.yaml`

Use the information available in the AuthenticationSubscription database of the OAI-5GCN. Consider this content for the file:

# IMSI number of the UE. IMSI = [MCC|MNC|MSISDN] (In total 15 digits)
supi: 'imsi-001010000000001'
# Mobile Country Code value of HPLMN
mcc: '001'
# Mobile Network Code value of HPLMN (2 or 3 digits)
mnc: '01'

# Permanent subscription key
key: 'fec86ba6eb707ed08905757b1bb44b8f'
# Operator code (OP or OPC) of the UE
op: 'C42449363BBAD02B66D16BC975D77CC1'
# This value specifies the OP type and it can be either 'OP' or 'OPC'
opType: 'OPC'
# Authentication Management Field (AMF) value
amf: '8000'
# IMEI number of the device. It is used if no SUPI is provided
imei: '356938035643803'
# IMEISV number of the device. It is used if no SUPI and IMEI is provided
imeiSv: '4370816125816151'

# List of gNB IP addresses for Radio Link Simulation
gnbSearchList:
  - $UERANSIM_IP

# UAC Access Identities Configuration
uacAic:
  mps: false
  mcs: false

# UAC Access Control Class
uacAcc:
  normalClass: 0
  class11: false
  class12: false
  class13: false
  class14: false
  class15: false

# Initial PDU sessions to be established
sessions:
  - type: 'IPv4'
    apn: 'oai'
    slice:
      sst: 1
      sd: 0x1

# Configured NSSAI for this UE by HPLMN
configured-nssai:
  - sst: 1
    sd: 0x1

# Default Configured NSSAI for this UE
default-nssai:
  - sst: 1
    sd: 0x1

# Supported integrity algorithms by this UE
integrity:
  IA1: true
  IA2: true
  IA3: true

# Supported encryption algorithms by this UE
ciphering:
  EA1: true
  EA2: true
  EA3: true

# Integrity protection maximum data rate for user plane
integrityMaxRate:
  uplink: 'full'
  downlink: 'full'

NOTE: Replace $UERANSIM_IP with your value.

Connect UERANSIM and OAI-5GCN

With the UERANSIM files configured, run in different terminals the gNB first, and then UE (with sudo permissions) to generate the connection. For the gNB:

cd ~/UERANSIM/build
./nr-gnb -c ../config/oai5gc-gnb.yaml
# UERANSIM v3.2.6
# [2023-01-03 04:40:58.178] [sctp] [info] Trying to establish SCTP connection... (192.168.70.132:38412)
# [2023-01-03 04:40:58.181] [sctp] [info] SCTP connection established (192.168.70.132:38412)
# [2023-01-03 04:40:58.183] [sctp] [debug] SCTP association setup ascId[23]
# [2023-01-03 04:40:58.183] [ngap] [debug] Sending NG Setup Request
# [2023-01-03 04:40:58.186] [ngap] [debug] NG Setup Response received
# [2023-01-03 04:40:58.186] [ngap] [info] NG Setup procedure is successful

In another tab, for the UE:

cd ~/UERANSIM/build
sudo ./nr-ue -c ../config/oai5gc-ue.yaml
# UERANSIM v3.2.6
# [2023-01-03 04:41:16.461] [nas] [info] UE switches to state [MM-DEREGISTERED/PLMN-SEARCH]
# [2023-01-03 04:41:16.463] [rrc] [debug] New signal detected for cell[1], total [1] cells in coverage
# [2023-01-03 04:41:16.464] [nas] [info] Selected plmn[001/01]
# [2023-01-03 04:41:16.465] [rrc] [info] Selected cell plmn[001/01] tac[1] category[SUITABLE]
# [2023-01-03 04:41:16.465] [nas] [info] UE switches to state [MM-DEREGISTERED/PS]
# [2023-01-03 04:41:16.465] [nas] [info] UE switches to state [MM-DEREGISTERED/NORMAL-SERVICE]
# [2023-01-03 04:41:16.465] [nas] [debug] Initial registration required due to [MM-DEREG-NORMAL-SERVICE]
# [2023-01-03 04:41:16.465] [nas] [debug] UAC access attempt is allowed for identity[0], category[MO_sig]
# [2023-01-03 04:41:16.465] [nas] [debug] Sending Initial Registration
# [2023-01-03 04:41:16.465] [nas] [info] UE switches to state [MM-REGISTER-INITIATED]
# [2023-01-03 04:41:16.465] [rrc] [debug] Sending RRC Setup Request
# [2023-01-03 04:41:16.467] [rrc] [info] RRC connection established
# [2023-01-03 04:41:16.467] [rrc] [info] UE switches to state [RRC-CONNECTED]
# [2023-01-03 04:41:16.467] [nas] [info] UE switches to state [CM-CONNECTED]
# [2023-01-03 04:41:16.487] [nas] [debug] Authentication Request received
# [2023-01-03 04:41:16.508] [nas] [debug] Security Mode Command received
# [2023-01-03 04:41:16.508] [nas] [debug] Selected integrity[1] ciphering[1]
# [2023-01-03 04:41:16.516] [nas] [debug] Registration accept received
# [2023-01-03 04:41:16.516] [nas] [info] UE switches to state [MM-REGISTERED/NORMAL-SERVICE]
# [2023-01-03 04:41:16.516] [nas] [debug] Sending Registration Complete
# [2023-01-03 04:41:16.516] [nas] [info] Initial Registration is successful
# [2023-01-03 04:41:16.517] [nas] [debug] Sending PDU Session Establishment Request
# [2023-01-03 04:41:16.517] [nas] [debug] UAC access attempt is allowed for identity[0], category[MO_sig]
# [2023-01-03 04:41:16.732] [nas] [debug] PDU Session Establishment Accept received
# [2023-01-03 04:41:16.732] [nas] [info] PDU Session establishment is successful PSI[1]
# [2023-01-03 04:41:16.755] [app] [info] Connection setup for PDU session[1] is successful, TUN interface[uesimtun0, 12.1.1.3] is up.

NOTE: You can simulate more users using -n flag. For example, to simulate 10 users, use sudo ./nr-ue -c ../config/oai5gc-ue.yaml -n 10.

To verify the connection between UERANSIM and OAI-5GCN, in another UERANSIM terminal check if the interface uesimtun0 was created and has an IP assigned:

ifconfig uesimtun0
# uesimtun0: flags=369<UP,POINTOPOINT,NOTRAILERS,RUNNING,PROMISC>  mtu 1400
#         inet 12.1.1.3  netmask 255.255.255.255  destination 12.1.1.3
#         inet6 fe80::da28:4fa5:b0f4:f3ae  prefixlen 64  scopeid 0x20<link>
#         unspec 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00  txqueuelen 500  (UNSPEC)
#         RX packets 4  bytes 336 (336.0 B)
#         RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
#         TX packets 11  bytes 712 (712.0 B)
#         TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

You can use that interface to test on the N6 interface of the 5G Core. For example, you can perform ping -I uesimtun0 www.google.com or curl --interface uesimtun0 www.google.com to generate some traffic in the core. To get more details about UERANSIM usage, you can consult it in this link:

ping -c 3 -I uesimtun0 google.com
# PING  (172.217.28.110) from 12.1.1.3 uesimtun0: 56(84) bytes of data.
# 64 bytes from gru06s09-in-f110.1e100.net (172.217.28.110): icmp_seq=1 ttl=115 time=38.8 ms
# 64 bytes from gru06s09-in-f110.1e100.net (172.217.28.110): icmp_seq=1 ttl=115 time=38.9 ms
# 64 bytes from bog02s07-in-f14.1e100.net (172.217.28.110): icmp_seq=2 ttl=115 time=40.8 ms

You can also validate the operation using a traffic generator provided in the Core 5G installation:

docker exec -it oai-ext-dn iperf3 -s -p 5201
# -----------------------------------------------------------
# Server listening on 5201
# -----------------------------------------------------------
iperf3 -c 192.168.70.135 -p 5201 -B 12.1.1.3
# Connecting to host 192.168.70.135, port 5201
# [  5] local 12.1.1.3 port 60539 connected to 192.168.70.135 port 5201
# [ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate         Retr  Cwnd
# [  5]   0.00-1.00   sec  14.0 MBytes   117 Mbits/sec   61    103 KBytes       
# [  5]   1.00-2.00   sec  13.5 MBytes   113 Mbits/sec    7   90.8 KBytes       
# [  5]   2.00-3.00   sec  12.2 MBytes   103 Mbits/sec    0    161 KBytes       
# [  5]   3.00-4.00   sec  16.5 MBytes   138 Mbits/sec   29    124 KBytes       
# [  5]   4.00-5.00   sec  13.3 MBytes   112 Mbits/sec   10    128 KBytes       
# [  5]   5.00-6.00   sec  14.4 MBytes   121 Mbits/sec   12    116 KBytes       
# [  5]   6.00-7.00   sec  10.7 MBytes  89.4 Mbits/sec    5    137 KBytes       
# [  5]   7.00-8.00   sec  10.5 MBytes  88.2 Mbits/sec    9    120 KBytes       
# [  5]   8.00-9.00   sec  11.6 MBytes  97.3 Mbits/sec    6    113 KBytes       
# [  5]   9.00-10.00  sec  12.2 MBytes   102 Mbits/sec   19    137 KBytes       
# - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
# [ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate         Retr
# [  5]   0.00-10.00  sec   129 MBytes   108 Mbits/sec  158             sender
# [  5]   0.00-10.00  sec   128 MBytes   107 Mbits/sec                  receiver

Enjoy ~108 Mbps of UERANSIM + OAI-5GCN!

Deploy a 5G Environment using UERANSIM and OAI 5GCN - caprivm/virtualization GitHub Wiki

Description

Prerequisites

Environment Variables

UERANSIM Installation

OAI-5GCN Installation

Deploy the 5G environment

Edit the `oai5gc-gnb.yaml`

Edit the `oai5gc-ue.yaml`

Connect UERANSIM and OAI-5GCN

⚠️ GitHub.com Fallback ⚠️

Deploy a 5G Environment using UERANSIM and OAI 5GCN - caprivm/virtualization GitHub Wiki

Description

Prerequisites

Environment Variables

UERANSIM Installation

OAI-5GCN Installation

Deploy the 5G environment

Edit the oai5gc-gnb.yaml

Edit the oai5gc-ue.yaml

Connect UERANSIM and OAI-5GCN

⚠️ **GitHub.com Fallback** ⚠️

Edit the `oai5gc-gnb.yaml`

Edit the `oai5gc-ue.yaml`

⚠️ GitHub.com Fallback ⚠️