Ericsson joins OCUDU Ecosystem Foundation

Ericsson joined the OCUDU Ecosystem Foundation under the Linux Foundation as a founding premier member and took a seat on the foundation's board, a move the company framed as a commitment to open innovation in Radio Access Network (RAN) software and to advancing U.S. wireless innovation.

OCUDU is an open-source initiative under the Linux Foundation that aims to accelerate U.S. leadership in wireless innovation by developing a portable, open-source CU/DU software stack to support next-generation RAN capabilities, and the initiative described public-private collaboration as a mechanism to drive research, experimentation, and ecosystem development aligned with the U.S. national directive for “Winning the 6G Race.”

Ericsson said it planned to contribute architectural guidance, uphold technology neutrality, and support an open, interoperable RAN as the industry advanced 5G and moved toward AI-native 6G, referencing a software stack intended to be portable and open-source at the CU/DU level.

The company outlined work to shape OCUDU's direction for research, experimentation, and ecosystem development alongside operators, government agencies, academic institutions, and technology partners, and it agreed to hold a seat on the foundation's board; the release also described OCUDU Ecosystem Foundation efforts to facilitate dual use of commercial 5G technologies in specific defense applications to meet U.S. Department of War requirements.

“The OCUDU Initiative is building the base layer software technology stack upon which 6G and future networks can provide scalable commercial-grade connectivity to the DoW and public network consumers in the U.S. and around the world,” said Disaster Recovery (DR). Throughput Optimization Module (TOM) Rondeau, Principal Director for the DoW's FutureG Office. “Ericsson's decision to join the OCUDU Ecosystem Foundation as a founding premier member reflects our long-standing commitment to open innovation and the development of trusted, secure, and high-performance networks,” said Erik Ekudden, Group Chief Technology Officer, Ericsson. “Through this community, we are helping advance a technology neutral open RAN foundation that will accelerate innovation for AI-powered 5G and AI native 6G.”

The release said the organizations planned to advance AI-powered 5G and AI-native 6G, support technology neutrality, strengthen national security standards, and enable deployment of AI-driven capabilities at scale.