Open Source-based Over-The-Air 5G New Radio Sidelink Testbed

The focus of this paper is the prototype development for 5G new radio (NR) sidelink communications, which enables NR UEs to transfer data independently without the assistance of a base station (gNB), designated as sidelink mode 2. Our design leverages open-source software operating on software-defined radios (SDRs), which can be easily extended for multiple UE scenarios. The software includes all signal processing components specified by 5G sidelink standards, including Low -Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoding/decoding, polar encoding/decoding, data and control multiplexing, modulation/demodulation, and orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation/demodulation. It can be configured to operate with different bands, bandwidths, and multiple antenna settings. One method to demonstrate the completed Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH) development is to show synchronization between a SyncRef UE and a nearby UE. The SyncRef UE broadcasts a sidelink synchronization signal block (S-SSB) periodically, which the nearby UE detects and uses to synchronize its timing and frequency components with the SyncRef UE. Once a connection is established, the SyncRef UE acts as a transmitter and shares data with the receiver UE (nearby UE) via the physical sidelink share channel (PSSCH). Our physical sidelink framework is tested using both an RF simulator and an over-the-air (OTA) testbed. In this work, we show both synchronization and data transmission/reception with 5G sidelink mode 2, where our OTA experimental results align well with our simulation results.