Help build the open foundation for the next generation of wireless.
For decades, the software at the heart of every mobile network – the Centralized Unit and Distributed Unit that manage how devices connect, communicate, and hand off data – has been locked inside proprietary, single-vendor systems. That slowed innovation down, raised costs, and left operators with few real choices.
OCUDU is changing that. Hosted by the Linux Foundation, the OCUDU Ecosystem Foundation is building a carrier-grade, open source software stack for CU and DU – the core of Open RAN – so that 5G, 5G-Advanced, and early 6G networks can be built on a shared, openly governed foundation instead of walled gardens. Think of it as what Linux did for the data center and Kubernetes did for the cloud, now happening for the radio access network.
Why Organizations Join
- Shape the roadmap. Membership gives you a direct voice in the technical and strategic direction of OCUDU — not just a seat at the table, but real input into the code your business depends on.
- Reduce vendor lock-in. Open, modular CU/DU software means you can mix and match hardware and software components instead of committing to a single vendor’s stack.
- Move faster, together. Shared CI/CD pipelines, interoperability testing, and deployment-ready blueprints mean less time reinventing infrastructure and more time shipping production-ready deployments.
- Build on a trusted, auditable base. Open source means continuous scrutiny, faster patching, and transparency you can verify — critical for carrier-grade and mission-critical deployments.
- Join a global coalition. Telecom operators, chipmakers, cloud providers, systems integrators, defense and public-sector partners, and research universities are already building here together, spanning both commercial and public-sector applications.
- Connect research to production. Universities and labs get a pipeline from early-stage research directly into a real, deployable codebase — and a role in developing the next generation of RAN engineers.
Who Should Join
Telecom Operators
Shaping deployment requirements and validating real-world performance.
Vendors and Chipmakers
Building interoperable components on a common reference platform.
Cloud and Infrastructure Providers
Integrating CU/DU workloads into cloud-native environments.
Research Institutions and Universities
Advancing the state of the art and training the next generation of talent.
Government and Public-Sector
Partners pursuing secure, sovereign, dual-use wireless infrastructure.
Member Benefits: Why Membership Goes Further Than Participation
Anyone can download OCUDU, fork the code, or submit a pull request; that’s the nature of open source. Membership is different. It’s how organizations move from using the software to shaping it.
What You Get as a Member That You Don’t Get as a User or Contributor
- A seat in governance, not just a voice in the repo. Premier members hold seats on the Governing Board, where technical priorities, roadmap direction, and foundation strategy are actually decided. Contributors can propose changes; members help decide what gets prioritized and funded.
- Influence over the technical roadmap. Members participate in Technical Steering Committees and working groups that set release priorities, define reference architectures, and determine which capabilities (AI-native RAN, ISAC/PNT, energy efficiency, etc.) get built next — before they ship.
- Early visibility into what’s coming. Members get advance access to roadmap discussions, interoperability testing results, and pre-release builds, instead of finding out about a new capability when the rest of the world does.
- A recognized seat at the table with the industry’s biggest players. Members work directly alongside founding and premier members like AMD, AT&T, Ericsson, Nokia, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, Red Hat, SoftBank, T-Mobile, and Verizon, all shaping standards conversations most companies only get to react to.
- Access to interoperability labs and validation frameworks. Formal members get structured access to OCUDU’s testing and validation infrastructure, reducing the time and cost of proving your own products work with the stack, something a casual user has to solve alone.
- Marketing and market-positioning benefits. Member logos and case studies are featured in Foundation press releases, member directories, and joint announcements, real visibility in a fast-moving market, not just a GitHub contributor badge.
- Direct line to public-sector and research partners. Membership connects you to the FutureG Office, National Spectrum Consortium, and university research programs, relationships that are much harder to build from outside the formal structure.
- A vote in how the ecosystem evolves. As the Foundation adds new projects and expands scope, members (not the general public) vote on what gets adopted under the OCUDU EF umbrella.
| Open Source User / Contributor | Member | |
|---|---|---|
| Use the code | Yes | Yes |
| Submit patches | Yes | Yes |
| Vote on roadmap priorities | No | Yes |
| Governing / Technical Board seats | No | Yes (tier-dependent) |
| Early access to releases and test results | No | Yes |
| Logo / Visibility in Foundation communications | No | Yes |
| Formal interoperability lab access | No | Yes |
Membership Tracks
Premier Member
For organizations seeking Governing Board representation and top-level influence over strategy and roadmap.
General Member
For organizations building products or services on OCUDU and participating in Technical Steering Committees.
Associate Member
For smaller companies, nonprofits, and individual contributors.
Research Member
For universities and research labs connecting research to production.
Join Now
Ready to help define the open standard for the next decade of wireless? Membership inquiries are open now.