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ACCORD

Welcome to ACCORD

Acceleration of Compatibility and Commercialization for Open RAN Deployments

What is ACCORD?

ACCORD is a comprehensive testing and evaluation consortium designed to advance the adoption of Open Radio Access Networks (Open RAN) in the United States.

  • The consortium is led by U.S. Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) acting as equal voting members.
  • It brings together ecosystem partners, vendors, suppliers, and academic institutions to expand vital testing resources and data.
  • International operators, such as NTT DOCOMO and Jio, participate as collaborative consultants to ensure global alignment.

Project Objectives

The primary mission of ACCORD is to transition the telecommunications industry toward open, modular networks, which increases vendor diversity and reduces vendor lock-in. Key objectives include:

  • Creating Premier T&E Centers: Establishing an Open RAN Testing & Evaluation (T&E) and Research & Development (R&D) Center with a primary hub in the Dallas Technology Corridor (DORADO) and a satellite hub in the Washington D.C. metro area (POTOMAC).
  • Ensuring Interoperability and Security: Focusing heavily on the interoperability, performance, and security of 5G systems against industry-accepted standards like 3GPP and O-RAN ALLIANCE™ specifications.
  • Establishing a "Federated Labs as a Service" (FLaaS) Model: Providing a collaborative environment to test Open RAN products regardless of the vendor or inventor.
  • Maturing the Supply Chain: Rapidly inserting Open RAN technologies from new entrants into incumbent 5G/LTE macro networks without degrading performance or quality of service.

Consortium Leadership

ACCORD represents a massive collaborative effort led by industry giants and premier academic institutions.

  • AT&T: Serves as the primary applicant on behalf of the ACCORD Consortium. AT&T hosts the primary testing hub, DORADO, in the Dallas metro area.
  • Verizon: A founding member and equal voting partner in the consortium. Verizon works alongside AT&T to formalize the governance structure, decision-making, and financial obligations of the project.

Virginia Tech & Principal Investigator

Virginia Tech plays a vital academic and research role in the consortium by partnering with the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) testbed to direct the POTOMAC satellite hub.

Dr. Aloizio Da Silva

Dr. Da Silva is the Director and Principal Investigator steering this effort at Virginia Tech. His primary area of research is in wireless networking communication, focusing on Network Function Virtualization (NFV), Software-Defined Networking (SDN), and Software-Defined Radio (SDR) on large-scale testbed experimentation, as well as radio access networks and core networks. Dr. Da Silva is also a research faculty member at the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech.