AmpliTech Group And Northeastern University Demonstrate First Open-Source Massive MIMO O-RAN System with Category B Fronthaul

Demonstration validates AmpliTech’s commercial-grade ORAN 5G 64T64R MIMO radio in an end-to-end open-stack O-RAN deployment, a landmark for open, interoperable wireless systems

HAUPPAUGE, N.Y., Feb. 25, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AmpliTech Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMPG, AMPGR, AMPGZ) today announced that its AmpliTech 5G Division and Researchers at Northeastern University’s Institute for Intelligent Networked Systems (INSI), have successfully demonstrated the first open-source prototype of a massive MIMO (mMIMO) O-RAN system achieving O-RAN Category B operation in a laboratory environment. The demonstration integrates AmpliTech’s commercial-grade mMIMO Category B radio unit with the OpenAirInterface (OAI) CU/DU stack, marking the first time a full, end-to-end massive MIMO O-RAN system has been assembled entirely from open, interoperable components.

The demonstration combined AmpliTech’s mMIMO O-RAN Category B radio unit with OAI’s CU/DU into a single cohesive, standards-compliant platform. The INSI team showcased hybrid beamforming capabilities with a 2-layer MIMO configuration, demonstrating sustained throughput under mobility conditions with proper beam management. Critically, it validates that AmpliTech’s radio unit, designed for commercial deployment, can operate at full performance within a fully open, multi-vendor stack.

Massive MIMO systems, which use large antenna arrays to serve multiple users simultaneously through spatial multiplexing, have historically required tightly integrated, vendor-specific implementations. This demonstration challenges that assumption by showing that the full stack, from the physical layer up through the RAN control plane, can be assembled from open, interoperable components, with no reliance on proprietary, closed solutions. Category B is the technically demanding fronthaul interface that enables this at massive MIMO scale, and its successful validation here marks a first for open-source RAN.

"This is a significant step toward making Massive MIMO Open RAN a practical reality rather than a research ambition. Demonstrating that AmpliTech’s commercial massive MIMO radio integrates seamlessly into a fully open-source stack opens entirely new possibilities for how next-generation networks are designed, deployed, and optimized without locking operators into proprietary ecosystems."

— Tommaso Melodia, Director, Institute for Intelligent Networked Systems, and William Lincoln Smith Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Northeastern University

"The O-RAN 7.2 Category B is the interface that truly unlocks massive MIMO at scale, and achieving it with an open-source stack has been a long-standing goal for our community. This demonstration with Northeastern and AmpliTech is exactly the kind of end-to-end validation that turns open-source software from a research tool into a credible foundation for commercial deployment. It shows that openness and high-performance massive MIMO are not in conflict, they are fully compatible."

— Irfan Ghauri, Director of Operations, OpenAirInterface Software Alliance

"This demonstration is a critical milestone for AmpliTech and for the Open RAN ecosystem. Seeing our 64T64R Category B radio operate end-to-end within a fully open-source stack at Northeastern proves that high-capacity massive MIMO and true multi-vendor openness are no longer in tension. This is the kind of validation that gives operators the confidence to deploy Open RAN at scale, and it demonstrates AmpliTech’s commitment to building radios that work in real, disaggregated environments, not just proprietary lab conditions."

— Fawad Maqbool, CEO and CTO, AmpliTech Group

The INSI team led the system integration, testbed configuration, and validation measurements, providing a reproducible reference implementation that academic and industry researchers can build upon. The open-source nature of the demonstration means the architecture can be studied, replicated, and extended, accelerating adoption across the research and operator communities.

The results align with growing momentum around Open RAN and next-generation wireless systems, where flexibility, vendor interoperability, and intelligent control are viewed as essential properties for future 5G and 6G deployments.

About the Institute for Intelligent Networked Systems at Northeastern University

The Institute for Intelligent Networked Systems (INSI) at Northeastern University is a leading research and innovation hub focused on wireless systems, Open RAN, and next-generation 5G/6G networks. INSI works closely with industry and government partners to design, prototype, and validate advanced network technologies on large-scale experimental platforms, accelerating commercialization of secure, energy-efficient, and scalable wireless solutions.

About OpenAirInterface Software Alliance (OSA)

The OpenAirInterface Software Alliance is a non-profit organization developing open-source software implementations of 3GPP standards for 5G and 6G cellular networks. OAI provides a fully open and interoperable RAN and core network stack widely used by researchers, network vendors and operators worldwide.

About AmpliTech Group

AmpliTech Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMPG, AMPGW) designs, develops, and manufactures advanced RF and microwave signal-processing components and systems for satellite, 5G/6G telecom, quantum computing, defense, and space applications. Its five divisions, AmpliTech Inc., Specialty Microwave, Spectrum Semiconductor Materials, AmpliTech Group Microwave Design Center, and AmpliTech Group 5G Divisions work symbiotically and serve customers worldwide. Through continuous innovation and U.S.-based manufacturing, AmpliTech is enabling the next generation of connectivity and communication systems.