AERPAW

What AERPAW does

AERPAW (Aerial Experimentation and Research Platform for Advanced Wireless) is a university-hosted wireless research testbed established in 2019 at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina. The platform is funded by a $24 million grant from the National Science Foundation (award CNS-1939334) administered through the PAWR Project Office, with supplemental support from the PAWR Industry Consortium. AERPAW operates an outdoor drone test facility at Lake Wheeler Field Farms and additional research infrastructure at NC State's Centennial Campus, including an RF anechoic chamber. Its mission is to provide the academic and industry research community with programmable software-defined radio (SDR) infrastructure for studying the convergence of 5G wireless communications and autonomous aerial vehicles.

The platform's technical core integrates multiple wireless technologies, including 5G, LTE, mmWave (60 GHz), sub-6 GHz, LoRa, GNU Radio, srsRAN, and O-RAN, on a programmable SDR substrate. Notable capabilities include a digital twin virtual development environment for testing experiments before physical deployment, autonomous UAV/UGV control software supporting waypoint navigation and signal source localization, GNU Radio-based channel sounding experiments, and 3D antenna radiation pattern measurement across 902 MHz to 5.5 GHz. The AERPAW Open Testing and Integration Center (OTIC) is approved by the O-RAN Alliance and provides O-RAN Radio Unit conformance testing, end-to-end interoperability testing, and RAN Intelligent Controller testing. Distribution occurs through an Experiment Web Portal with CILogon institutional authentication, enabling researchers globally to register, submit project proposals, and access digital twin and physical testbed resources.

The business model is grant-funded academic research infrastructure, not commercial product sales. AERPAW does not generate commercial revenue; platform access is provided at no direct cost to qualified academic researchers and students. The website references an AERPAW Usage Fees page, suggesting a potential future fee structure for external users. The customer base consists of academic researchers and graduate students at universities across the United States and internationally, with secondary segments including industry partners and government/regulatory bodies such as the FAA. Go-to-market is community-led, driven through annual Community Workshops (ACW 2023, ACW 2025), student competitions (AFAR, AADM), O-RAN Plugfest participation, and standard academic outreach channels including publications and consortium engagement.

Name

AERPAW

Legal name

AERPAW - Aerial Experimentation and Research Platform for Advanced Wireless

Website

https://aerpaw.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

AERPAW is an NSF-funded wireless research testbed at NC State University, providing software-defined radio infrastructure and an outdoor drone test facility for academic researchers studying 5G and autonomous drone convergence, supported by a $24M NSF PAWR grant.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wireless Research Infrastructure

NAICS

Testing Laboratories and Services (54138)

SIC

Search, Detection, Navagation, Guidance, Aeronautical Sys (3812), Services-Testing Laboratories (8734), Instruments For Meas & Testing Of Electricity & Elec Signals (3825)

akta.pro primary industry

Autonomy Software, AI & Mission Management (UAS/UXV) (IMABAIAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

UAS Ground Control Stations (GCS) & Remote Operations Infrastructure (IMABAIAL), Aerial Robotics (Drones & UAV Autonomy) (HDAAAIAG)

Keywords

• Wireless research platform
• 5G drone testbed
• O-RAN testing facility
• Software-defined radio
• Autonomous UAV experimentation

Headquarters

HQ city

Raleigh

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. NSF PAWR Grant Funding: Funded by a $24 million grant awarded by the PAWR Project Office on behalf of the National Science Foundation (award CNS-1939334), with additional funding from the PAWR Industry Consortium. This is a research infrastructure initiative, not a commercial product.
2. Research Platform Access (In-Kind): Platform access is provided to academic researchers, students, and industry partners at no direct cost, funded through the NSF grant. Usage fees page exists suggesting potential future fee structure for some users.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

AERPAW is an NSF-funded wireless research platform hosted at NC State University that provides a physical outdoor drone testbed, a digital twin development environment, and SDR-based wireless experimentation infrastructure for studying the convergence of 5G technology and autonomous drones. The platform also operates an O-RAN Alliance approved Open Testing and Integration Center (OTIC) for O-RAN equipment certification, and supports student competitions, datasets, and publications for the academic research community.

Product overview

AERPAW (Aerial Experimentation and Research Platform for Advanced Wireless) is a NSF PAWR program-funded wireless research platform and outdoor drone test facility. The platform is the first wireless research platform to study the convergence of 5G technology and autonomous drones, funded by a $24 million grant. The core offering consists of the AERPAW Platform itself, which includes a digital twin development environment and physical outdoor testbed at Lake Wheeler Field Farms, NC. Supporting offerings include the AERPAW OTIC (Open Testing and Integration Center) for O-RAN Alliance certification testing, the Experiment Web Portal for experiment management, comprehensive User Manual documentation, and student competitions (AFAR and AADM challenges). The platform supports SDR-based experiments using GNU Radio, srsRAN, and various commercial equipment.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• AERPAW OTIC: AERPAW Open Testing and Integration Center - an O-RAN Alliance approved OTIC hosted by NC State University for testing O-RAN equipment.

Products and services

• AERPAW Platform An NSF-funded wireless research platform and outdoor drone test facility enabling academic researchers to study the convergence of 5G technology and autonomous drones. Includes a digital twin development environment and physical outdoor testbed at Lake Wheeler Field Farms in North Carolina.
• AERPAW Open Testing and Integration Center (OTIC) An O-RAN Alliance approved certification testing facility providing three test setups: O-RAN Radio Unit conformance testing, End-to-End/Interoperability testing, and RAN Intelligent Controller testing. Issues O-RAN Alliance certificates and badges for O-RAN equipment.
• AERPAW Experiment Web Portal A web-based portal integrated with AERPAW Platform Control for managing experiments, accessing the digital twin development environment, and controlling testbed resources including drones, SDRs, and fixed infrastructure nodes.

Quantifiable outcome

• Funded by $24 million NSF grant through PAWR program
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

16 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• North Carolina State UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLead institution hosting AERPAW. NC State provides the main headquarters at Centennial Campus, hosts the OTIC facility, and leads all major platform operations including research, development, and user support. Primary investigators include Ismail Guvenc, Mihail Sichitiu, and Rudra Dutta.
• Wireless Research Center of North CarolinamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner contributing to AERPAW's wireless research capabilities. Participated in developing aerial experimentation plans using commercial 5G network equipment.
• Mississippi State UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner contributing UAV cellular research expertise and SDR platform development. Led work on AERPAW software radio platform for UAV cellular research.
• Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI) at UNC Chapel HillmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner providing research computing expertise and infrastructure support for the AERPAW platform development.
• Purdue UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner contributing mmWave and agricultural technology research. Working with AERPAW on cellular network coverage analyses for UAV data relays and agricultural fleet applications.
• University of South CarolinamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner contributing signal processing and wireless communications research expertise.
• Town of CaryminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMunicipal partner providing local support and potential deployment areas for outdoor wireless experimentation.
• City of RaleighminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMunicipal partner providing local support and potential deployment areas for outdoor wireless experimentation.
• North Carolina Department of TransportationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment partner providing transportation and aviation-related research collaboration opportunities for UAV and wireless applications.
• O-RAN AlliancemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerStandards organization that approved AERPAW OTIC as an official Open Testing and Integration Center. AERPAW participates in O-RAN plugfests (Fall 2024, Spring/Fall 2025) and issues O-RAN conformance certificates.
• Keysight TechnologiesmajorTechnology or IntegrationEquipment provider and competition sponsor. Provides RF sensors (N6854A) for UAV detection and localization. Sponsoring AADM Challenge with prize awards.
• EricssonmajorTechnology or IntegrationEquipment provider supplying commercial 5G network equipment (eNB/gNB) for AERPAW experiments. Contributed to aerial experimentation using commercial cellular networks.
• FAAminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFederal Aviation Administration providing regulatory perspective on UAS operations using terrestrial cellular networks at ACW 2023.
• NI (National Instruments)majorTechnology or IntegrationEquipment provider and competition sponsor. Sponsoring AADM Challenge #2 with cash prizes and USRP B205mini hardware.
• AUVSI NCminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAssociation for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International - North Carolina chapter. Competition sponsor for AADM Challenge.
• 6GNCminorStrategic or Co-development Partner6G research consortium co-organized by NC State (Robert Heath, Nuria Gonzalez-Prelcic). Holds meetings during AERPAW Fall 2021 event and ACW 2023.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Keysight Technologies: Major RF and wireless test-and-measurement incumbent and an AERPAW equipment partner. Comparable to AERPAW OTIC in that both provide third-party RF/wireless testing services, though Keysight is a global commercial vendor rather than an academic testbed.
• National Instruments (NI / Emerson Test & Measurement): Provider of USRP SDR platforms used by AERPAW and many academic wireless labs, and an AADM Challenge sponsor. Comparable as an SDR/wireless experimentation infrastructure provider to academic and industry users worldwide.
• Ericsson: Provides commercial 5G base station equipment (eNB/gNB) integrated into AERPAW and a workshop/competition partner. Comparable in the O-RAN and cellular-connected UAS research space, though as a global vendor of the underlying RAN infrastructure.

Emerging players

• Federated Wireless: Spectrum-sharing and SAS provider with engagement in AERPAW workshops around UAV command-and-control and spectrum management. Comparable in the O-RAN/spectrum policy intersection where AERPAW's OTIC also operates.
• srsRAN (Software Radio Systems): Open-source LTE/5G/NB-IoT SDR platform that AERPAW uses for SE1/SE4/SE6 experiments. Peer in the sense that both serve the academic wireless research community with similar SDR/5G tooling, though srsRAN is a software vendor and AERPAW is an end-to-end platform.
• OpenAirInterface (OAI) Software Alliance: Open-source 5G/LTE software stack directly comparable to the srsRAN layer AERPAW integrates. Both serve academic and industry users building 5G experiments; OAI is software-only while AERPAW wraps it in a physical UAV-enabled testbed.

Direct peers

• COSMOS (PAWR Testbed): Closest peer — another PAWR-funded wireless research testbed (Rutgers/NYU/Columbia), focused on mmWave and edge computing for smart cities. Shares the same NSF funding program and similar academic operating model, competing for the same researcher mindshare.
• Colosseum (DARPA/NITOS wireless testbed): Large-scale RF emulation testbed for wireless experimentation, originally funded by DARPA. Comparable to AERPAW in providing shared infrastructure for wireless research, though at the emulation level rather than outdoor UAV experimentation.
• POWDER (PAWR Testbed): Direct PAWR counterpart at the University of Utah emphasizing massive MIMO and mmWave experimentation. Same funding mechanism (NSF/PAWR), same research-platform-as-a-service model, but with different wireless focus (hardware-heavy massive MIMO vs. AERPAW's UAV focus).

Others

• O-RAN Alliance: Standards body that certifies AERPAW OTIC and runs the plugfests AERPAW participates in. Included as an ecosystem/standards peer rather than a commercial competitor; defines the certification framework AERPAW monetizes.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/aerpaw
• GitHubgithub.ncsu.edu/rdutta/AERPAW-Dev
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@aerpaw8082
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/aerpaw

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about AERPAW