WINLAB

What WINLAB does

WINLAB (Wireless Information Network Laboratory) is a university research laboratory at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, established in 1989 to advance next-generation wireless networks research. The lab operates two flagship research platforms: COSMOS, a city-scale wireless research testbed deployed in West Harlem, NYC as part of the NSF Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research (PAWR) initiative and one of only two FCC-designated Innovation Zones in the nation; and ORBIT, an indoor wireless network testbed operational since 2005. WINLAB also operates one of a small number of O-RAN Test and Integration Centers (OTIC) in North America, providing testing and certification capabilities for O-RAN equipment. Its research portfolio spans O-RAN, the FR3 spectrum band (7.125-24 GHz), AI/ML for wireless, spectrum sharing, joint communication and sensing, mobile edge cloud, mobile health, and quantum communication.

The lab monetizes through two primary channels: federal research grants and corporate sponsorships. Federal funding flows from NSF (including a $22.5M PAWR grant and a $3.8M COSMOS3 grant), NTIA ($10M SALSA project, $1.97M Wireless Innovation Fund), and the Department of Defense. Corporate sponsors pay annual membership fees at two tiers ($50,000 Associate, $100,000 Full) for access to research results, students, lab facilities, and intellectual property rights. Current sponsors include Accenture, Aruba Networks, AT&T, Ericsson, Interdigital, NEC Laboratories America, NTT docomo, Nokia, Qualcomm, Verizon Wireless, and the US Army. Notable research outputs include COSMOS3 (6G-era enhancements), STAIRWAI (AI integration with COSMOS), TraceFix (AI agent coordination verification), VitalID (skull-vibration biometric authentication for VR/AR), and the Zone Management System for spectrum sharing. WINLAB is led by Director Narayan Mandayam and Chief Technologist Ivan Seskar, and collaborates with Columbia University, NYU, Princeton University, and Duke University on major initiatives.

Name

WINLAB

Legal name

WINLAB, Rutgers University – Wireless Information Network Laboratory

Website

https://winlab.rutgers.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

WINLAB is a Rutgers University research laboratory established in 1989 that operates the COSMOS city-scale and ORBIT indoor wireless testbeds, providing O-RAN testing and certification, 5G/6G research, and AI/ML for wireless to federal agencies, mobile network operators, and equipment vendors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

North Brunswick

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Federal Research Grants: Funded through government research grants primarily from National Science Foundation (NSF), National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), and Department of Defense (DoD)
2. Corporate Sponsorship Program: Industry sponsors pay annual membership fees ($50,000 Associate, $100,000 Full) for access to research results, student talent, lab facilities, and IP rights

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

WINLAB is a university research laboratory at Rutgers University that conducts next-generation wireless networks research and provides open-access experimental infrastructure including the COSMOS city-scale testbed (West Harlem, NYC), the ORBIT indoor testbed (New Jersey), and O-RAN testing and integration services. The lab develops research software outputs such as TraceFix, VitalID, and the Zone Management System, funded through federal grants and corporate sponsorships, and offers OTIC certification and remote testbed access to academic and industry researchers.

Product overview

WINLAB (Wireless Information Network Laboratory) at Rutgers University is a research laboratory established in 1989, serving as the home of next-generation wireless networks research. WINLAB operates a portfolio of research platforms including the COSMOS city-scale testbed (deployed in West Harlem, NYC) and the ORBIT indoor testbed, both of which provide open-access infrastructure for the wireless research community. The laboratory conducts research across multiple technology areas including O-RAN, AI/ML for wireless, spectrum management, quantum communication, and smart cities. WINLAB offers testing and certification services through its O-RAN Test and Integration Center (OTIC), one of the few such facilities in North America. Key software/research outputs include TraceFix (AI agent coordination verification), VitalID (biometric authentication for XR), and the Zone Management System (spectrum sharing). The portfolio also includes enhancements like COSMOS3 (adding JCAS and multi-band sensing for 6G) and STAIRWAI (AI integration for testbeds).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• COSMOS Testbed City-scale wireless research testbed deployed in West Harlem, NYC, as part of the NSF PAWR initiative. Provides open-access experimental infrastructure for advanced wireless techniques testing and city-focused applications. Available to academic and industry researchers via remote and on-site access.
• ORBIT Testbed Indoor wireless network testbed at WINLAB supporting community resource experimentation since 2005. Enables testing of wireless protocols and network configurations in a controlled laboratory environment for academic and industry researchers.
• O-RAN Test and Integration Center (OTIC) O-RAN testing and integration center providing specialized capabilities in prototyping, preliminary testing, and certification of wireless technologies. One of the few such facilities in North America, serving mobile network operators and equipment vendors requiring O-RAN interoperability testing, performance evaluation, and energy efficiency certification.
• TraceFix Verification and repair system for AI agent coordination protocols using TLA+ counterexamples, designed to find and fix coordination errors in agentic AI systems.
• VitalID Biometric security system using skull-resonating vibrations from breathing and heartbeats for authentication in virtual and augmented reality platforms.
• Zone Management System (ZMS) Automatic spectrum management system using Spectrum Consumption Models (SCMs) for Radio Dynamic Zones, enabling spectrum sharing and interference management in dynamic spectrum environments.

Quantifiable outcome

• COSMOS designated as FCC Innovation Zone - one of two in the nation
• +3 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability15 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Open Networking Foundation (ONF)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 March 2026Collaboration on energy efficiency testing and modeling of commercial O-RAN systems. Joint research project presenting detailed energy-efficiency characterization using comprehensive power and performance measurements. Supported by NTIA Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund (PWSCIF).
• Open RAN Center for Integration and Deployment (ORCID)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 March 2026Joint collaboration on energy efficiency testing and modeling of commercial O-RAN systems. ORCID provided Lab Testing and Evaluation (T&E) support as part of the NTIA PWSCIF project.
• Duke UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 August 2025COSMOS3 project partner for enhancing and sustaining the COSMOS platform for 6G era wireless networks research.
• NokiacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 January 2025SALSA project partner evaluating technology for cellular networks. Results will inform future product design requirements for commercialization.
• Analog DevicescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 January 2025SALSA project partner providing specialized radio hardware to connect wireless technology with O-RAN, ensuring compatibility with equipment from different manufacturers.
• Princeton UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 January 2025SALSA project partner, with Professor Kaushik Sengupta leading development of the proposed radio microchip (RFIC).
• NYU Pi-RadiocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 January 2025Startup spun out of NYU Tandon leading development of the physical radio platform including packaging, antennas, and system integration for SALSA project.
• AT&TcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 September 2023WINLAB Chief Technologist Ivan Seskar part of INDIGO project led by AT&T for securing 5G networks. Part of NSF Convergence Accelerator Track G: Securely Operating Through 5G Infrastructure.
• Columbia UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCOSMOS project partner for city-scale wireless testbed deployment in West Harlem, NYC. Joint oversight of the open-access COSMOS platform for testing advanced wireless techniques.
• New York University (NYU)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCOSMOS project partner for NSF PAWR deployment. NYU Tandon School of Engineering leads the SALSA project with WINLAB as partner.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Ericsson Research: Industry wireless research arm of a major RAN vendor. Comparable because it works on 5G/6G, O-RAN, and AI/ML for wireless, but with a commercial product focus and far greater headcount than WINLAB.
• CableLabs: Industry-funded research consortium that operates a similar member-supported model for next-generation network research. Comparable in structure (industry-funded research lab) though focused on cable and broadband rather than wireless.
• InterDigital: Public wireless research and IP licensing company with a long track record in advanced wireless research. Comparable to WINLAB in research focus, but InterDigital pursues monetization via patents and standards contributions rather than grant funding.
• Nokia Bell Labs: Major industrial wireless research organization and WINLAB partner on the SALSA project. Bell Labs is comparable as a wireless R&D leader but operates at much larger commercial scale and pursues productization paths WINLAB does not.

Direct peers

• NYU WIRELESS: NYU Tandon's academic wireless research center with a similar 5G/6G, mmWave, and O-RAN research focus. NYU WIRELESS is already a WINLAB partner on the SALSA project, making it the closest comparable in mission, sponsorship model, and research portfolio.
• NSF PAWR – AERPAW: NC State's aerial wireless research testbed, another NSF PAWR-funded platform. It is comparable in that it provides open-access wireless experimentation infrastructure funded by federal grants and supports 5G/6G research.
• NSF PAWR – POWDER Platform: University of Utah's city-scale wireless research testbed funded through the same NSF PAWR program as COSMOS. It offers a directly comparable large-scale outdoor experimentation platform and shares WINLAB's federal-grant funding model.
• Stanford Wireless Systems Lab (WSL): Stanford's academic wireless research lab focused on next-generation wireless systems, including mmWave, massive MIMO, and AI/ML for wireless. Comparable in research depth and industry-partnership model to WINLAB.
• Columbia University Electrical Engineering – Wireless Research: Columbia is a core WINLAB partner on COSMOS, and Columbia EE faculty participate in joint wireless research. The group is comparable because of shared testbed access, co-PI roles, and overlapping research themes in advanced wireless.
• UT Austin Wireless Networking and Communications Group (WNCG): Long-running academic wireless research group at UT Austin with an industry-affiliate program similar in structure to WINLAB's Industrial Advisory Board. WNCG covers adjacent 5G/6G, signal processing, and AI-for-wireless topics.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/playlist?list=PL7npBeWC4dhEy13dKaVm9TNnnqlYXRDNn
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/winlab

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about WINLAB