MAC-Gyver: Open, Programmable, Scheduling for AI-RAN 6G Systems

Abstract

Cellular networks are integrating Artificial Intelli- gence (AI) into radio access network control. The MAC scheduler is a promising target because it allocates a limited resource, spectrum, at every slot, under competing latency, throughput, and reliability requirements. However, most learning-based sched- ulers are evaluated only in simulation. Production schedulers are difficult to modify, and realistic stress tests require more radio hardware than most laboratories can provide. We present MAC-Gyver, an open-source framework for developing and evaluating scheduling applications that execute directly inside the OpenAirInterface scheduler. It exposes scheduler observations and controls through typed interfaces while preserving the underlying protocol and real-time execution paths. The same applications run over the air and in mac-emu, a PHY-less emulator that executes the unmodified OpenAirInterface Layer 2 stack for up to 90 users on one host at real-time slot pace, with a 3GPP-compliant channel model. To showcase the flexibility of MAC-Gyver, we evaluate two use cases. A proactive uplink scheduler predicts packet arrivals and roughly halves median round-trip latency. A frequency-selective uplink scheduler selects contiguous sub-bands from per-PRB sounding observations and is evaluated across mobility and power-limited operating points against an offline scheduling ceiling. Together, they show how the same production stack can be an AI playground that supports implementation, controlled evaluation, and over-the-air validation through complementary scheduling use cases.