Keysight Launches 5G NR-Ready Solutions Across the Workflow at MWC 2018

Keysight Technologies, the technology company that helps enterprises, service providers, and governments accelerate innovation to connect and secure the world, announced it will demonstrate the industry’s first 5G 4Ggbs data throughput connection at 28GHz using its 5G mmWave over-the-air (OTA) performance test solution at Mobile World Congress 2018.

The company will also introduce comprehensive 5G New Radio (NR) signal creation and analysis software tools, designed to accelerate 5G product design development and validation by chipset and device manufacturers.

Semiconductor companies building 5G chipsets must accommodate a wide range of new application demands. This means they will need to meet new interface standards and support expanded frequencies, lower latencies, and new waveforms.

“Keysight partnered early with industry-leading chipset and device makers to deliver a common set of 5G design and simulation resources that can be used across the 5G ecosystem,” stated Kailash Narayanan, vice president and general manager for Keysight’s wireless device and operators group. “Keysight’s solutions accurately emulate the network, measure 5G devices, base stations, and massive subscriber behavior scenarios, to reduce errors and speed cycle time. Keysight has applied its expertise in radio frequency, mmWave, protocol and IP networking, to develop solutions that enable chipset makers to master the complexities of 5G and quickly innovate, transform, and win in the market.”

Keysight 5G solutions for Chipset and Device Manufacturers

At MWC 2018, Keysight will demonstrate the industry’s first 5G 4Gbps data throughput at 28GHz with the company’s 5G network emulator integrated with mmWave OTA solutions for radio frequency, functional and performance test.

In addition, Keysight announced and will demonstrate, unique 5G NR ready end-to-end device workflow solutions which streamline the product workflow from early prototyping and development to design validation and manufacturing. These solutions leverage common development tools to eliminate siloed data sets and share design insights gained across each stage of the device lifecycle. As a result, chipset and device manufacturers can accelerate delivery of new 5G NR products to market.

Keysight also enables the device ecosystem to cost-effectively perform 5G mmWave device validation and ramp early production with the company’s 5G non-signaling mmWave transceiver solution, which covers 28GHz and 39GHz frequency bands. Demonstrated at MWC, it enables manufacturers to move from R&D to design verification test (DVT) and manufacturing when ramping up 5G chipsets and devices. It also offers flexible and easy set up for 5G mmWave test scenarios with multiple devices under test using to the latest 5G NR standard.

In addition, Keysight will demonstrate the industry’s first commercially available 5G NR software solutions covering the full product design cycle with simulation, signal creation and analysis, with uplink and downlink directions, enabling both transmitter and receiver simulation and test. Keysight’s software solutions are compliant with the 3GPP Release 15 TS 38 5G specification and are integrated with Keysight’s broad range of signal generators and signal analyzers, including 5G NR software solutions.

Early availability of Keysight’s 5G NR-ready software solutions enable chipset and device manufacturers to simulate, prototype and validate physical layer implementations of 5G NR-ready chipsets and devices with greater insight and confidence, accelerating market readiness. Keysight solutions include W1906EP SystemVue 5G baseband verification library to simulate 5G NR signals, N7631C Signal Studio Pro for 5G NR for waveform creation, as well as 89600 VSA option BHN for 5G NR modulation analysis and N9085E 5G NR X-Series measurement applications software for 5G NR signal analysis for design and test.

Keysight will also demonstrate the industry’s first integrated cellular + Wi-Fi protocol verification solution, which enables network operators to simultaneously test cellular and Wi-Fi cellular signaling, from data traffic generation to physical transmission, from layers 1 to 7. This comprehensive testing enables network equipment manufacturers to verify the interoperability of devices in licensed and unlicensed spectrums while significantly reducing time-to-market.

Services across the 5G ecosystem

Test departments are being pressured to do more with less. The days of operating with a spreadsheet and gut feel on how test assets are being utilized are no longer sustainable.