VIAVI to showcase 5G network testing and assurance portfolio at MWC 2019

Viavi Solutions will showcase its Lab To Field - 5G network testing and assurance portfolio in a live demonstration at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, February 25-28, 2019. Recognized as the foremost solution set to facilitate 5G network evolution and speed time to market, VIAVI Lab To Field includes testing systems that are in use with leading base station manufacturers and network service providers worldwide.

Select highlights of VIAVI Lab To Field deployments include:

• VIAVI wireless and optical networking lab validation systems have enabled the acceleration of 5G network development in China
• VIAVI field instruments supported the installation and activation of RAN for the first commercially available 5G network in the United States
• VIAVI supported a Tier-1 U.S. service provider in deploying 5G New Radio (5G-NR) over a dual mode-capable Massive MIMO radio.

“With 55 commercial networks expected by the end of 2019, this is the year the promise of 5G becomes reality,” said Oleg Khaykin, President and Chief Executive Officer, VIAVI. “As we deliver critical validation, verification and visibility to leading equipment manufacturers and service providers, we see a clear and pervasive drive across the industry to accelerate the availability of 5G services in the market.”

VIAVI Lab To Field

Lab To Field enables complete 5G lifecycle testing — from wrap-around base station validation and IoT emulation in the lab, to verification in the field and beyond for optimum performance and service assurance. VIAVI will be demonstrating:

• TM500 – the de facto standard for lab validation of network performance as experienced by end users, across multiple cells and different radio access technologies. TM500 is in use with almost every base station manufacturer across the world
• TeraVM 5G Core Emulator – the first mobile core emulator compliant with 3GPP standards, enabling complete, end-to-end 5G base station testing and validation, simplifying the development lifecycle of gNodeB (gNB) base stations for a more agile, 3GPP-compliant network
• CellAdvisor 5G – the next generation of the field instrument used by mobile service providers globally, and the first true 5G base station analyzer to support large-scale deployments
• NITRO Mobile – analytics and assurance based on a real-time intelligence platform that captures, locates and analyzes all mobile events across the RF, RAN, xHaul and core.

VIAVI Joins Industry Working Groups

To further strengthen its capability to support customers navigating the complexities of 5G networks, and nurture the ecosystem approach essential to scalability of the technology, VIAVI also announced it has joined major industry working groups:

• O-RAN Alliance – an alliance founded by operators to clearly define requirements for evolving radio access networks and build a supply chain ecosystem for a multi-vendor, interoperable, autonomous RAN architecture. Alliance members are committed to introducing O-RAN-compliant products in commercial 5G networks starting this year.
• Open vRAN ­– a multi-vendor group aimed at accelerating the viability, adoption and interoperability of Open Virtualized Radio Access Network solutions. VIAVI TeraVM enables an elastic test bed which can be used to deliver software-defined testing with reliable and repeatable results.
• NetSecOPEN – the first industry organization focused on the creation of open, transparent network security performance testing standards, which will be vital to 5G and IoT network topologies being inundated by an unprecedented volume and diversity of network and user equipment. TeraVM delivers a fully virtualized application and security validation solution to test and secure devices, networks and their services, and will run NetSecOPEN test suites.

“With the advent of 5G, network performance transcends fundamental characteristics such as coverage, speed and latency. Service providers are aggressively adopting automation, machine learning and virtualization to optimize and secure the network as it serves tens of billions of connected endpoints,” said Ian Langley, General Manager, Wireless, VIAVI. “VIAVI is building on its de facto standard portfolio of 5G test and assurance solutions with new collaborations in the virtualization and security domains, to deliver peace of mind as service providers deploy and activate complex new 5G architectures.”