With 5G starting to hit the market and more devices expected to arrive in the second half of this year and in 2020, user equipment development and testing continue to accelerate.
National Instruments recently introduced a test user equipment device that supports real-time testing of millimeter wave frequencies, in either standalone or non-standalone 5G New Radio. NI said that the system is Release 15 compliant and can emulate “the full operation of end-user devices or user equipment” — the test device is designed to help with validating networking design and functionality before launch, since the networks need to be tested both in the lab and in the field — often before commercial 5G devices are widely available.
NI’s test UE was recently used in a demonstration of a 28 GHz 5G NR network at the Brooklyn 5G Summit, with a gNodeB built from a CommScope remote radio head running software from Radisys that communicated with NI’s test UE. NI said that ensuring the the gNodeBs and UEs work together properly is “an important step in delivering this technology to market.”
Meanwhile, Rohde & Schwarz said that it carried out a successful non-standalone 5G New Radio FR1 signaling test with a 5G smartphone from electronics manufacturer OPPO. The device uses Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X50 5G modem and RF frontend solutions, R&S said. Meanwhile, MediaTek used the test firm’s R&S CMW500 wideband radio communication tester and CMX500 5G New Radio signaling tester to validate MediaTek’s Helio M70 5G modem for sub-6 GHz 5G signaling.
Keysight Technologies recently said that the company’s 5G Conformance Toolset supports the greatest number of validated Global Certification Forum and PTCRB protocol and radio frequency conformance test cases for 5G New Radio standalone and non-standalone modes.
Keysight also said that chipmaker AAC Technologies is using its 5G solutions for its millimeter wave radio frequency front-end development for smartphones and base stations; similarly, Chinese 5G and IoT module maker Quectel is also using Keysight’s test solutions to support its go-to-market efforts and validate both protocol and RF testing at sub-6 GHz and mmWave frequencies. Keysight announced this week that it is working with Chinese automotive chipset design house Calterah for a new generation of millimeter wave radar chipsets for connected cars.
