The global 5G testing equipment and solutions market is expected to reach $2 billion by 2024 with a compound annual growth rate of 11.5%, according to a new forecast from analyst firm Frost & Sullivan.
The firm said that it expects that “healthy double-digit growth rate” over the next four years, even though growth in some 5G test segments “will appear sluggish because, initially, the 5G network that is deployed commercially will not have full functionality”—i.e., the deployment of Nonstandalone 5G first, followed by an evolution to Standalone mode and full 5G capabilities.
“5G has just broken ground, with limited deployments across South Korea, other countries across the Asia-Pacific, and North America,” said Rohan Joy Thomas, industry analyst for Measurement and Instrumentation at Frost & Sullivan.
Thomas pointed out that the various technologies which 5G is expected to support—such as enhanced mobile broadband and massive internet of things deployments—will drive the need for differing test capabilities.
“As new functionalities that enable IoT use cases are added upon 5G, it will influence the demand for testing equipment used to test those specific IoT functionalities,” he said, adding that on the wireline side, “The push for greater bandwidth will require enhanced fiber-optic technology, thereby driving demand for fiber-optic testing equipment. As 5G continues to gain strength, the need for testing solutions that can validate the performance of the high-density data will also increase.”
Frost & Sullivan forecasted that by 2024, 42.8% of the total 5G test market revenue will come from the Asia-Pacific region, followed by 33.8% of revenue coming from North America and 18.1% generated in Europe.
In other test news:
–Rohde & Schwarz introduced a new Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) test solution that it says allows both Wi-Fi accss points and WLAN stations to be tested in either single-input single-output mode or multiple-input multiple-output mode, and in single-user or multi-user operation.
The WLAN 11ax signalling test option with the R&S CMW270 Wireless Connectivity Tester support FODMA precorrection tests that Rohde & Schwarz says are in line with Wi-Fi Alliance certification for Wi-Fi 6. R&S also noted that it developed a WLAN protocol stack, which in conjunction with individual process sequences means that users can carry out the complex testing associated with 802.11ax rapidly and with only a single instrument.
Wi-Fi 6 brings orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) technology to Wi-Fi, for multi-user support via sharing available bandwidth. Rohde said that OFDMA “presents new challenges for developers of WLAN devices and significantly expands the scope of testing for the certification of Wi-Fi 6 devices.”
In related news, Rohde & Schwarz also this week launched a compact test solution aimed primarily at 5G production testing of devices and components in millimeter wave frequencies, the R&S CMPQ. It also put out a new 5G site testing bundle, which consists of its R&S TSMA6 autonomous receiver to show all LTE and 5G signals, a downconverter, a QualiPoc Android smartphone-based handheld network troubleshooter, and the R&S Cable Rider ZPH analyzer.
The TSMA6 receiver identifies channel frequency and provides signal quality analysis, while the QualiPoc smartphone solution checks out cell and beam quality measurements and can verify the presence and quality of the LTE anchor cell for NonStandalone 5G implementations. (Recent testing by Signals Research Group illustrated just how important strong LTE is to 5G NSA coverage; read that story here.) More details on the gNodeB test bundle here.
–Keysight Technologies this week announced a collaboration with security vendor Riscure to step up security for a highly connected 5G world. The two companies said that the partnership, which will combining Keysight’s testing and visibility solutions with Riscure’s suite of security test tools, aims to “advance the development of secure and resilient 5G networks, devices and services.”
In particular, Keysight said, the combination will rely on its 5G emulation capabilities, so that customers can better assess their risks and figure out how to protect their 5G assets.
“A combination of Riscure’s expertise in securing software, chip technology and connected devices with Keysight’s comprehensive portfolio of test and visibility solutions, allows our customers to deliver robust, functional and secure solutions for a global 5G security market that is projected to reach more than $4B in 2023,” said Marc Witteman, CEO at Riscure, in a statement. “Working together with Keysight, we will contribute years of security experience to help build one of the most important technology domains—the future of mobile connectivity.”
