Microwave network equipment company Aviat Networks this week announced results of field tests conducted with Ameren and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), focused on exploring the effects of unlicensed device use at 6 GHz on microwave point-to-point links in the band.
Aviat said that the testing was conducted on one of its existing links, an 18.5-mile Aviat IRU 600v3 microwave link in Ameren’s network that operates at 5974.85 MHz with a 30-megahertz channel and 256 QAM modulation configuration, with 8-foot antennas. The companies tested two types of unlicensed devices, both of which “were found to produce interference to the incumbent microwave link when operating in a co-channel frequency,” Aviat said. However, the company also found that its new Frequency Assurance Software (FAS) successfully detected, reported and captured the details of the interference.
One of the devices was a Part 15-compliant point-to-point radio, the other was an 802.11ax waveform from a signal generator, tested at multiple points and at varying power levels and bandwidths, and while applying partial fading to the main link, Aviat reported. “At all times, the implementation of both the licensed PTP link and the unlicensed 6 GHz devices were within legal limits of the FCC regulations,” the company noted.
While both device-types did product interference to the microwave wave, Aviat said, “the two unlicensed sources did not affect the link equally” with the 802.11ax device producing less interference. The company also concluded that:
-Antenna elevation mismatch “did not significantly protect the incumbent licensed microwave link when the unlicensed sources were at a distance of less than 1.2 km.”
-The side and back lobes of the incumbent licensed microwave link are “vulnerable locations” for a co-channel source of a Part 15-compliant transmitter.
Pete Smith, president and CEO of Aviat Networks, said that the testing “demonstrates that, with the evolution of Wi-Fi 6e and other unlicensed devices operating in the band, solutions like FAS … are critical to maintain the trusted reliability of licensed microwave links.”
In other test news:
–Spirent Communications this week unveiled new software for testing GNSS connectivity earlier in the device development process. SimIQ for Spirent’s GSS7000 and GSS9000 simulators was designed to meet the “growing need to test GNSS capabilities earlier to accelerate product development, while simultaneously reducing costs by identifying issues prior to the purchase of hardware components,” Spirent said.
Spirent also announced this week that its Velocity Lab as a Service (LaaS) service has been implemented by a telecom company in Malaysia, to automate a lab in Kuala Lampur. Spirent said that the service provider “has been able to accelerate test capabilities, speed up new product development and improve user experience.”
–Keysight Technologies has notched a number of recent customer wins. The test company said that network equipment manufacturer Comba Telecom will be using its 5G user equipment emulation capabilities to validate 5G Radio Access Network and core network functionality across its small cell portfolio, including both indoor and outdoor environments, and open RAN equipment provider Baicells will be using the 5G UE emulation to test 4G and 5G base station performance under a range of real-world scenarios and across the full protocol stack.
Keysight also said this week that it has received various federal U.S. security certifications for its Vision network packet broker portfolio, enabling the company to provide visibility solutions to government agencies.
–Rohde & Schwarz said that its R&S TS8980FTA-3A test system version has “greatly increased” the number of test platform approval criteria for global certification groups, with 572 new Global Certification Forum validations and 215 new PTCRB validations for 5G device testing—particularly 5G sub-6 GHz radio frequency conformance testing.
