Test company LitePoint said that its Ultra-Wideband (UWB) test platform is the first to be validated by the FiRa (Fine Ranging) Consortium for PHY conformance as part of its FiRa Certified program. LitePoint was the first test vendor to join FiRa Consortium, which focuses on advancing the development of UWB, which enables devices to very accurately and securely determine the position of peer devices.
“The success of UWB lies in delivering seamless user experiences and device interoperability,” said Clint Chaplin, secretary of the FiRa Consortium board of directors and co-chair of the consortium’s Compliance and Certification Working Group; he is also senior principal standards engineer at Samsung Research America. “Certification is an important component to ensuring that interoperability, and we’re pleased to have validated LitePoint’s test platform as part of the Certification Program.”
Adam Smith, director of product marketing at LitePoint, said that the validation of IQgig-UWB “demonstrates that this platform is not only the perfect solution for R&D characterization and high-volume production but can now also be used for certification and pre-certification process.”
In other test news:
–Accedian and VMware are working closely together to enable CSPs with intelligence on application quality-of-experience in near-real-time. Accedian’s Skylight performance analytics solution can be used with VMware Telco Cloud Platform for visibility and performance assurance in 5G networks, across the Radio Access Network and edge infrastructure, the two companies said.
“Virtualizing and disaggregating the RAN is just the first step of a modernization journey. Automation and analytics must be layered on top to improve efficiency, service-level performance with a focus on improving quality of experience as CSPs deliver 5G services,” said Stephen Spellicy, VP of product marketing and solutions, Service Provider and Edge, at VMware. “Our continued partnership with Accedian is designed to enhance our Telco Cloud Platform to provide customers with service-level performance visibility, intelligence and assurance capabilities.
-The wireless test and measurement market is expected to grow to $16.8 billion by 2028, up from about $10.48 billion in 2019, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of nearly 7%, according to a report from Allied Research. Growth in the industry will be driven by increased adoption of smart devices, particularly in emerging economies, and advancement in wireless technologies.
–Keysight Technologies and Analog Devices are teaming up to support accelerated development of Open RAN, with the two companies collaborating to “create a robust test bench” to verify the interoperability of an Open Radio Unit, or O-RU, that includes ADI’s low-PHY baseband, software-defined transceiver, power, and clock integrated with an Intel FPGA.
“We are pleased to align our resources with ADI, a leader in O-RU technology solutions, to help service providers realize the full potential of the O-RAN specifications,” said Kailash Narayanan, VP and GM of Keysight’s Commercial Communications Group. “Keysight and ADI offer technology and test solutions that create an effective bridge between the radio unit and the core network, resulting in accelerated development and interoperability testing.”
“As a result of combining our technology, tools and design resources, ADI and Keysight are able to provide the O-RAN ecosystem with a robust platform to quickly develop reliable O-RUs,” said Joe Barry, VP of wireless communications at Analog Devices. “By working together, we offer our customers the fastest path for developing cost-effective, power-efficient, and interoperable O-RAN ready O-RUs.”
In related company news, Keysight said that HTC will be using its UeSIM 5G User Equipment Emulation (UEE) solution in a demonstration at the upcoming Mobile World Congress 2021, showcasing an Open RAN-enabled 5G base station’s ability to provide high throughput and low latency for privte networks.
“We are pleased to extend our collaboration with HTC to include smart mobile devices and technology to develop customized and flexible open RAN solutions,” said Giampaolo Tardioli, VP and GM of Keysight’s network access group. “Emulating real network traffic over both radio and O-RAN fronthaul, UeSIM allows HTC to validate the end-to-end performance of a 5G base station with open standard interfaces.”
-Network analytics company Mobileum says it has entered an agreement to acquire Convene Networks for an undisclosed sum. Convene provides integrated core network solutions for 3G/4G/5G networks, and Mobileum says the acquisition will expand its core network technology portfolio and enable it to provide commercial off-the-shelf “5G-in-a-box” for small carriers and private networks.
-The $100 million Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research initiative of the National Science Foundation this week announced its fourth and only rural wireless testbed, which will be located in central Iowa. Read the full story here.
–AT&T’s 5G will provide the foundation for new private 5G network testing at Texas A&M University’s RELLIS research campus, for exploration and development of commercial and defense use cases. The private 5G network testbeds will open this fall. Full story here.
–Wi-Fi Alliance has introduced a new, more streamlined option for Wi-Fi certification for companies that are developing products with limited changes to Wi-Fi elements that have already been certified. Details in this story.
