U.S.-based Transaction Network Services is working with Irish company Cellusys on research, development and testing of roaming and security solutions for 5G networks.
The two companies will use TNS’ 5G Innovation Lab and partner to develop and test solutions that combine Cellusys’ security solutions, including signaling and its SMS firewall, with TNS’ capabilities in steering of 3G, 4G and soon-to-be-5G roaming traffic, and other services for national and regional network operators.
The move will expand Cellusys’ work in the U.S. market.
In a release, the companies noted that while 5G NonStandalone deployments have been most common thus far, as 5G Standalone deployments and 5G SA roaming becomes more available, it “may also bring new security threats to mobile operators’ networks,” making the security aspect of the partnership particularly important.
“We see 5G as a pivotal component within every roadmap and are confident we will be able to offer first-rate solutions to our customers as 5G roaming and security continue to evolve,” said Bill Versen, president of TNS’ communications market business. “Developing new technologies requires creativity and competence, but also a flexible and agile approach, which is why we are excited to embark on this journey with Cellusys.”
In a 2020 blog post, TNS’ Nina Le-Richardson, director of product management, wrote that 5G NSA roaming largely retained the roaming framework and global footprint from LTE. However, Le-Richardson wrote, as more 5G core networks (5G SA) are deployed, roaming between them will begin to be enabled and the signaling will need to be secure or encrypted. She added that roaming in 5G SA systems is anticipated to be particularly complex because of network slicing.
In other test news:
–Keysight Technologies says that it is the first to gain system vendor authorization from CTIA for a complete 5G millimeter wave over-the-air test system for use in validating device transceiver performance in the lab.
The test system includes Keysight’s UXM 5G Wireless Test Platform, its Compact Antenna test Range (CATR) chamber, its RF Conformance Toolset and CTIA test cases.
“We are delighted to support CTIA’s development of specifications critical to delivering multi-gigabit speeds that are essential to advanced 5G use cases such as fixed wireless access and smart factories,” said Roger Nichols, director of wireless standards at Keysight Technologies. “Keysight leveraged its expertise and experience in 5G mmWave technology, as well as OTA test methodology to contribute to CTIA’s development the FR2 test-plan, and ensure our system meets the stringent requirements of CTIA’s subject-matter experts.”
In other company news, Keysight said recently that it worked with certification lab CTC advanced to certify the first Wi-FI 6E device. The broadband home gateway was tested against the latest related standard from the European Telecommunications Standard Institute. According to a release, CTC advanced had been seeing demand for Wi-Fi 6E testing since the beginning of summer 2021 but there wasn’t a test solution available.
–Opensignal published new analysis this week which found that the use of CBRS spectrum in Verizon’s LTE network boosts average speeds by as much as 80% in the urban areas where the carrier has deployed those midband airwaves. Opensignal looked at average LTE download speeds for the three national operators in several cities with and without the use of midband spectrum. Read the full story here.
–Hiller Measurement, which provides custom T&M system design and manufacturing, has put together a new design center portal that enables virtual collaboration and access to its catalog to speed up system design. Hiller says that the combination of the Proteus Design Center and its recently announced ProteusRF customizable test platform enable it to manufacture, test and ship a first article in as little as four weeks from order acceptance.
–RootMetrics recently pitted midband and mmWave 5G against one another in Chicago to test whether mmWave could live up to the premise that it can handle network congestion without diminishing user experience. The benchmarking company tested T-Mobile US’ midband 5G against Verizon’s low-band 5G and mmWave 5G. Read RCR’s story here.
–Wireless Systems Solutions, which focuses on testing for wireless broadband systems, debuted a new channel emulator for high-bandwidth, multiple-port RF channels. The company said that it supports technologies including 5G, LEO and GEO satellite communications, radar systems and Wi-Fi, among others.
-Test company InTEST is looking to expand beyond the semiconductor market with the $9 million acquisition of Acculogic, which provides robotics-based electronic production test equipment and application support services. Acculogic serves the circuit test market, but it also has made a name for itself in electric vehicle battery testing, and inTEST says the acquisition will therefore expands it portfolio of test solutions for electric vehicle OEMs.
-Another test-related acquisition of interest: Private equity firm J.F. Lehman & Co. has bought Narda-MITEQ from L3 Harris. Narda-MITEQ designs and manufactures custom RF and microwave subsystems for markets including aerospace and defense as well as the T&M market. It has about 400 employees across three facilities in Hauppauge, NY; Pfullingen, Germany; and Cisano, Italy.
