Keysight Technologies has teamed up with space-based NB-IoT start-up Skylo to put together a certification program for 3GPP 5G Release 17 Non-Terrestrial Network chipsets, modules and devices to be used on Skylo’s network. Skylo will use Keysight’s testing solutions combined with Skylo’s own test cases.
Skylo has done work on NTN that it refers to as “Standards Plus”, with network development “grounded in 3GPP specifications” but with additional technical specifications from its own engineers “to improve the functionality, interoperability, and ubiquity of the satellite-based network over and above the 3GPP standards.” Skylo says it has particularly focused on establishing reliable connectivity with devices that attach to satellite as easily as terrestrial networks (and vice versa); spectral efficiency; and “additional functionality and features to further augment the services they already receive with terrestrial [networks].” Skylo’s services make use of Inmarsat’s network; it began offering service in India in 2021 via a partnership with state-owned telco Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), and also has a partnership with Softbank in Japan.
Skylo’s investors include Softbank, DCM, Innovation Endeavors and Moore Strategic Ventures.
In other test news:
-The Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research (PAWR) now has several of its testbeds approved as Open Testing and Integration Centers (OTICs) by the O-RAN Alliance. PAWR’s COSMOS testbed in New York City was named an OTIC earlier this year, and it has now been joined by the POWDER testbed in Salt Lake City, Utah; and the ARA testbed in Ames, Iowa. Colosseum, which is an affiliated platform in the PAWR program which was previously the testbed for DARPA‘s Spectrum Collaboration Challenge, also recently was named part of an OTIC through the Institute for the Wireless Internet of Things (WIoT) at Northeastern University in Burlington, Massachusetts. (Full story on the latter is here.)
–Teledyne LeCroy said that its FRVS test set-up has been approved by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (Bluetooth SIG) for testing Bluetooth Basic Rate (BR), Extended Data Rate (EDR) and Low Energy (LE) technologies. Teledyne LeCroy said that the FRVS solution now covers all the required BR, EDR and LE radio frequency tests, including angle of arrival and angle of departure, which are used in indoor navigation systems. The FRVS uses the company’s TLF3000 RF Tester, which is a 2.4 GHz software-defined receiver, signal analyzer and signal generator which “captures and analyses the entire 2402-2480 MHz band simultaneously,” according to the company, and provides RF physical layer testing for both Bluetooth LE and BR/EDR, as well 802.15.4 technologies like Zigbee and Thread.
Paul Russell, VP of wireless products at Teledyne LeCroy, said that the FRVS continues to reflect Teledyne LeCroy’s “unwavering support for the latest Bluetooth initiative.” He continued: “With the recent addition of SIG approved angle of arrival and angle of departure test cases, Bluetooth developers and test labs can now eliminate redundant and costly test tools and partial implementations from their test labs and instead rely on the FRVS test platform to provide the widest coverage of official Bluetooth SIG compliance specifications.”
-In other news this week from Keysight Technologies, the company introduced the newest version of its Pathwave Design software for electronic design automation (EDA), with new features focused on software automation (including a Python API), IP and design data management (which integrates its acquisition of Cliosoft earlier this year) and simulation acceleration.
Niels Faché, VP and GM for Keysight EDA, said that the company’s “enterprise EDA customers are emphasizing digital transformation of design tool workflows and data management processes to better serve their global engineering footprints. Given today’s shortage of engineering talent, they need to scale up output from available resources and maximize ROI from people and technology through more efficient utilization of design data and IP.” The new Pathwave Design suite, he says, “addresses these issues head-on.”
Keysight also debuted a high-density Source Measure Unit (SMU) for semiconductor characterization, the PZ2100 series. The solution provides 20 precision SMU channels within a 1U rack space for characterizing integrated circuit designs.
-The T&M equipment market in Asia-Pacific is expected to see a compound annual growth rate of 5.3% through 2026, according to a new report from TechNavio, with increasing competition driving promotional activity and advertising spending.
