Cellular standards-based next-generation broadcasting is being tested in the Bavarian region of Germany by a coalition of partners that includes Rohde & Schwarz, Kathrein and Telefónica Germany, as well as the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation and the Broadcast Technology Institute IRT.
The testing of Further evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service, or FeMBMS (the next-gen heir to eMBMS, or LTE broadcast) is happening as part of Germany’s 5G Today project. It is described as a “large-area 5G field trial in the Bavarian alpine region,” is being performed through two sites with 100 kilowatts of effective output power, one located in the municipality of Ismaning and one on the top of Wendelstein mountain, according to R&S. The test company said that the FeMBMS broadast mode “allows far-reaching and inexpensive distribution of popular content across large coverage areas with a radius of up to 60 kilometers.”
FeMBMS was first standardized in 3GPP’s LTE Release 14 (which is not technically a 5G release), but work on MBMS features has continued in Release 15 and Release 16. According to an ITU presentation, the ongoing Rel 16 work includes joint efforts by broadcasters and the mobile industry to develop 5G as an access technology for broadcasting.
AT&T has touted the use of 5G New Radio capabilities to “transform behind-the-scenes video operations, expand broadcast production capabilities and deliver the next generation of entertainment options” and has partnered with broadcast technology company LiveU to leverage its 5G network for portable broadcast units — but that is more centered on the use of 5G in content production, as opposed to supporting broadcasts to end devices.
In other test news:
–ETS-Lindgren is integrating Rohde & Schwarz’s CMX 500 radio communications tester into its offerings so that it can offer turnkey 5G device testing.
–Keysight Technologies said that Chinese company GOHIGH Data Networks Technology is using its cellular vehicle-to-everything test solutions to validate radio frequency performance of GOHIGH’s C-V2X module for connected cars.
Meanwhile, Keysight’s Ixia business said that its CloudStorm test solution was used to support China Mobile in the first industry test of an 800 gigabit Ethernet firewall with stateful traffic.
“Network equipment manufacturers are introducing hardware designed to support 5G environments and hyperscale data centers while network operators need to ensure that the new equipment scales to unprecedented speeds,” said Raymond Xiu, GM for Greater China at Keysight’s Ixia Solutions Group. “One of the key steps in the move to these higher speeds is validating that the network equipment is capable of supporting complex traffic today and in the future.” CloudStorm, he said, is the only offering that can supply the massive amount of stateful traffic to support such testing.
–Anritsu reported that its Wireless Connectivity Test Set MT8862A now supports 802.11ac over-the-air tests in line with the CTIA/WFA CWG Test Plan Version 2.1, which was released in April. Anritsu said that its test platform is the first to support that test plan, which is noted is “expected to become the de facto standard for the increasingly popular IEEE 802.11ac specification.”
–National Instruments recently reported its quarterly results, with revenues flat year-over-year at $311 million. Profits were down 4% from the same period last year, to $23 million — although the company noted that due to timing and a mix of orders, that its backlog had increased and was at $10 million. NI said that the value of orders over $20,000 was up 6% from the same time last year, while the value of orders of less than $20,000 was down 6% and total orders were up 1%.
