5G is just barely getting off the ground, but it’s not too early for “6G” research efforts — and Keysight Technologies is jumping in by joining Finland’s 6G Flagship Program, which is led by the University of Oulu, Finland and supported by the Academy of Finland.
Satish Dhanasekaran, SVP of Keysight and president of its Communications Solutions Group, said that the program “signals the start of a new era of wireless technology that will push the boundaries of high-speed and high-bandwidth applications. As the only test and measurement provider invited to take part of the program, Keysight is showcasing the unique role we play in solving design challenges ahead of a technology wave.”
6G, the company said, “will accelerate the digitalization of economies and society, moving the world significantly closer to becoming a truly global and digital community. The eight-year program envisages a society that by year 2030 is data-driven, enabled by near-instant, unlimited wireless connectivity. Fundamental research begins 10-15 years prior to the development of industrial standards. 6G will build on, and greatly expand, the capability that 5G is expected to deliver for vertical industries that rely on connectivity in healthcare, manufacturing, energy, transportation, and public safety.”
Keysight also reported its results for the most recent quarter, with revenues up eight percent year-over-year to $1.087 billion. Net income for the quarter was $159 million, up from $121 million during the same period in 2018.
In terms of segment breakdowns, Keysight’s Communications Solutions Group’s revenue was up 13% year-over-year to $683 million. That growth, the company said, was “driven by strong demand for 5G solutions across the wireless ecosystem.” Keysight’s Electronic Industrial Solutions Group’s revenues grew 3% to $295 million. The Ixia Solutions Group saw its revenues drop by 7% from the same time last year, to $110 million. Keysight attributed the decrease to softness in the network test market, although it noted that Ixia did see high-single-digit growth in network visibility.
In other test news:
-ICYMI: T-Mobile US has unveiled a new 5G-equipped device testing lab. Read more about it in our full story.
–Xilinx has introduced a new 16 nanometer FPGA with 35 billion transistors, aimed at prototyping advanced system-on-chips and application-specific integrated circuits, as well as applications including test and measurement. The company said that the new VU19P FPGA is the world’s largest, and that its features and capabilities include 9 million system logic cells, up to 1.5 terabits per-second of DDR4 memory bandwidth and up to 4.5 terabits per-second of transceiver bandwidth.
–Rohde & Schwarz and Qualcomm Technologies said this week that they successfully completed the first 5G New Radio location-based services session, with a device using a Snapdragon X55 modem and Qualcomm RF front-end. Full story here.
R&S also this week touted its solution for testing Chinese regional cellular vehicle-to-everything technology, which it showcased at Mobile World Congress Shanghai. The test company described the offering as an application layer test solution for 3GPP C-V2X Release 14, specifically aimed at the growing Chinese market and supporting China’s ITS GB/T 31024 standard for cooperative Intelligent Transportation Systems.
Rohde & Schwarz collaborated with Vector, Savari and Quectel on the solution. The device-under-test was a C-V2X module from Quectel, which was running Savari’s MobiWave V2X software stack and receiving ITS messages from an R&S CMW500 radio communication tester using a C-V2X software package, while also receiving a GPS signal from a R&S SMBV100B vector signal generator. Vector’s CANoe .Car2x simulation software was used create and simulate detailed traffic situations in order to verify C-V2X connectivity, R&S said.
–Viavi Solutions is working with Brazil’s national telecommunications agency, Anatel, to evaluate and test 5G-suitable spectrum ahead of auctions that will take place in 2020. Read the details here.
