Open RAN player Mavenir will be using Keysight Technologies’ testing tools to support development of software for its 5G RAN and core platforms.
Mavenir will leverage Keysight solutions including its 5G user equipment emulation (UEE) capabilities, to emulate a “massive number of subscribers and numerous use scenarios” and validate conformance of O-RAN distributed units and radio units, the two companies said in a joint release. They added that UEE solutions provide “real-world scenarios for protocol and load testing with integrated sophisticated channel emulation capabilities that allow users to verify the performance of a RAN deployed in a complex radio environment.”
“Mavenir and Keysight support an industry in transformation that needs flexible tools for validating the performance of virtualized 5G radio access and core network functionalities,” said Giampaolo Tardioli, vice president and general manager of Keysight’s network access test group, in a statement. He added that Keysight’s 5G UEE platforms “enable Mavenir to validate the end-to-end performance of cloud-native RAN and 5GC software solutions, critical in the delivery of agile solutions that support more than twenty-five communications service providers (CSPs) committed to deploying O-RAN compliant networks.”
Mavenir was recently selected including by Dish Network to provide open RAN software for Dish’s new 5G network and has supported Turkcell’s network virtualization and modernization efforts. The vendor is also partnering with Altiostar with an eye toward providing openRAN solutions for rural U.S. network operators who are being impacted by the Trump administration’s efforts to eliminate the use of Chinese equipment in domestic networks.
In other Keysight news this week, the company made the most recent release of its flagship PathWave Design software suite for 5G systems, and highlighted its recent contributions to a newly published over-the-air testing technical report from 3GPP, which defines the radiated metrics and test methodology for verifying multi-antenna reception performance of 5G handheld user equipment (such as a smartphone), operating in either sub-6 GHz or millimeter-wave frequencies.
In other test news:
–Anritsu touted continued leadership in 5G New Radio protocol conformance tests approved by the PTCRB supported by its 5G NR Mobile Device Test Platform ME7834NR. The test company also launched its new  Network Master Pro MT1040A, which is a handheld tester for networks up to 400G and supports installation, maintenance and troubleshooting for networks, data centers, communications devices, transceivers and cables. In addition, Anritsu noted that two of the units (one local and one remote) can be used to test throughput and latency between two points.
Anritsu also this week unveiled new software for cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) design evaluaion.
–Rohde & Schwarz launched a new economy-level signal generator, the R&S SMCV100B, which supports more then 30 wireless standards as well as 5G New Radio in an extended FR1 range up to 7.125 GHz. The test company said that the unit could be used from the lab to production environments for broadcast, mobile communications and other applications, including in automotive end-of-line testing for GNSS navigation or car radios. The instrument “stands out on the lab bench with its low-noise cooling concept and compact dimensions,” Rohde & Schwarz added.
–Viavi Solutions announced that it has come to a patent license agreement with test company VeEx, which will allow VeEx to distribute Viavi’s Seeker HL Source Transmitter and pair it with a VeEX receiver for use in detecting cable signal leakage.
The Seeker HL Source Transmitter, as Viavi describes it, “injects two high output test carriers to the home network in the place of cable signals, and ‘pressurizes’ the home network, revealing any damage or craftsmanship issues that may lead to service interruption from LTE carrier or other ambient RF signal ingress.” Signal leakage can then be detected by a tech using the VeEx CX310 receiver or a Viavi ONX or DSP meter.
