Keysight, Anritsu boost 5G testing support
“5G” testing support continues to ramp up, as vendors seek to support research, development and early field trials of pre-standard 5G.
This week, Anritsu launched a new spectrum analyzer with 5G testing capabilities including wideband test, its MS2805A. The analyzer can support up to eight 100 megahertz channels and has analysis bandwidth up to 1 GHz, according to Anritsu. There are two models, one that covers up to 32 GHz and another that covers up to 44.5 GHz. The spectrum analyzers also support legacy cellular technologies.
Anritsu also launched a new conformance test system for manufacturers of LTE chipsets, modules, IoT
devices and smartphones that is aimed at lowering test costs for radio frequency and protocol conformance tests for 3GPP specifications.
Keysight, meanwhile, is leveraging its acquisition of Anite for expanded 5G testing support. The test company said that the Keysight Nemo Outdoor platform (formerly of Anite), combined with Keysight FieldFox handheld radio frequency and microwave analyzers, can now support measurement, analysis and coverage visualization for signal generated by 5G base stations in the real world.
“Since there are currently no 5G devices and very few 5G radio field measurement solutions available, mobile operators face the challenge of verifying that propagation models used in 5G network planning match reality,” said Juha Laukkanen, director of drive test and benchmarking products for Keysight, in a statement. “Keysight’s solution, which combines Nemo Outdoor and FieldFox, offers users a unique tool to ensure that the accuracy of 5G planning models. Measuring signal power levels from 5G base stations in the field enables operators and network vendors to verify 5G propagation models, securing the deployment of the network and, ultimately, speeding up time-to-market.”
Keysight also this week launched new programmable DC power supplies. The test company recently reported its second quarter results, with revenues up to $753 million compared to $731 million during the year-ago period. Keysight said that its core revenues (not including acquisitions in the last 12 months, such as Ixia) were up 2% year-over-year. Net income was $49 million for the quarter, down from $88 million in 2016’s second quarter.
If you missed the RCR Wireless News interview with Bethany Mayer, former CEO of Ixia and now president of Keysight’s Ixia Solutions Group, check it out here.
In other test news:
-A new report from Knowledge Sourcing Intelligence projects that the spectrum analyzer market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 9% between 2017 and 2022, for a market size of $1.96 billion by the end of the forecast period.
–Tektronix is expanding its PAM4 compliance testing, automating PAM4 electrical test for 400G on its DPO70000SX oscilloscopes.
“Many of the measurement specs for PAM4 are still in flux, making it difficult to stay current with the latest measurement techniques being formalized by the standards,” Tektronix noted. “The time required to complete complex test procedures can be a significant challenge along with the need for reliable results that can be correlated across test systems.”
–ETSI is holding its first plugfest event for mission-critical push-to-talk for public safety later this month.
-Test company Rohde & Schwarz signed a new contract with Analog Devices for test equipment components. The two companies have a long-standing relationship and signed a new global procurement contract.
–Viavi Solutions said that product testing firm The Tolly Group verified that Viavi’s GigaStor forensic appliance can handle sustained 40 Gb throughput without dropping any packets. GigaStor is part of Viavi’s Observer platforms for 40 Gbps traffic, analytics and storage. Viavi commissioned the testing; Tolly Group said that “tests were focused on benchmarking maximum sustained full-packet capture/write rates and greatest burst performance with no packet loss while delivering robust AES-256 data-at-rest encryption of stored network data.”
-Swiss telecom company Sunrise Telecom is using RAD’s performance monitoring solution as a network add-on to assure the quality of its mobile backhaul. The operator, which has about three million subscribers, relies on microwave transmission to carry much of its IP traffic and deployed RAD’s performance monitoring controllers at central sites and its miniature Carrier Ethernet and IP network interface devices as remote testing probes for eNodeBs and intermediate measurement points. RAD said that this architecture enables the MiNIDs to “perform various diagnostic tests … between individual eNodeBs.”
–Audi demonstrated its first autonomous car in New York this week, as part of a new state program to support pilot testing of self-driving vehicles. According to the Auburn Citizen, the vehicle was driven manually to a nearby highway and then the driving system engaged for more than six miles at highway speeds. Watch a video of that demonstration below:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V924PZHLMHE[/embedyt]
-Automotive supplier Hyundai Mobis opened a new test facility for autonomous vehicles this week after more than two years of construction. The new Seosan Proving Ground in South Korea has 14 test tracks and covers nearly 300 acres. The Korea Herald reported that the location includes “the world’s longest tunnel research road to examine vehicular-related noise and various other advanced driver-assistance systems. The tunnel is 250 meters long and 30 meters wide.” The Herald also added that “Hyundai Mobis said that Seosan, in particular, will be used to develop its version of the intelligent transport systems in cooperation with the latest communications technology.”
–Spirent released a new version of its cybersecurity solution CyberFlood this week, with new support for IoT security and distributed denial of service attacks, as well as “preemptive means to validate exposure to the recent outbreak of WannaCry ransomware.” Spirent said that it released WannaCry scenarios into its TestCloud real-time content feed within two weeks of the major outbreak which impacted Telefonica, claiming that it was the “first testing solution to offer proactive testing to validate protection for WannaCry and released WannaCry validation support ahead of any other commercial testing solution.”
The new release “represents a major expansion of CyberFlood’s capabilities, addressing new markets and providing near-zero-day testing for the latest application scenarios, attacks and malware,” Spirent said.
Spirent also said this week that its global positioning test solutions are being used to support the European Union’s Training, REsearch and Applications network to Support the Ultimate Real time high accuracy EGNSS (TREASURE) project for better accuracy in satellite-based positioning. The four year project hopes to improve GPS/GNSS accuracy to within centimeters.
– NetScout participated in the Open Platform for Network Function Virtualization Summit in China  this week, demonstrating end-to-end service assurance for a broadband service with a virtualized Central Office with other OPNFV members.
–Underwriters Laboratories has completed the first internet of things certification for Thread Group, a standard which is backed by Google and its Nest portfolio. As IoT-focused standards proliferate (see RCR Wireless News’ special report on IoT testing), Thread has not been widely adopted at this point but is still seen as having major potential because of the involvement of Google and Nest. Thread Group launched its certification program in February; the first item that UL certified was NXP’s Kinetis KW41Z wireless micro-controller unit for IoT.
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