Keysight Technologies has acquired digital automation company Eggplant from The Carlyle Group for $330 million.
Keysight described Eggplant as a “software test automation platform provider that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics to automate test creation and test execution” and said that the company’s Digital Automation Intelligence platform “can test any technology on any device, operating system or browser at any layer, from the user interface (UI) to application programming interfaces (APIs) to the database.” Keysight said that the acquisition will “create an innovative force in the automated software test market across the physical and protocol layers and into the application layers. The acquisition enables bi-directional leverage of measurement technologies between both companies, resulting in increased solution differentiation in the expanded offering.”
Keysight President and CEO Ron Nersesian said in a statement that  Keysight is “excited to add Eggplant’s test capabilities for the software application layer, aligning with our strategy to grow our first-to-market software-centric solutions.”
Keysight said that Eggplant had 2019 revenue of US $38 million. Eggplant CEO John Bates will join Keysight’s leadership team, reporting to Soon Chai Gooi, president of Keysight’s Electronic Industrial Solutions Group.
In other test news:
–UL is opening up a new electromagnetic compatibility facility for testing large-scale equipment and construction machinery in Ise City in Mie Prefecture, Japan, on July 1. The Large Mobility Lab will “support key transformative mobility trends of connectivity, autonomy, sharing and electrification,” UL said. The facility will have one of Japan’s largest anechoic test chambers, which UL will be capable of testing equipment and vehicles including “forklifts, cranes, buses, trucks, trains, large agricultural machinery and small airplanes.” About 50% of the construction machinery manufactured in Japan is exported, UL noted, and new standards governing that equipment are being created in various countries, which sometimes include EMC testing requirements to ensure safe operation. “In equipment that contains multiple electronic devices, electromagnetic noise that emits from each device has the potential to cause interference with each other, risking serious accidents. EMC testing plays an important role in the prevention of such accidents,” UL said.
–Viavi Solutions recently added 3D geolocation capabilities to its assurance portfolio. The GEOperformance 5G and Coverage Assurance 5G solutions are part of Viavi’s Nitro Mobile assurance suite. Viavi said that GEOperformance 5G actually gives 2G/3G/4G measurements along with 5G, and it “allows engineers to view tables and maps showing radio frequency [key performance indicators” such as signal strength and interference, based on actual geolocated measurements. These maps and tables can be analyzed and filtered to identify problem areas such as areas of high drop call rates.” The solution also has an automated problem detection function that will guide engineers to areas of networks that don’t meet KPI thresholds. The Coverage Assurance 5G offering, meanwhile, provides what Viavi describes as a “3D subscriber-centric view of 5G quality of experience, combined with automated workflows designed to improve the subscriber experience” and it also “details how services and applications are experiencing the 5G network.”
–Anritsu has expanded its portfolio of 1.0 mm high-frequency components that operate up to 110 GHz.
–Keysight has enhanced its performance network analyzers with a proprietary low-spurious direct digital synthesis (DDS) source, the company said enables measurements to be made with less phase noise interference.
