Rohde & Schwarz and VIAVI have announced a collaboration to implement new 3GPP 5G NR features simultaneously in their test solutions to advance the 5G NR test coverage. This exchange between the two companies will help accelerate UE commercialization. The verification is based on the R&S CMX500 5G NR wideband radio communication tester by Rohde & Schwarz and the TM500 network tester for user equipment (UE) emulation by VIAVI.
5G NR uses a combination of various features, functions and complex algorithms, making it vital for UE manufacturers to perform extensive testing of 5G mobile devices before bringing them to the market. The thorough validation of the standardized coexistence methodology is key to the success of 5G technology. This sets the basis for the collaboration between Rohde & Schwarz and VIAVI, who over the past year have cooperated on speeding up integration of a variety of essential 5G NR features. The cooperation ranges from RF performance testing, to protocol stack verification and to maximum IP data throughput tests to support Rohde & Schwarz and VIAVI customers such as chipset and device manufacturers, operators and test houses as well as network infrastructure clients.
When developing a new feature, virtual testing is an option, but ultimately a UE device is necessary to verify the newly developed feature. Using the R&S CMX500 from Rohde & Schwarz as network infrastructure emulator alongside the VIAVI TM500 UE emulator is a versatile alternative to a real device. This enables both companies to achieve their goals in providing customers with stable, mature and wider 5G 3GPP feature coverage at an accelerated rate.
The test instruments enable the testing of complex 5G signaling features for NSA mode or SA mode in FR1. This includes features like DSS (dynamic spectrum sharing), LTE advanced and 5G NR carrier aggregation combinations, over-the-air (OTA) testing, but also feature verification of high-bandwidth tests in FR2 spectrum.
Charl Cilliers, Vice President of Engineering at VIAVI, stated that time to market is the number one priority for the customers and the benefit of this co-operation is that they can accelerate their technical development to launch new 3GPP features at a much earlier stage. This helps customers achieve the goal. One of the enablers of this cooperation is the 5G testing portfolio offered by Rohde & Schwarz, together with a wealth of experience in wireless technologies in both companies.
Christoph Pointner, Senior Vice President for Mobile Radio Testers at Rohde & Schwarz, said that Rohde & Schwarz is pleased to cooperate with VIAVI as a leading provider of network testing equipment. When two major T&M specialists combine their expertise in a joint development, the results benefit both companies and also all their customers in the network and UE testing fields.
