Keysight has announced an extended collaboration with Integrated Device Technologies (IDT), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Renesas Electronics Corporation, for component characterization of 5G new radio (NR) mmWave integrated circuit (IC) beamformers to accelerate the development of 5G NR base stations.
Network equipment manufacturers (NEMs) use beamforming technology in 5G NR base stations to improve reliability and efficiency in the mmWave frequency spectrum. Beamforming uses multiple antennas (a phased array) to transmit the same signal, thereby increasing the signal strength to and from a chosen direction to extend cellular coverage, delivering higher data rates and an improved radio environment.
As the bandwidth of integrated circuits using 5G technology increases, it is important to characterize their performance over wider frequency ranges. This is why IDT uses Keysight’s high-performance family of vector network analyzers (VNAs) to validate the performance of its beamformer ICs. Keysight solutions enable IDT, and other leading designers of ICs, to measure key parameters such as scattering (S) parameters, 1dB compression point (P1dB), third-order intermodulation products (IM3), and error vector magnitude (EVM).
This extended collaboration with IDT demonstrates how Keysight’s 5G beamformer IC test solutions enable designers of beamformers to validate performance using high precision measurement and simulation tools, ensuring reliable and efficient designs.
The two companies are using the Keysight Streamline USB VNA to demonstrate IDT’s active beamforming radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) for 5G NR at the 2019 IEEE International Symposium on Phased Array Systems and Technology (Array2019) taking place from 15-18 October in Waltham, MA.
Earlier this year, at the world’s largest microwave and RF industry trade show – the International Microwave Symposium (IMS) 2019 – IDT showcased a 64-element phased array antenna comprised of its 5G NR beamformer ICs and wideband microwave synthesizer. The demonstration leveraged Keysight’s Signal Studio software for signal creation, the PXI vector signal generator for waveform generation and the UXA Signal Analyzer for vector signal analysis, enabling them to validate the signal fidelity performance of its beamforming IC.
