Reference solution advances 5G wireless research

Among the mobile broadband requirements of 5G are new technologies yielding over-the-air data rates of as much as 10 Gbps. To achieve these requirements, new air-interfaces are being developed to operate in frequency bands from 10-100GHz.

The 5G channel sounding Reference Solution combines metrology grade hardware, software and expertise to allow customers to quickly characterise the channel behaviour in these frequency bands and enable researchers to develop the necessary channel models for designing and validating air-interface alternatives.

Researchers can get very accurate absolute delay measurements with system-wide calibrations, precise timing, and synchronisation. They will also save time and disk space by using the multi-channel, real-time data processing, and correlation of the channel impulse response data (CIR) offered by the M9703A high speed digitiser FPGAs.. Engineers can use Keysight’s System Vue system level design and simulation software platform to calculate channel parameter estimations and perform link-level simulations and validation of new 5G designs with the imported channel models.

Keysight’s 5G channel sounding Reference Solution also enables:

• Tx/Rx up to 44 GHz with 1 GHz bandwidth for 4 or 8 MIMO channels
• Capture of multiple phase coherent channels for real-time CIR data processing in FPGAs
• System-level calibration and synchronization to achieve precise timing and accurate measurements
• Flexibility and scalability to add more channels and tests as 5G standards evolve
• Customisation of waveforms, models for channel parameter extractions and system integration