5G base station test solution speeds mmWave validation

20th October 2020

Keysight Technologies (formerly Agilent)

Mick Elliott

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Datasheet

Keysight Technologies has unveiled a new high-performance 5G base station test solution, based on its S9130A 5G Performance Multi-Band Vector Transceiver (VXT), that enables network equipment manufacturers (NEMs) and small cell vendors to accelerate validation of mmWave products according to the latest 3GPP specifications.

Mobile operators are deploying 5G new radio (NR) in frequency range 2 (FR2) to deliver enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) connectivity in metropolitan areas and indoor environments such as stadiums and airports.

Rapid deployment of a heterogenous network, consisting of macro base stations, small cell infrastructure, radio units (RUs) and distributed antenna systems (DAS), depends on streamlined testing across the workflow.

Keysight has extended the company's suite of 5G base station test solutions, initially launched in 2018, to meet a growing need for cost-effective 5G mmWave test and validation.

"Keysight's new 5G base station test solution allows NEMs to validate 5G high performance macro base stations in manufacturing, and vendors of 5G small cells to validate mmWave products in R&D and design validation," said Giampaolo Tardioli, vice president and general Manager for Keysight's network access group. "The solution combines the new 5G performance multi-band VXT with Keysight's internal common interface unit (CIU) and mmWave remote radio head (RRH) to deliver high performance over-the-air (OTA) testing in a compact form factor."

This high performance 5G base station test solution leverages the company's new PXIe based vector transceiver (VXT) to deliver adjacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR) and error vector magnitude (EVM) measurements.

The superior performance of the next generation VXT and RRH brings the measurement plane closer to the device under test (DUT).

This means that the DUT can receive high power levels across a wide dynamic power range, resulting in exceedingly accurate and reliable measurement results.

Keysight's S9100 suite of solutions supports multiple channels for testing several base stations in parallel and leverage the company's cloud-ready suite of PathWave software solutions to simplify and speed testing as vendors scale from design validation to volume test.

Supported PathWave solutions include:

X-Series Measurement Applications for basic measurements such as EVM and ACLR.
5G NR Signal Creation and Playback for characterising power and modulation performance of components and transmitters.
89600 Vector Signal Analysis for advanced demodulation and vector signal analysis.