5G base station test is compact and speedy for OTA testing
Keysight Technologies has announced a 5G base station test based on its S9130A 5G performance multi-band vector transceiver (VXT). It 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 stadia and airports. For rapid deployment of a heterogenous network, comprising macro base stations, small cell infrastructure, radio units (RUs) and distributed antenna systems (DAS), will depend on streamlined testing across the workflow.
This addition to Keysight suite of 5G base station test solutions 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,” he continued.
It uses Keysight’s new PXIe-based VXT to deliver adjacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR) and error vector magnitude (EVM) measurements. According to the company, the 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 accurate measurement results.
Keysight’s S9100 suite supports multiple channels for testing several base stations in parallel and leverage the company’s cloud-ready suite of PathWave software 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 and 89600 vector signal analysis, for advanced demodulation and vector signal analysis.
