5G standalone milestone prepares for standalone connection testing
Anritsu and Qualcomm have completed 5G standalone connection testing between Anritsu’s radio communication test station MT8000A and a mobile smartphone form-factor test device from Qualcomm Technologies, including its 5G modem and antenna modules with integrated RF transceiver, RF front end and antenna elements.
Described as a milestone by the two companies, the standalone (SA) mode uses 5G NR technology to send and receive both data and control signalling between 5G base stations and mobile terminals. With commercial 5G New Radio (NR) SA services expected to start in China in 2019, there is increasing urgency to deliver a connection test environment supporting development of SA mobile terminals.
Anritsu’s 5G NR test solution supports both SA and NSA mobile terminals and the company believes it will help to ensure timely introduction of 5G NR mobile devices for the first rollout of commercial 5G services in early 2019.
Anritsu’s radio communication test station MT8000A has NSA and SA base-station simulation functionality required for developing 5G chipset. It supports the latest 5G technologies, including 4×4 MIMO to increase data communication speeds in the sub-6GHz band. It also fully supports 8CC for wideband mmWave testing and already covers all 5G frequency bands to be used by the first 5G deployments, as well as 2.5, 3.5 and 4.5GHz in the FR1 band, together with 28 and 39GHz in the FR2 band.
The MT8000A is optimised for both protocol and RF testing. The Rapid Test Designer (RTD) software environment delivers an intuitive user interface for creating, executing, and analysing 5G NSA and SA protocol tests. The complementary RF measurement software suite provides an RF test environment for developers of 5G NR chipsets and mobile terminals.
Anritsu provides communications test and measurement solutions for 120 years. Its ‘2020 Vision’ philosophy engages customers as partners to help develop wireless, optical, microwave/RF, and digital solutions for R&D, manufacturing, installation, and maintenance applications, as well as multi-dimensional service assurance for network monitoring and optimisation. Anritsu also provides precision microwave/RF components, optical devices, and high-speed electrical devices for communication products and systems. The company develops advanced solutions for 5G, M2M, IoT, as well as other emerging and legacy wireline and wireless communication markets.
It has offices around the world and approximately 3,500 employees in over 90 countries.