Keysight Technologies Inc. announced PROPSIM F64 5G Channel Emulation Solution, the industry’s first 5G New Radio (NR) channel emulation solution. Keysight’s PROPSIM F64 5G Channel Emulation Solution enables chipset, device and network equipment manufacturers to characterize end-to-end system performance of the latest 4G and 5G base stations and mobile devices by emulating real-world radio conditions in the lab.
5G NR deployments require advanced technologies to achieve higher data rates of up to 20 Gbps. The use of wider signal bandwidths, millimeter wave frequencies and massive MIMO with hybrid beamforming leads to more effective use of the wireless propagation channel to enable these higher data rates. Designers need to validate the end-to-end performance of multi-mode devices and base stations under the complex 3D fading and interference channel conditions of the real world.
To address this growing need, Keysight’s PROPSIM F64 5G Channel Emulation Solution supports all 5G NR signal bandwidths and carrier aggregation (CA) schemes and offers the highest number of channels for massive MIMO channel emulation and testing. The solution integrates state-of-the-art channel modeling tools for user-defined 3D spatial scenarios and dynamic modeling of movement. It supports both conducted and over-the-air (OTA) testing across sub-6 GHz and millimeter wave frequencies.
The PROPSIM F64 5G integrates seamlessly with Keysight’s end-to-end network emulation portfolio to address the entire device workflow from R&D to design validation to manufacturing. This enables users to validate the protocol layers and RF performance of a 5G NR device, as well as gain access to key performance indicators for beam management, data throughput and stability under 5G fading channel conditions.
Kailash Narayanan, vice president and general manager of Keysight's wireless device and operators segment, said, “With the PROPSIM F64 5G launch, Keysight is the first to deliver a portfolio of 5G NR-ready channel emulation solutions across all 5G NR signal bandwidths and carrier aggregation schemes. The new 5G Channel Emulation solution delivers end-to-end realistic and repeatable real world performance testing in the lab and enables real-world emulation of networks essential for 5G deployment.”
In December 2017, Keysight was also first to introduce a 5G NR-ready network emulation solution enabling the entire mobile ecosystem to benefit from a common scripting engine using interactive 5G stack and tools, breaking down the silos and disconnected workflows between teams and achieving cost-efficient testing.