Evaluation Engineering - 9

Keysight Technologies 5G test equipment and software overview.

validation of O-RAN-compliant radio
units; LoadCore 5G core testing software,
which simulates real-world use models
to validate the performance of new 5G
SA next-generation core networks from
edge to cloud; the PathWave Design 2021
software suite, which brings an updated
computer-aided automated design suite
focused on FR2 and mmWave design
issues from the system to the circuit
to the component level; and Advanced
Performance Test Toolset, which provides test capabilities for validating 5G
device designs.
Nichols also said Keysight has obtained
first approval from the 3rd Generation
Partnership Project (3GPP) for 5G NR
Protocol Test Cases for carrier aggregation. " We continue to lead the industry
in the number of validated test cases
for RF, RRM, protocol-conformance,
and carrier-acceptance device test
suites, " he said.
Alejandro Buritica, senior engineer,
semiconductor systems R&D at NI, said
the company has two new offerings that
address 5G test. One is the new RF frontend validation architecture, featuring integrated, cockpit-like control and visualization of PA validation benches with the
RFIC Test Software application. It enables
users to easily configure power, frequency,

and impedance sweeps, taking advantage
of built-in control of Focus Microwaves
tuners for validating PA performance under non-50-Ω conditions, he said. Users
can also run linearization algorithms
and compare linearized vs. non-linearized performance with detailed graphs
and results for gain, AM/AM, AM/PM,
EVM, ACLR, PAE, and loading conditions
(Gamma and VSWR). Finally, users can
deploy automated validation sequences,
thanks to an automation wizard and a
collection of ready-to-run code modules
and test sequences.
The other new offering, Buritica said, is
the mmWave OTA Reference Architecture,
which will provide improved capability to
include larger DUTs in test chambers and
the ability to configure for either direct or
indirect far-field (DFF/IFF) test.
According to Amr Haj-Omar, PhD.,
wireless market segment leader at
Tektronix, the company's products for
5G test include the 5G FR1 Solution for
Tektronix's 6 Series MSO and 6 Series lowprofile digitizer. " Tektronix's low-profile
6 Series oscilloscope/digitizer supports
5G FR1 requirements, as it covers all
the spectrum up to 8 GHz with 2 GHz
of instantaneous bandwidth with high
resolution, " he said. " The unique architecture of these oscilloscopes introduces a

DDC (digital down converter) within the
sampling-system ASICs that creates a
dedicated RF signal path. This allows the
oscilloscope to easily analyze the frequency domain independently from the time
domain and correlate between both the
frequency and time domain. Spectrumanalysis controls are available through
the touchscreen or remote interface. In
addition, the 4-channel 6 Series enables
parallel testing of MIMO devices. "
Tektronix released in September the
new 6 Series B MSO, which comes with
6- and 8-channel models. " This is essential
for testing 5G and Wi-Fi 6 due to their
multi-antenna and transceiver designs, "
Haj-Omar said. " Using SignalVu software
in conjunction with the 6 Series oscilloscope enables testing of isolation and
interference between adjacent channels
with EVM and ACPR measurements. "
Haj-Omar also said the company's
DPO70000SX oscilloscope can support up
to four channels at up to 70 GHz, which
makes it suitable for 5G FR2 and MIMO
test of beamforming RF front-end systems. " Similarly, it supports IEEE 802.11ay
millimeter-wave applications, " he added.
" The correlation between channels and
its exceptional low phase noise make
this oscilloscope a high-fidelity measurement tester, which can also support

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 EVALUATIONENGINEERING.COM

http://www.EVALUATIONENGINEERING.COM

Evaluation Engineering

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Evaluation Engineering