Test and Measurement: Keysight launches Wi-Fi 7 test platform

Keysight Technologies has unveiled a network emulation test platform for Wi-Fi 7 devices, describing its new E7515W UXM Wireless Connectivity Test Platform for Wi-Fi as a “turnkey solution” that provides insights into both the physical layer and media access control (MAC) layer.

Existing solutions for Wi-Fi 7 testing, Keysight said, “require extremely complicated test setups with large number of Wi-Fi devices and network channels to emulate real-world operating conditions.” The new UXM platform can emulate hundreds of Wi-Fi 7 clients and provides both signaling RF and throughput testing, including 4×4 MIMO at 320 megahertz of bandwidth, according to the company.

“With the introduction of the E7515W solution, Keysight is expanding the market leading UXM 5G Network Emulation Solutions to simulate Wi-Fi devices and traffic to cover new use cases from the latest IEEE 802.11be standards,” said Mosaab Abughalib, who is senior R&D director and GM for Keysight’s Wireless Test Group. “The E7515W solution enables faster test setups with less complexity and delivers better load and bandwidth performance to help Wi-Fi 7 device makers accelerate time to market.”

In other test news:

–Anritsu has debuted 6 GHz testing for 5G in global licensed geographies via its Radio Communication Test Station MT8000A. The new software update enables the MT8000A tester to conduct radio frequency tests at 5.925-7.125 GHz to test transmission and receive characteristics, performance and other factors. Anritsu noted in a release that 3GPP’s Release 17 extends 5G into the 6 GHz range, as does World Radiocommunication Conference global agreement to assign the upper portion of the 6 GHz band for 5G in some countries.

–Rohde & Schwarz this week highlighted that its equipment is enabling Qualcomm to explore Frequency Range 3 (FR3) FR3, or the upper mid-band, between 7.125-24.25 GHz. The test company calls this spectrum “a new frontier for mobile communication technology.” Using the R&S SMW200A vector signal generator and the R&S FSW signal and spectrum analyzer plus specialized firmware, Qualcomm was able to validate a prototype of a “Giga-MIMO” system for next-generation wireless infrastructure in FR3.

Rohde also said that Israeli fabless semiconductor company Autotalks has used its test solutions to validate the world’s first 5G vehicle-to-everything chipset (a test set-up that will be on display at MWC Barcelona); separately, R&S announced that Sony Semiconductor Israel relied on its solutions to achieve the industry’s first 3GPP Rel. 17 NTN NB-IoT RF performance verification, with a live demo of Non-Terrestrial NB-IoT planned for MWC.

-The Compute Express Link Consortium has approved Viavi Solutions’ Xgig CXL Exerciser as a CXL 1.1 Gold device that can now be used to qualify CXL high-speed computing devices’ protocol implementations.

“CXL technology supports the evolution of emerging high-speed computing applications, and certification is critical to successful product rollouts,” said Tom Fawcett, SVP and GM for lab and production at Viavi. “This approval allows our Xgig CXL Exerciser to be used not only for lab development and testing, but also for certification of devices at CXL Compliance Workshops.”

-ICYMI: AT&T and Verizon are heading up a federally funded, $42.3 million project focused on Open RAN interoperability, network performance and security, as well as new testing methods. It’s called Acceleration of Compatibility and Commercialization for Open RAN Deployments, or ACCoRD, and it involves a consortium of international carriers, network vendors, universities, labs and test companies including Keysight Technologies and Viavi Solutions. Read more in this story.

–Microsoft is going to test indoor sub-terahertz wireless links as a potential supplement to wired links in data centers, according to documents filed with the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology. More details here.