Overall deployment of 5G today requires devices to be interoperable across levels, an element that goes beyond the current efforts being made by device manufacturers and infrastructure providers to provide individually certified Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)5G ratified standards. National Instruments is capable of integrating design, prototyping, testing, and measurement requirements within this space and possesses the necessary experience to ensure next generation 5G wireless network interoperability.
The significance of Interoperability
Governmental auctions are accelerating the cost of spectrum across geographies, with insufficient spectrum driving operators and equipment providers to explore other options in both the unlicensed and mmWave bands for 5G deployment. With such enormous investments in spectrum, utilization must be paramount in every band. Technical queries that are unresolved round dissemination of mmWave pose a threat to its incorporation. To ascetain its financial viability and commercialization requirements an inspection and inquiry is mandatory.
The move from 4G to 5G also involves the influx of unparalleled modifications and unmatched work ability along an opportunity to address various use cases and applications. A side-effect of this transition, however, will be the requirement for the development of new technologies, communication protocols and algorithms. Factors which ensure that future 5G network ecosystems are executed from device to base station to network core without any defect are design, prototyping, testing, and measurement.
5G Interoperability: A Case for National Instruments
The complications and the infrastructure layout of 5G device are not well perceived by a lot of companies. National Instruments, however, over shadows these companies as a result of its profound understanding accumulated over the years and its association with academic and industry researchers which entitles the stakeholders to discover and innovate for a well-structured standard.
One of the major factors that continues to allow NI to be a major industry player is its considerable investment in research and development (R&D) that leverages a vast community, strategic partnerships, and support base. Amongst its alliances, the company’s collaboration with Spirent Communications stands out as a prime example. This alliance enables 5G chipset and manufacturers of 5G New Radio (NR) smartphones and Internet of Things (IoT) devices to validate their products by eliminating the requirement of expensive and complex 5G base stations. Overall cost reduction and speeding time-to-market is the expected result.
National Instruments has always showcased its potential with regard to sustaining wireless wide area networking interoperability and large infrastructure providers that covers 2G to present-day 4G topologies. The company’s progress to 5G is exemplified by its recent partnership with Samsung to develop5G test user equipment (UEs) for 5G NR, an endeavor that claims to have validated NR-based 5G technologies and systems for commercialization for both sub 6 GHz and mmWave frequencies.
The Way Forward
The industry today holds high hopes for 5G as a solution that is capable of reinvigorating flagging wireless subscriber revenue by taking advantage of consistently higher WWAN throughput and lower latency. 5G network interoperability requires connectivity to extend to device to base station and base station to network, thereby building upon the current standard of individual device certification. National Instruments, with its proven track record in design, prototyping, and testing platforms along with in-depth knowledge of the 5G ecosystem presents the industry with a viable option for collaboration at both the academic and professional level. Thus, the company has truly positioned itself as a potentially strong partner in the endeavour for successful 5G interoperability.
“Inputs drawn from a whitepaper by Will Townsend, Senior Analyst, Moor Insights & Strategy”
