Keysight provides full range of simulation and measurement tools.
Interview with Mr. Asish Jain, Application Engineer, Keysight Technologies India Pvt. Ltd.
Insights on 5G Wireless technology
Wireless standards have been evolving since 1990, from GSM to LTE Advanced as of today. The motivation behind this evolution in the past two and half decades has been to achieve the following goals.
Higher data rates
Higher spectral efficiency (more bits/s/Hz)
Improvement in quality of service (QoS)
Improvement in system latency
Reduction in CAPEX and OPEX
Higher mobility
5th Generation of wireless technology vision is also motivated by these goals. 5G technology aims to achieve peak data rates of 10 Gbps and round-trip latency of 1ms at much lower cost and with highly energy efficient devices and ultra-high reliability networks.
Evolution of 5G could bring revolutionary technology and/or could revolutionise the existing ones to achieve its targets.
Key enabling technologies and 2020 prediction
As of today, 5G is in a conceptualisation and early research phase where many ideas are being put to test in order to assess their applicability and viability. Heterogeneous Networks (HetNet) is being thought of as a new network architecture. New physical layers technologies like FBMC (Filter Bank Multi Carrier) and NOMA (Non-Orthogonal Multi-Access) could be used independently or together for 5G.
Adoption of microwave and millimetre wave frequencies in being assessed for 5G which would open up new frequency spectrum for mobile communication. Massive MIMO or Large Scale Antenna System technology would enable 5G to reduce latency and improve robustness to interference and intentional jamming.
In early 2012, ITU-R embarked on a programme to develop “IMT for 2020 and beyond”, setting the stage for “5G” research activities that are emerging around the world.
Recently, 3GPP also announced tentative timelines for 5G specifications to be formed in 2020.
In addition to this, the mobile industry is very excited with this evolution and some major device manufacturers and network operators have announced 5G to be launched at as early as 2018 FIFA world cup and 2020 Olympics. So yes, we expect 5G to be a reality by 2020.
Test requirements for 5G
As mentioned earlier, the frequency spectrum for 5G could be in microwave or millimetre wave ranges and to achieve peak data rates of 10 Gbps, higher bandwidth in the order of 1-2 GHz will be required. So, the test requirements will drastically change as we move from sub 6 GHz frequencies to microwave and millimetre wave frequencies. In the design phase, novel designs for transmitter and receivers will be prototyped and tested. Since, the mobile communication industry has little experience with radio access technologies operating at mmWave frequencies, testing will be required for channel modelling at such high frequencies. New waveforms and radio access technologies will come up requiring custom signal generation and wideband signal analysis. New network technologies would be tested before deployment.
Keysight’s leading-edge measurement tools and sophisticated, future-friendly software cover all phases of the 5G development cycle.
5G developments and Keysight future solutions
Being a Test & Measurement solution provider and a market leader, it is imperative for us to be ahead of the industry so as to provide next generation design and test platforms right in the conceptualisation phase. Keysight is also a major solution provider to the aerospace and defense industry which already works on microwave and mmWave frequencies and wide signal bandwidths. Therefore, we have the expertise and solutions available for research and development of 5G. In addition to this, we have already introduced a combination of software and hardware solution specific to 5G which are being used by our customers working on this technology.
Keysight 5G vision
AT Keysight Technologies, we believe in firsts. We’re poised to help the ever evolving mobile communication industry to anticipate the growing complexities of 5G and to tackle the toughest electronic design, test and measurement challenges through trusted hardware, innovative software and our global network of industry experts.
Keysight Platform for 5G Testing
Keysight Technologies provides a comprehensive set of 5G electronic design and test tools designed to help engineers gain greater insight into their R&D and manufacturing processes. Keysight’s 5G simulation and measurement solutions include: mmWave, broadband generation and analysis; physical layer designs; MIMO, RF, microwave, and millimeter-wave components and antennas; and high-speed digital and power management. Keysight is working closely with industry consortia, industry-leading companies and academia to advance the next-generation of 5G wireless communications systems.
Keysight provides insight into the current 5G research with a full range of simulation and measurement tools. Vector Network Analyzers allow in-depth design and test of millimeter wave components such as the antenna array elements needed for beam-steering and MIMO. Keysight SystemVue is a system-level design automation environment that accelerates design and verification of communications systems at the physical layer, where advanced digital signal processing meets RF. We has just introduced the first 5G exploration library for SystemVue. It combines with Keysight measurement products to create an expandable environment for modelling, implementing, and validating next-generation communications systems. It enables a virtual system to be verified from the first day of a project, beginning with simulation models, and gradually incorporating more measurements as the design is translated into working hardware. It can be used in conjunction with Keysight signal sources to create complex arbitrary waveforms to test theoretical channel models in the real world. SystemVue can also be used in conjunction with Keysight 89600 VSA software, a comprehensive set of tools that works with a range of signal analysis products for demodulation and vector signal analysis. Together these measurement, simulation, and signal generation and analysis tools enable the exploration of virtually every facet of the components and signals that will become part of the advanced designs needed for next-generation communications systems.
Keysight firsts enabling 5G
At Keysight, we have been engaged with most of the significant contributors around the globe working on the next generation of wireless communication standard. Our close association and early interactions with researchers and industry alike have put us in a leading position. Addition of 5G exploration library for SystemVue, Signal Studio for Custom Modulation for 5G application and enhancements in industry standard Keysight 89600 VSA software is a testament of our expertise and our culture of firsts which is enabling people working on 5G.
