Keysight’s 5G Technology Speeds Development of Virtualized Open RAN Architectures

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Keysight Technologies, Inc., a leading technology company that delivers advanced design and validation solutions to help accelerate innovation to connect and secure the world, will showcase 5G technology that speeds development of virtualized open radio access network (O-RAN) architectures and delivery of wireless broadband services at Mobile World Congress Barcelona 2021 (MWC 21), held in Barcelona, Spain from June 28th to July 1st.

5G new radio (NR) has entered its second phase with the finalization of 3GPP Release 16 (Rel-16), a growing adoption of open RAN interfaces, as well as a surge in investments in private 5G networks and industrial internet of things (IIoT) deployments.

"Keysight is pleased to once again showcase technology and partnerships at the world's premier show in telecommunications, highlighting how we facilitate rapid development of 5G, cloud computing and open RAN technology," said Kailash Narayanan, president of Keysight's commercial communications group. "The private industry, public sector and academia use Keysight's simulation, verification and security solutions for enablement of design workflows and time-to-market outcomes from digitization of enterprises to research on 6G."

Finalization of 3GPP Rel-16

Keysight's cohesive set of test solutions enable chipset, device and base station vendors, as well as data centers and service providers to verify designs and optimize networks based on the latest Rel-16 specifications. Multiple stakeholders within the information and communication technology (ICT) industry need access to software-driven tools that support mass scale deployment of 5G NR across a wide range of use cases for consumers, enterprises and public safety organizations.

Growing adoption of open RAN architectures

An increasing investment in disaggregated RAN architectures using open interfaces is creating demand for integrated interoperability, performance and conformance solutions. At MWC 21, Keysight partnered with mobile operators and open RAN vendors to demonstrate end-to-end performance visibility, from the edge of the RAN to the 5G core (5GC). 

Flexible use of spectrum to deliver wireless broadband services

Leading mobile operators use dynamic spectrum sharing, 5G new radio dual connectivity and carrier aggregation to flexibly deliver 5G NR services across frequency range 1 (FR1) and FR2 (mmWave) spectrum. Keysight's 5G network emulation solutions enable 5G chipset and 5G device makers to prototype and validate designs based on Rel-16, which delivers a variety of enhancements to 5G NR deployments, including improved spectrum use, lower network latencies and higher connection reliability. 

AI and edge computing address rise in data and connectivity

An exponential rise in data and number of connected devices combined with the need for ultra-reliable low-latency and advanced broadband connectivity has resulted in the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), virtualization, automation and edge computing. Keysight enables network equipment manufacturers (NEMs) to meet the demand for higher speeds and traffic density in hyperscale data centers using 400 Gigabit Ethernet (GE) and 800GE test solutions.