Keysight Selected by Azcom for Verifying Open Radio Access Network Equipment Compliant to O-RAN Specifications

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Keysight Technologies, Inc., a leading technology company that delivers advanced design and validation solutions to help accelerate innovation to connect and secure the world, announced that Azcom Technology, a provider of wireless solutions and certification services, has selected Keysight Open Radio Architect (KORA) solutions for verifying Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) equipment.

Based in Italy, Azcom uses KORA solutions to validate performance and compliance of O-RAN Radio and Distributed Units (O-RU and O-DU) implementation to specifications set by the O-RAN ALLIANCE, as well as to verify interoperability between these network elements. Azcom also uses the KORA test tools to perform O-RAN pre-certification and badging testing. Keysight’s end-to-end test capability enables Azcom to confidently develop the company’s O-RAN compliant 5G O-RU with support across multiple standards, including 5G New Radio (NR), 4G Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT).

“As a provider of cutting-edge product engineering services to global customers for more than two decades, Azcom is excited to expand its use of Keysight’s software-centric emulation, test and validation tools,” said Davide Denti, 5G RU product manager at Azcom. “Keysight’s Open RAN Studio Player is a highly versatile and easy-to-use tool. Keysight’s open RAN solutions enable Azcom to accelerate the development of proprietary solutions as well as efficiently provide leading certification services critical to the rapid advancement of the open RAN community.”

Azcom selected Keysight’s Open RAN Studio Player and Capture Appliance, which incorporates the company’s Open RAN Studio, PathWave Signal Generation and PathWave Vector Signal Analysis (89600 VSA) software to create a complete O-RU test environment for performance and conformance validation, ensuring compliance to both 3GPP and O-RAN specifications. Keysight's Open RAN Studio software combines visibility, validation and performance test capabilities across radio frequency (RF) and protocol measurement domains.

“We are witnessing an expansion of disaggregated, cloud-native and virtual RAN architectures using open standard interfaces across the European mobile market. Keysight remains committed to supporting mobile operators’ open RAN deployments with end-to-end solutions and through active contributions to the development of O-RAN test specifications,” said Kalyan Sundhar, vice president and general manager for Keysight’s 5G Edge to Core Industry Group. “Azcom’s selection of Keysight’s O-RAN test solutions highlights the importance the open RAN ecosystem places in the use of integrated solutions based on common software platforms.”

End-to-end system testing, from the edge of the RAN to the 5G core (5GC), simplifies complex multi-vendor network environments designed to deliver a wide range of connectivity service offerings. Azcom also uses Keysight’s VXT PXI Vector Transceiver for multi-RAN signal generation and analysis, IxLoad software to validate application delivery platforms for optimizing end users’ quality of experience and PathWave Advanced Design System (ADS) software to comprehensively characterize and optimize designs.