Fujitsu, NEC Significantly Improve Efficiency of Base Station Interoperability Testing for the Post-5G Era

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As part of the "Research and Development Project of the Enhanced Infrastructures for Post-5G Information and Communication Systems" under the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), NEC Corporation (NEC) and Fujitsu Limited (Fujitsu) are conducting research and development of a technology for testing the interoperability of post-5G base stations compliant with O-RAN specifications. A connectivity testing environment using this technology was constructed at NEC's U.K. laboratories and Fujitsu's U.S. laboratories, and tests were conducted from August 2021 to June 2023. By automating the end-to-end process of extracting optimal test scenarios, generating parameters, and determining acceptability of test results, the two companies have succeeded in significantly improving efficiency. The interoperability testing time for base stations of different vendors was reduced by more than 30%, assuming the commercial environment of overseas telecommunications carriers (operators).

Going forward, the two companies will utilize the testing technology developed in this project for joint testing with operators and base station equipment vendors in Japan and overseas to shorten the time required to deploy systems that combine O-RAN compliant base station equipment from different vendors. They will aim to contribute to the revitalization of the telecommunications infrastructure market by supporting the global spread and development of open 5G networks.