End-to-end 5G NR network solution goes to 30GHz

17th April 2019

Mick Elliott

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A commercial 5G NR network measurement solution has been unveiled by Rohde & Schwarz. A combination of the R&S TSME30DC downconverter and the R&S TSMx6 network scanner analyses 5G NR signals up to 30 GHz, covering the majority of high frequency 5G NR use cases.

Rounding out the solution are an updated version of the R&S ROMES4 drive test software and the R&S SmartAnalytics web-based software suite launched earlier this year.

Understanding 5G NR coverage in real-world environments is important. In particular, new frequencies in the mmWave range, such as 28GHz, can create uncertainties for 5G NR technology providers.

In addition to 5G NR coverage, there is also a need to test the network – device connection and KPIs using pre-commercial or commercial 5G NR devices.

Until now, the R&S TSMx6 network scanner could analyse 5G NR signals up to 6GHz. With the downconverter, the network scanners can analyse signals up to 30 GHz. The solution uses an updated version of the R&S ROMES4 drive test software, which already supports measurements on 5G NR user equipment, e.g. evaluation boards, USB dongles and pre-commercial and commercial smartphones as they become available.

This allows manufacturers of 5G NR technology to gain early insights into a device’s performance and its interaction with real 5G NR networks.

The solution includes the recently introduced R&S SmartAnalytics web-based software suite. This provides intuitive and powerful analytics and drill down functions to analyse the collected measurement data over the entire network test cycle, supporting the analysis and visualisation of 5G NR scanner and UE measurements.

Hanspeter Bobst, Vice President Market Segment Mobile Network Testing at Rohde & Schwarz, stated: “With the latest additions to our end-to-end network measurement solution, Rohde & Schwarz provides mobile network operators and infrastructure vendors with a complete solution for 5G NR testing. The solution covers data collection with scanners up to mmWave frequencies and with 5G devices as well as powerful data analytics with our SmartAnalytics tool. We enable our customers to be ahead in 5G by achieving superior 5G NR performance in all phases of the network lifecycle.”

The R&S TSME30DC downconverter, R&S SmartAnalytics and the R&S ROMES4 drive test software are now available from Rohde & Schwarz.