Network Dreamstime M 12958187 6495c4f0658ac

Open RAN Radio-Unit Verification Speeds Design and Production

June 23, 2023

This development enables Open RAN radio unit and gNodeB vendors to accelerate design and production of Qualcomm QRU100 5G RAN Platform devices, and expands the portfolio of validated instruments and software solutions.

Alix Paultre

Related To: Microwaves & RF

What you’ll learn:

What is Open RAN?
The importance of validation.
How Keysight’s validation for the Qualcomm QRU100 5G RAN Platform accelerates development.

While much attention is paid to advanced wireless devices and services, that isn’t always the case with the necessary wireless architectures. However, proper qualification and validation efforts in the creation of these infrastructures and tools can significantly impact the market landscape.

Addressing how devices and systems connect to the mobile network, Open RAN (O-RAN) provides disaggregated network functionality using open interface specifications between elements It can be implemented in vendor-neutral hardware and software based on community-developed standards. The O-RAN Alliance issues specifications and releases open-source software under the auspices of the Linux Foundation.

The goal for Open RAN is to create an open-source RAN solution that allows disaggregation between hardware and software with open interfaces and virtualization, with software that manages networks in the cloud. The administration of software and hardware through open interfaces and virtualization in Open RAN network architectures provides increased flexibility and agility while enhancing security in a cost-effective manner.

The Qualcomm QRU100 5G RAN Platform is designed for 5G Open RAN infrastructures (see figure), supporting 5G massive-MIMO deployments in the sub-6-GHz and millimeter-wave frequency ranges. The energy-efficient, high-capacity, and high-performance solution plugs into standard servers to offload CPUs from latency-sensitive and compute-intensive 5G baseband L1/physical-layer functions needed for high-capacity deployments.

Keysight Technologies recently achieved Qualcomm Development Acceleration Resource Toolkit (QDART) validation for the QRU100 5G RAN Platform, enabling Open RAN radio unit (O-RU) and gNodeB (gNB) suppliers to verify products with a virtual-instrument systems architecture (VISA) software library to connect the device under test (DUT) and the test instrument across any I/O software layer.

The Keysight solutions used by Qualcomm Technologies include:

M9484C VXG / N5182B MXG / N5172B EXG vector signal generators
E6680A / E6680E wireless test sets
N9042B UXA / N9032A PXA vector signal analyzers
N5221B PNA / N5239B PNA-L / N5242B PNA-X network analyzers
S9100A 5G multi-band vector transceiver
N991XB/N995xB FieldFox handheld analyzers

This portfolio of Keysight's validated instruments and software improves product debugging efficiency and accelerates the time-to-market of new devices. according to Chih Kai Wu, Wireless Solution Director, Keysight Wireless Test Group. “We are proud to offer Qualcomm Development Acceleration Resource Toolkit-validated solutions for Open RAN Radio Units based on the Qualcomm QRU100 5G RAN Platform,” said Wu. “Keysight's integrated, software-centric solutions help manufacturers and designers verify their designs with precision and speed, giving them a competitive edge in the rapidly evolving 5G landscape.”

About the Author

Alix Paultre | Editor-at-Large, Microwaves & RF

Alix is Editor-at-Large for Microwaves & RF.

An Army veteran, Alix Paultre was a signals intelligence soldier on the East/West German border in the early ‘80s, and eventually wound up helping launch and run a publication on consumer electronics for the U.S. military stationed in Europe. Alix first began in this industry in 1998 at Electronic Products magazine, and since then has worked for a variety of publications, most recently as Editor-in-Chief of Power Systems Design.

Alix currently lives in Wiesbaden, Germany.