Keysight’s 5G NR test cases gain 3GPP approval

Keysight Technologies has gained approval from 3GPP for 5G new radio (NR) protocol test cases that support carrier aggregation (CA) technology, using its Protocol Conformance Toolset. The company says it is the first to gain such approval.

Keysight’s test cases were submitted on March 21, 2020 and verified by the 3GPP’s RAN 5 working group, which works to establish conformance testing specifications for the radio interface of a user equipment (UE). Chipset and device makers rely on 3GPP-verified 5G NR protocol CA test cases to verify designs that use CA to increase bandwidth and support higher data rates. These test cases focus on 5G NR deployments using CA in non-standalone (NSA) and standalone (SA) mode in frequency range 1 (FR1) and FR2.

Keysight then submitted these test cases for verification at the most recent Conformance Agreement Group (CAG) #62 meeting, led by the Global Certification Forum (GCF) on April 23, 2020. There it was confirmed that Keysight’s Protocol Conformance Toolset maintains support for the widest range of GCF-validated protocol conformance test cases. Comprehensive test case support enables device makers to leverage Keysight’s common solution platform to verify designs that use different modes to address global requirements.

“Keysight consistently supports the development of 5G technologies, such as carrier aggregation, enabling a connected mobile ecosystem to market devices that support advanced 5G applications,” said Muthu Kumaran, Senior director of Keysight’s wireless test group. “Many mobile device makers use Keysight’s 5G solutions to access a comprehensive range of validated test cases for GCF certification across multiple technologies, including 5G NR, LTE and C-V2X, on a common solution platform.”