WIRELESS
Rakuten | April 23, 2022
Viavi Solutions Inc. today announced that Rakuten Symphony has chosen the VIAVI TM500 Network Tester to validate performance of its solutions from the lab to the field. The principal objective of this testbed is to maximize resolution of any issues in the lab in order to accelerate deployment at scale, and it has been designed to simulate a citywide network.
Open RAN has become more widely accepted and implemented around the globe, with almost 100 service providers and vendors participating in the most recent O-RAN Global PlugFest. As its technology moves from the lab into the field, Rakuten Symphony is seeking partners with expertise in that transition, including VIAVI for network test and measurement.
VIAVI is supporting Rakuten Symphony with instrumentation strengthened with decades of experience supporting the world's leading service providers and network equipment manufacturers (NEMs) in the lab and the field. With over 85% of NEMs using TM500 for gNodeB (gNB) development, the company's solutions offer unmatched scalability, stability, performance and fidelity to 3GPP specifications as implemented in live networks. Key features include:
Testing high numbers of 5G gNB carriers at system level
Testing high order MIMO and Carrier Aggregation features
Complex mobility, handover and I-RAT functionality between 4G and 5G
Testing thousands of UEs over multiple carriers
Testing Public Warning System (PWS) and link adaptation features.
"After working with lab test vendors in earlier stages of our technology development, we turned to VIAVI because of their expertise across lab validation, field deployment and service assurance of mobile networks," said Srinivas Gudladana, Head of RAN Engineering, Rakuten Symphony. "Our Open vRAN architecture is designed to enable service providers to automate operations and monetize the network, and VIAVI's test platform is vital to fulfilling that promise."
"As vendors across the industry develop open, cloud-native and disaggregated architectures, precise testing against user expectations of service quality as well as 3GPP parameters is more critical than ever to ensure success at scale," said Rajesh Rao, Vice President, Asia Pacific and Japan, VIAVI. "We are excited to help Rakuten Symphony optimize their Open vRAN solutions based on our unique experience from lab to field to assurance for over 200 service providers worldwide."
About VIAVI
VIAVI is a global provider of network test, monitoring and assurance solutions for communications service providers, enterprises, network equipment manufacturers, government and avionics. We help these customers harness the power of instruments, automation, intelligence and virtualization to Command the network. VIAVI is also a leader in light management solutions for 3D sensing, anti-counterfeiting, consumer electronics, industrial, automotive, and defense applications.
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5G
RED Technologies | February 18, 2022
The French Government recently announced an acceleration strategy dedicated to 5G and future networks. Cedric O, Minister for Digital Transition and Electronic Communications, announced that RED Technologies has been selected through its "DAT 5G" (Democratizing Access to 5G Technology) project to develop a cloud based 5G NR-U platform to provide industrial SMEs and mid-caps with low cost 5G connectivity using unlicensed spectrum.
RED will offer a plug and play E2E 5G connectivity managed solution for private networks at a competitive cost. The solution will be fully integrated (RAN & CORE) and composed of 5G NR-U, Open-RAN RU and BBU, 5G-CORE SA, and MEC.
DAT-5G will add to the recent company's filing before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to become an Automated Frequency Coordination (AFC) System operator. RED Technologies foresees the global application of the AFC including North America, Middle East and in Europe where discussions started last week in ECC's Working Group Frequency Management (WG FM).
The company has extensive experience in building innovative cloud-based solutions, and is already serving numerous customers in the US with its Spectrum Access System (SAS) for CBRS through a partnership with Amdocs. Moreover, RED Technologies is currently passing FCC certification to become an independent SAS administrator.
About RED Technologies
As telecoms markets move towards 5G and in the face of increasing spectrum shortages and demand for accessible and affordable services, policy-makers and industry stakeholders have devised ground-breaking regulatory frameworks to enable dynamic spectrum sharing.Founded in 2012, RED Technologies has been a pioneer in spectrum sharing technologies. RED Technologies is now a leading provider of cutting-edge technologies and services, offering scalable cloud-based CBRS and TVWS spectrum sharing solutions soon completed with its 6GHz AFC.RED technologies will sustain its contribution to the necessary standardization and regulatory works in all potential bands to further consolidate the position the company as a unique and innovative dynamic spectrum sharing specialist with the full range of solutions available to operators, verticals and governments worldwide. The reference shareholder of the company is venture capital firm Karista (www.karista.vc).More information can be found at https://www.redtechnologies.fr and welcome.wavedb.com
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5G
Sequans | January 06, 2022
Sequans Communications S.A. (NYSE: SQNS), a leading provider of cellular IoT chips and modules, announced an expansion of its existing 4G/5G licensing agreements with Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE:6723, "Renesas"), a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, granting special rights to Renesas that strengthen the go-to-market opportunities for Sequans' LTE-M/NB-IoT Monarch 2 and Taurus 5G platforms. In particular, by building on Renesas' extensive sales, distribution and customer support capabilities, the deal allows Sequans to expand its serviceable addressable market to India. Additionally, Renesas will take a small equity stake in Sequans, and Renesas' Executive Vice President and Head of IoT and Infrastructure business unit, Dr. Sailesh Chittipeddi, will be nominated for election to the Sequans board of directors at the June 2022 shareholder meeting. The combined value of the business agreements and the equity investment, which is expected to close by January 14, 2022 subject to customary closing conditions, is approximately $20 million.
These multi-year agreements are designed to allow Sequans and Renesas to achieve several mutually beneficial goals. First, the agreements provide better control of manufacturing and product cost, which is especially important given the current supply challenges. Second, the agreements reinforce the joint product offerings and expand market opportunities. Third, the equity stake and board seat facilitate management alignment to strengthen the partnership and make the joint business successful.
"We are pleased to further strengthen our relationship with Renesas with both the LTE-M/NB-IoT and 5G businesses, as well as the opportunity to add Dr. Chittipeddi to the Sequans board,The expanded agreements reinforce our sales strategy and provide access to numerous new opportunities with a unique competitive solution while allowing us to leverage Renesas' strong global brand and manufacturing advantages."
-Georges Karam, CEO of Sequans.
Renesas values Sequans' comprehensive cellular IoT offering, which brings our global customers and us advanced 4G/5G IoT capabilities that can address the broadest scope of applications and develop new markets with unique needs," said Dr. Sailesh Chittipeddi. "Our deepening collaboration with Sequans enhances our global presence with best-in-class cellular IoT solutions.
About Sequans
Sequans Communications S.A. (NYSE: SQNS) is a leading developer and supplier of cellular IoT connectivity solutions, providing chips and modules for 5G/4G massive and broadband IoT. For 5G/4G massive IoT applications, Sequans provides a comprehensive product portfolio based on its flagship Monarch LTE-M/NB-IoT and Calliope Cat 1 chip platforms, featuring industry-leading low power consumption, a large set of integrated functionalities, and global deployment capability. For 5G/4G broadband IoT applications, Sequans offers a product portfolio based on its Cassiopeia Cat 4/Cat 6 4G and high-end Taurus 5G chip platforms, optimized for low-cost residential, enterprise, and industrial applications. Founded in 2003, Sequans is based in Paris, France with additional offices in the United States, United Kingdom, Israel, Hong Kong, Singapore, Finland, Taiwan, South Korea, and China. Visit Sequans online at www.sequans.com, and follow us on Twitter and Linked-In.
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MOBILE INFRASTRUCTURE
Keysight | July 01, 2022
Keysight Technologies, Inc. a leading technology company that delivers advanced design and validation solutions to help accelerate innovation to connect and secure the world, participated in the fourth global PlugFest event organized by the O-RAN ALLIANCE, accelerating development of Open RAN (O-RAN) technologies with open standard interfaces, intelligence and security.
Keysight Open RAN Architect (KORA) solution portfolio enabled 15 vendors, 4 mobile operators and 2 Open Testing and Integration Centers (OTIC) at 3 PlugFest venues and 5 labs across Asia, Europe and North America to verify integration of multi-vendor network functions and compliance to O-RAN specifications.
Keysight collaborated with leading vendors and mobile operators on industry first demonstrations in key areas of innovation including:
Evaluation and assessment of energy savings features using live networks traffic profiles which have shown significant reduction in energy consumption for a multi-vendors cloud-native O-RAN system.
Enablement of RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) assisted artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI/ML) optimization for energy savings and admission control use cases, as well as an orchestration framework that supports rapid deployment of test and validation for near-real time RICs and xApps.
Pre-certification testing of the O-RAN Radio Unit (O-RU), automated security testing for DevSecOps with 3GPP Security Assurance Specification (SCAS) test cases, Denial of Service (DoS) and fuzzing attacks simulations and performance testing of O-RAN Xhaul transport network elements’ fronthaul implementation under real-world conditions.
“Keysight is pleased to collaborate with partners in the fourth O-RAN Global PlugFest during which we have successfully completed several industry-first demonstrations in key areas including energy savings, RIC-enabled AI/ML based optimization, test automation framework for RICs and applications, pre-certification testing, DevSecOps security with attacks simulation and transport network elements performance testing,”
Giampaolo Tardioli, vice president and general manager of Keysight’s Network and Operators group
Fourteen Keysight solutions were used to make progress in the development of technical and test specifications for open standard interfaces, Xhaul transportation, O-Cloud, RIC, and AI/ML that enabled use cases and O-RAN security requirements. Keysight worked with the global PlugFest hosts, sponsors and labs in:
Europe with Telefonica (European OTIC in Madrid)
Taiwan with Auray Technology Corp. (OTIC in Taiwan)
United States with AT&T and DISH (co-sponsors) in the COSMOS Testbed sandbox at WINLAB, Rutgers University, POWDER Platform at the University of Utah and University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory
PlugFest participants seamlessly integrated KORA software and hardware platforms to test the following:
O-RAN Energy Savings - Keysight’s O-RAN Energy Savings test solution was used to demonstrate reduction in power consumption for a multi-vendors O-RAN system that includes containerized O-DU and O-CU software, O-Cloud software and hardware including state of the art processors with telemetry and power management features and accelerators using live network traffic profiles. Collaborators: Intel, Radisys, Vodafone and Wind River
This test solution consists of O-RU emulator with embedded UEE capabilities (RuSIM), core emulator (CoreSIM) and test automation framework (PathWave Test Automation) for stateful emulation of the network digital twin to test the O-RAN system. Keysight’s power analyzer (PA2203A IntegraVision) performed precise real-time measurements of the power consumption throughout the tests.
The company’s Performance Benchmarking Solution (PBM) characterized the O-RAN system’s energy consumption/savings profiles and performed closed loop optimization of power savings parameters used in the O-RAN system modelled after energy savings rApps.
O-RAN Radio Unit (O-RU) – Keysight’s O-RAN O-RU test solution consisting of the company’s O-DU emulation (Open RAN Studio), radio frequency (RF) signal sources and analyzers (UXA signal analyzer, VXG signal generator), and test automation framework (PathWave Test Automation) provided pre-certification testing of the O-RUs including validation of 3GPP and O-RAN conformance and performance of the open fronthaul control, user, synchronization and management planes implementation across RF and protocol measurement domains. Collaborators: Foxconn, Kinpo Electronics and LITEON
O-RAN End-to-End (E2E) – Keysight’s RAN test solution consisting of UEE capabilities (UeSIM) and CoreSIM assessed small cells E2E performance, security and latency under load and stress test conditions. Collaborators: LIONS Technology, LITEON, Pegatron Corp., SageRAN and WNC
O-RAN Near and non-Real-Time RICs, xApps and rApps - Keysight’s RIC and xApps/rApps test solution (RICtest) was used for three scenarios:
Energy savings use case for large scale O-RAN network simulation with Juniper Networks Energy Savings rApp leveraging the O-RAN compliant O1 interface for the collection of standards-compliant performance metrics and reconfiguration of Keysight RIC tester emulated E2 nodes. Collaborator: Juniper Networks
4G eNB Admission Control rApp and xApp, with Keysight’s RIC test solution providing O-RAN network simulation of 60 eNBs across several tracking areas and device emulation of hundreds of onboarding subscribers and Juniper Networks’ Non-RT RIC and Admission Control rApp providing the overall governance across multiple Near-RT RICs. Collaborator: Juniper Networks
A powerful cloud-native platform for O-RAN test automation that enables vendors to automatically test and validate O-RAN near-real time RICs and xApps on-demand, across a customizable parameter space with Keysight’s RICtest O-RAN Near-real time RIC test software integrated with University of Utah’s POWDER “lab as a service” automation framework (PLAF). Keysight’s RICtest was deployed with updated Open Networking Foundation’s software-defined RAN near real-time RIC. Collaborator: POWDER Platform at the University of Utah
O-RAN Security - Keysight’s O-RAN Security test solution consisting of UEE (UeSIM),CoreSIM, transport network testing solution (IxNetwork) and transport network impairment solution (Network Emulator 3) to perform testing of security test cases specified by the O-RAN Security Focus Group (SFG) / WG11 including 3GPP SCAS automated tests, DoS and Fuzzing attacks on the O-RAN system. Collaborator: Pegatron Corp.
O-RAN Xhaul Transport Network Elements - Keysight’s O-RAN Xhaul transport network test solution consisting of O-DU, O-RU emulation (IxNetwork / Novus) and precision timing system (Metronome Timing System) to validate transport network elements’ performance, benchmarking latency characteristics of fronthaul traffic under real-world conditions specified by the O-RAN Xhaul transport WG9 and measurement of relative time error between multiple O-RUs. Collaborators: Cisco Systems Inc, Juniper Networks and IP Infusion
About Keysight Technologies
Keysight delivers advanced design and validation solutions that help accelerate innovation to connect and secure the world. Keysight’s dedication to speed and precision extends to software-driven insights and analytics that bring tomorrow’s technology products to market faster across the development lifecycle, in design simulation, prototype validation, automated software testing, manufacturing analysis, and network performance optimization and visibility in enterprise, service provider and cloud environments. Our customers span the worldwide communications and industrial ecosystems, aerospace and defense, automotive, energy, semiconductor and general electronics markets. Keysight generated revenues of $4.9B in fiscal year 2021.
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