FEATURE TEST & MEASUREMENT 5G wireless technology put to the test
Roger Nichols, 5G program manager for Keysight Technologies, Inc. investigates the current policy on 5G wireless technology, and business model and their impact on test and measurement
countries that also have significant government influence. Engaging in the industry now, during the period of advanced 5G research, requires test and measurement engineers to be engaged with these bodies and how they are managing their region’s progression of the technology. Business models can perhaps have the
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t is easy to find hundreds of presentations and papers all explaining the same figures-of-merit for data rates, reliability, latency, density, and capacity for 5G. But a closer look at reports from groups like METIS (Mobile and wireless communications Enablers for the Twenty- twenty Information Society) and Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN) Alliance show that 5G will enable a fundamentally different user experience and disruptive business models. Policy issues relating to radio spectrum,
anti-trust, and research funding cross a wide range of the telecommunications industry. 5G is therefore a complex mix of technologies, policies, and business models - all forces that also have a significant impact on test and measurement. Many 5G discussions start with the
inevitable move to centimetre- and millimetre-wave carrier frequencies. Test and measurement must translate what we have learned in the aerospace, defence, and satellite industries into a commercial business context with a very different budget and a much faster business cycle. Keysight has published multiple papers and videos on the challenges of millimetre - wave communications and we are not immune to those same challenges: noise power, power amplifier efficiency, complex antenna designs, expensive components, demand on signal processing, and novel connections to the device under test. But higher air-interface carrier frequencies are only part of the technical milieu. Add to this massive MIMO, new air interfaces for existing cellular bands, high-speed wireline communications. Our simulation,
8 JULY-AUGUST 2016 | ELECTRONICS
analysis, generation, and real-time emulation tools need to keep up. This does not consider the massive
work to redesign the network itself— centralising and virtualising the RAN and ePC networks will involve a tremendous effort and will require new ways to simulate, test, validate, and maintain the resulting system. “User equipment” will range from next-generation high-end smart-phones consuming Gigabits to inexpensive sensors consuming Kilobits; test demands will range from extensive design, validation, and conformance testing to simply greenlight/redlight. But policy, something engineers find
much more mundane, deserves strict attention. Obvious are those stemming from spectrum allocation. Most radio test engineers have a thorough working knowledge of the allocations in multiple countries. Wireless engineers know many more details about specific bands allocated to 2G, 3G, and 4G cellular and the specifics of the ISM bands used in WiFi and Bluetooth. Understanding spectrum policy is also not a static issue.
SPECTRUM SHARING New government decisions in many countries require spectrum sharing in licensed bands; and the latest industry work on converging WiFi and cellular functionality has started to blend technologies that were previously only in one or the other of these two camps. Not so obvious are the pre- standards bodies formed in many
Figure 1:
Engagement and collaboration with the leaders in this industry give Keysight insight into the technology and business model considerations which will drive roadmaps and the best possible value propositions for its customers
highest impact. This is more complex than the work to address the inevitable flow of complex expensive technology to a broader commercial market. Two other examples show significant pending impact: Business models of mobile network operators and suppliers will set the pace at which the technology progresses. The test and measurement industry must anticipate the timing for the right solutions based on a technology timeline paced by complex business models in the industry
“5G
is therefore a complex mix of
technologies, policies, and
business models - all forces that also have a significant impact on test and measurement ...”
Government mandates in net neutrality will drive how the mobile and fixed network operators and content providers pursue their respective businesses. The vision of 5G networks enabling network slicing and things like “RAN (or anything)-as-a-service” further complicates how business models, policy, and technology will mingle. This impacts how the systems are tested, validated, and maintained the test and measurement business model itself The complex list of enabling technologies required for 5G means Keysight’s wide portfolio of design, simulation, test, measurement, and services is immediately useful to the 5G engineer. The company is engaged with international standards and pre- standards organisations to stay abreast of the policy. Its engagement and collaboration with the leaders in this
industry give it insight into the technology and business model considerations, which will drive roadmaps and the best
possible value propositions for customers.
Keysight Technologies Inc.
www.keysight.com T: 0800 0260637
/ ELECTRONICS
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