MathWorks introduced 5G Toolbox, which provides standards compliant waveforms and reference examples for modeling, simulation and verification of the physical layer of 3GPP 5G New Radio (NR) communications systems. Engineers using 5G Toolbox can quickly design critical algorithms and predict end-to-end link performance of systems that conform to the 5G Release 15 standard specification. 5G Toolbox joins the company’s wireless communications product portfolio that also includes support for LTE and WLAN standards, simulation of massive MIMO antenna arrays and RF front-end technologies, over-the-air (OTA) testing and rapid prototyping of radio hardware.
“When adopting 5G, wireless engineers need to verify that their product designs can conform or co-exist with a new, complex standard that will continue to evolve. Very few companies have adequate resources or in-house expertise to understand and implement a 5G-compliant design,” said Ken Karnofsky, senior strategist–signal processing applications, MathWorks. “Having seen how LTE Toolbox has helped teams quickly deploy pre-5G designs in radio test beds, we anticipate 5G Toolbox will have a similar impact for the mainstream wireless market.”
5G Toolbox helps wireless design engineers manage increasing design complexity while reducing development time. They can now use the toolbox for link-level simulation, golden reference verification, conformance testing and test waveform generation–without starting from scratch.
5G Toolbox is the foundation of a design workflow that helps wireless teams rapidly develop, prototype, and test designs. Companies with siloed tools for RF, antenna, and baseband design; limited experience with MIMO technologies; or that lack automation from simulation to prototyping can now rely on MATLAB as a common environment for simulation, over-the-air-testing, and rapid prototyping.
MATLAB has also been used for 5G standards development by serving as a common research & development environment for multiple companies involved in the 3GPP working groups.