Keysight Technologies Inc. announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with SK Telecom to collaborate on 5G network design development and testing technology.
The MoU covers development of 5G device performance validation technology, test cases and processes to help verify that new products perform as intended on the mobile operator’s network. The two companies will also collaborate on massive MIMO and beamforming to achieve higher data speeds and lower latencies, which many future 5G applications will require.
Mobile operators deploying 5G technology on mmWave frequencies need to address challenges around higher radio propagation losses as well as complex fading conditions. Keysight’s expertise in mmWave combined with its comprehensive suite of network and channel emulation solutions supports mobile operators targeting early deployments of 5G networks.
“We are excited to extend our collaboration with SK Telecom to support their early deployments of 5G on mmWave frequencies,” stated Kailash Narayanan, vice president and general manager of Wireless Devices and Operators at Keysight Technologies. “Keysight’s early engagements with market leaders, contributions to the 3GPP standardization development and scalable 5G test and measurement solutions is enabling a connected mobile ecosystem to accelerate 5G deployment.”
SK Telecom is the largest mobile operator in Korea by both revenue and number of subscribers. As of December 2017, the company holds around 50 percent of the market, with 30.2 million mobile subscribers including 22.87 million LTE subscribers. It has reached KRW 17.52 trillion in revenue in 2017. SK Telecom has led the advancement of mobile technologies ranging from 2G to 4G and is currently setting important milestones in its journey to 5G.
“SK Telecom is targeting seamless 5G communications quality by leveraging wider bandwidths in mmWave spectrum,” says Jongkwan Park, head of Network Technology R&D Center for SK Telecom. “We are pleased to collaborate with Keysight, the company with 5G expertise and solutions in this field, to help support our ambitious 5G deployment goals.”