Keysight Technologies, Inc. announced that Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, is working with the company to accelerate small cell deployment supported by 5G virtualized radio access network (vRAN) architecture.

Mobile operators are expected to increasingly deploy small cells, especially indoors, to deliver enhanced wireless services that rely on high data rates and low latencies. These services are designed to deliver improved production efficiencies in factories, greater reliability in mobile connectivity for enterprises, and uniform experiences for consumers accessing online gaming, live TV, as well as augmented and virtual reality applications.

Keysight's 5G Multi-Band Vector Transceiver and Qualcomm Technologies' 5G radio access network (RAN) solutions speed development of radio units (RU) critical to addressing a wide range of 5G use cases. Keysight's 5G Multi-Band Vector Transceiver is a PXI-based compact solution that enables automated testing of the transmitter and receiver characteristics of a 5G new radio (NR) base station, according to the 3GPP specifications. The solution accelerates verification of small cell RUs using the 5G NR capability of Qualcomm® FSM™100xx to support a smooth transition from product design to manufacturing test.

"We're pleased to work with Qualcomm Technologies to support the development of the 5G small cell industry, which is expected to grow at a 10 percent compound annual growth rate(CAGR) over the next five years to reach $5.2 billion by 2024, according to Mobile Experts," said Giampaolo Tardioli, vice president and general manager of Keysight's network access group. "The versatility of Keysight's 5G Multi-Band Vector Transceiver enables makers of radio units to accelerate design validation and manufacturing test in a highly automated environment."

Keysight's comprehensive 5G solution portfolio enables network equipment manufacturers and mobile operators to address a wide range of test, validation and optimization requirements related to the deployment of disaggregated networks using vRAN architecture and Open RAN standard interfaces. The integrated solution portfolio creates unique end-to-end performance visibility from the edge of the RAN to the 5G core.  

"We are happy to be working closely with Keysight to serve the burgeoning 5G industry, and we aim to provide fast, enhanced mobile connectivity by improving network coverage, capacity, performance and power efficiency through our advanced 5G RAN solutions," said Puneet Sethi, senior director, product management at Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. "By working with industry-leaders like Keysight, we can quickly put cutting-edge technology in the hands of customers and help them accelerate the deployment of 5G small cells to the industry."