Keysight Technologies, Inc. announced that the company's 5G device test solutions now support 5G protocol conformance test cases for validating location-based services (LBS) mandated by both the Global Certification Forum (GCF) and PTCRB, a certification forum led by representatives from leading U.S. mobile operators. 

LBS, a key feature of 5G new radio (NR), will help personalize services and support a wide range of commercial and public safety use cases. Accurate positioning of the user enables mobile operators, enterprises and defense organizations to deliver services that advance healthcare, road and aerial transportation, entertainment and homeland security. Keysight's S8704A Protocol Conformance Toolset now supports test cases for validating LBS. The toolset leverages the company's UXM 5G Wireless Test Platform, which uses a complete protocol stack to emulate various mobility scenarios in a 5G network.

"We're pleased to support a comprehensive range of 5G NR protocol conformance test cases for validating and advancing LBS," said Muthu Kumaran, senior director at Keysight. "Keysight's 5G device test solutions, built on common hardware and software platforms, support thousands of GCF and PTCRB test cases across 5G, in both non-standalone (NSA) and standalone (SA) mode, and legacy cellular technologies."

Keysight 's SBE lab bench products are also perfect for modern university teaching labs that require an enhanced environment conducive to sharing and maximizing learning. Remote learning technology is the new normal accelerated by the recent Covid-19 pandemic. Most universities struggle to adapt to this new environment, seeking a blended learning experience with the right technologies.

5G device vendors need access to a comprehensive set of test cases, including LBS, to validate user equipment developed to support a diverse range of 5G services. LBS leverages different technologies such as GPS, global navigation satellite system, Beidou, Galileo, beamforming, angle-based positioning and round-trip time to geographically locate a user. Future applications such as drones and autonomous vehicles will depend on highly precise positioning services for reliable navigation and safe transportation of people as well as goods.

Keysight's holistic approach to 5G protocol conformance testing enables more than one hundred twenty chipset and device vendors to validate designs in accordance with the latest 3GPP specifications. Comprehensive access to 5G NR protocol test cases, covering technologies including 5G NR, LBS, IP Multimedia Subsystem, universal subscriber identity module  application toolkit, LTE and cellular vehicle to everything, enables this ecosystem to quickly and cost-effectively bring new products to market that meet specifications set by standards organizations as well as mobile operators.