Keysight Technologies, Inc. has enabled the Global Certification Forum (GCF) to activate certification of 5G devices in accordance with 5G new radio (NR) 3GPP release 16 (Rel-16) specifications using Keysight's protocol and RF demodulation and radio resource management (RRM) conformance toolsets. 

3GPP Rel-16 signals the advent of a second wave of 5G technology roll-out by mobile operators and enterprises targeting improved levels of reliability, security, privacy, capacity and customization. The industry milestone achieved by Keysight was confirmed at the conformance agreement group (CAG) 71 meeting held July 26-29. As a result, device vendors can now certify devices for GCF test cases covering high speed train scenarios. These test cases ensure 5G devices provide consistent end-user experiences and critical communication reliability with high mobility for passengers on high-speed trains traveling at up to 500 kilometers per hour.

At the CAG meeting, it was also confirmed that Keysight was first to validate 5G NR protocol conformance test cases which enable device vendors to verify compliance to 3GPP Rel-16 specifications related to non-public network deployments. These test cases support 5G NR standalone (SA) mode, which requires a 5G Core to deliver cloud-native applications, low latencies, high data rate speeds and end-to-end service orchestration, as well as enhanced capacity and coverage.

"Keysight is accelerating the market introduction of devices that support advanced 5G consumer-focused use cases, as well as 5G private network deployments," said Muthu Kumaran, general manager of Keysight's Device Validation Solutions business. "Since the completion of 3GPP Rel-16 in 2020, Keysight has collaborated with leading modem makers to speed the adoption of the latest standards. This enables a growing device ecosystem to capture early revenue opportunities associated with advanced 5G use cases."

More than one hundred mobile operators are investing in 5G NR SA underpinning many 5G advanced use cases. The CAG meeting confirmed that Keysight first and only test platform to validate RF demodulation and RRM test cases for 5G SA devices in frequency range 2 covering RF transceiver, demodulation and RRM validation. It was also confirmed that Keysight was first to activate certification of 5G devices for inter radio access technology technical enhancements and improvements, ensuring 5G SA devices perform smooth handovers between 5G NR and 4G LTE networks.

Keysight continues to enable chipset and device makers to verify conformance to the highest number of GCF validated protocol and RF/RRM test cases using the company's 5G network emulation solutions. Keysight's S8704A Protocol Conformance Toolset and S8705A RF/RRM DVT and Conformance Toolset leverage common software and hardware platforms to provide access to a comprehensive range of GCF test cases, accelerating conformance validation.