MWC23 Barcelona Summary - Velocity!
Mobile World Congress Barcelona 2023 was well attended with an expected 80,000 visitors and think they easily hit that number. It looks like this year trade shows will make a comeback to near pre-COVID levels of attendance. The main topics of emphasis were the potential of 5G Private Networks, 5G Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN), Green/Energy Efficient Devices/Networks and 5G Reduced Capacity (RedCap) devices for IoT applications. Several of these features were part of the recent release 17 of 5G so has enabled these new technologies to be realized in networks. There were also many companies featuring future 6G technology as research has blossomed in this area.
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The Metaverse was also a hot topic but most agreed the first use cases will probably be industrial training and other instructional applications other than gaming. There were many displays demoing AR/VR applications but the best one I saw (and did) was the Analog Devices anatomy VR setup where you could reach into the body and examine various organs up close by grabbling them and pulling them out to see a 3D visualization.
Rohde & Schwarz and Keysight technologies both had great demos for green energy, 5G RedCap and 5G NTN. They also were showing 6G evaluation platforms including how machine learning can be used to implement neural networks that dynamically optimize the network to reduce energy consumption. Keysight showed how digital twins can be used to prototype and test 6G networks while R&S showed extended reality being used to overlay measured data and a live view inside of the anechoic chamber at the same time. Murata announced they are partnering with Skylo to implement 5G NTN in their mobile devices so that their RF front ends are compatible and can access the network anywhere in the world via satellite.
On the high frequency side, the highest frequency setups I saw were Fraunhofer was showing a 300 GHz, 100 Gbps link and Fujitsu showing a 250 to 300 GHz setup using their own InP devices with an output power of 7 mW. Two interesting areas that several companies are pursuing are transparent antennas and reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS). CHASM is producing carbon nanotube antennas on a fine wire mess that are 80-90 percent transparent and Sumitomo (in the SK Telecom booth) was showing transparent antennas in glass for windows. Geenerwave has developed metamaterial structures for RIS so was showing how they can re-direct a 5G signal at any angle with only about 1 dB loss. Sumitomo/SK Telecom and KT Telecom were showing their RIS experimental results. Another interesting area are 5G repeaters such as Pivotal Commware who is already deploying their holographic beamforming repeaters for 5G mmWave networks.
On the device side, Analog Devices was featuring reference designs for massive MIMO and had the best virtual reality demo where you could reach into a body and pick out the various organs to see a 3D view of them up close. Infineon was featuring their high efficiency GaN on Si for RF power amplifiers plus their GaN and SiC DC to DC converters that can improve end-to-end energy efficiency by about 10% over the current device lineups used for computing applications. There were several mmWave companies featuring both unlicensed 60 GHz arrays and licensed 24-28 GHz 5G arrays. Perso, Murata, Analog Devices, Infineon, Qualcomm, Pitoval Commware, Sivers, Kreemo and Fujitsu are some that I visited.
I thought GaN on Si was a dead technology but found that was not the case in Barcelona. Many companies are still pursing RF GaN on Si like Infineon, Macom/Ommic, Finwave, Tagore, Sony and others. I was surprised to hear of at least two companies pursing GaN on Si for handsets. Sony is rumored to be working on it and Finwave has it in their roadmap. Soitec confirmed they are suppling materials to unknown partners. The trick is getting the voltage down to like 3V for a mobile device since current GaN amplifiers to typically 28 or 50 V.
The Chinese companies made a big statement by taking massive amounts of exhibition space. China Mobile, Huawei and ZTE to name a few had large spaces and displays. Huawei was the largest exhibitor taking about two thirds of Hall 1 plus a large outdoor space with various exhibit modules.
I visited many companies in the exhibition halls, here is a quick summary:
5G Americas announced the release of “The Evolution of Open RAN”, which provides an update to a 5G Americas’ 2020 report on Open RAN standards. The new white paper focuses on market updates and the latest developments including artificial intelligence and machine learning tools.
AMD announced it will be expanding support of its growing 5G partner ecosystem spanning from core to RAN applications, delivering additional new test capabilities and unveiling new 5G products. The AMD wireless telecom partner ecosystem has more than doubled in the past year, bolstered by the integration of the AMD and Xilinx product lines as well as the creation of its new Telco Solutions testing lab in collaboration with VIAVI. AMD showcased the latest 4th Gen AMD EPYC processor-powered systems in conjunction with technology partners including: Amdocs, Groundhog, Juniper and Nokia. 5G ecosystem partners showcasing radio solutions with AMD include: Abside, Astrome, AW2S, CellXica, Comba, Fujitsu, Mavenir, NEC, Solid, Tejas, Ulak, Viettel, VVDN and Zlink.
Renesas Electronics Corporation showcased a full RF front end solution for 5G Active Antenna Systems (AAS) radios in collaboration with AMD in their booth. Paired with the field-proven AMD Zynq® UltraScale+™ RFSoC Digital Front End OpenRAN Radio (O-RU) Reference Design, the RF front end includes RF switches, low-noise amplifiers and pre-drivers. It offers a complete solution to meet the demand of the growing mobile network infrastructure market.
Analog Devices showed a 32Tx/32Rx massive MIMO radio reference design based on their latest ADI RadioVerse® ADRV904x SoC with fully integrated digital front end and Marvell’s Octeon 10 Fusion baseband processor—the industry’s first 5 nm baseband processor. This design solution provides 40% power savings compared to competing solutions, enabling lighter, smaller radios, and much faster time to market.
Since the RAN consumes 70% to 80% of total network energy, energy savings modes are critical to reducing the carbon footprint across 5G networks and lowering OPEX spending. ADI RadioVerse solutions provide the path forward to meeting the upcoming 3GPP Rel. 18 network energy saving (NES) modes for 5G RAN. ADI showed how energy savings are realized in an interactive model of micro-sleep and hibernation modes across multiple O-RU configurations.
ADI also showed how to upgrade your macro and small cell indoor 5G deployment across the entire 24 GHz to 47 GHz space. This impressive, multi-option, board lineup highlights ADI’s latest O-RAN 7.2 split compliant mmWave reference platform, with a proven 25% efficiency improvement, based entirely on ADI silicon solutions.
Anritsu was collaborating with many companies for demos in their booth. Greenerwave (see below) was demonstrating their RIS using Anritsu measurement equipment. One interesting partner demo was Anritsu solution for Automated Valet Parking with dSpace. This solution features Anritsu MT8000A Radio Communication Test Station and dSPACE VEOS (a PC-based simulation platform), with dSPACE AURELION sensor-realistic simulation provides 5G Digital Twin testing environment for Automotive V2X Use Cases. This is a demonstration of Automated Valet Parking (AVP) Type 2, which is one of the actively discussed use cases of V2X. By using communication technology such as 5G, the parking request will be received by the AVP service. The vehicle will then be dropped off by the driver and automatically driven by the AVP system to its intended parking spot. Upon request of the owner, the vehicle is automatically retrieved.
Arctic Semiconductor formerly known as SiTune Corporation announced that its RF transceiver, IceWings, is powering a new universal 5G small cell infrastructure platform from Compal Electronics, one of the largest ODMs. The world’s first open ecosystem small cell platform leverages IceWings’ design integrated with NXP® Semiconductor’s Layerscape® Access LA12xxx programmable baseband processor to achieve the highest performance at the lowest power consumption and beats 3GPP standard requirements, all at a competitive cost. The new infrastructure platform can operate at any 5G FR1 frequency bands from 600 MHz to 7.2 GHz. A 4x4 MIMO solution, it is fully integrated with best-in-class components and supports throughputs beyond Gbps speeds.
CHASM Advanced Materials announced the commercial launch of AgeNT® solutions for transparent antennas in a wide range of connectivity applications based on different protocols including Cellular, WI-FI/Bluetooth/ZigBee, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), Near Field Communications (NFC), Low-Power Wide-Area Network (LPWAN), Satellite, and Combo/Hub antennas. CHASM showcased its solutions for transparent antennas at the event and even gave me a sample. The new AgeNT solutions for transparent antennas are based on CHASM’s nanocarbon/copper hybrid technology, the a versatile, transparent, high- performance, and low cost offering for antennas in automotive, IoT&M2M, public safety, point-of-purchase, and other market segments. CHASM offers its AgeNT flexible conductive film with performance equivalent to the leading low-loss, ceramic-based PCB laminates and its robust circuit fabrication technology. The company accelerates clients' “Design-for-Manufacturability” process by providing material characteristic data for performance simulation and reference designs of wideband Wi-Fi Coplanar antenna for 2.4 and 5.8 GHz; Narrow Band Patch Antenna for band n78, and Microstrip antenna.
EdgeQ had four major releases. EdgeQ, Vodafone and Dell introduced mMIMO 5G networks that leverage in line acceleration technologies to deliver high user capacity, high network bandwidth at relatively low-power for the new O-RAN based deployments. WNC and EdgeQ introduced the first all-in-one, multi-mode 4G/5G small cell. The two companies enable a new paradigm for telco operators and enterprise customers looking for a singular design that converges 4G and 5G networks, spans indoor and outdoor environments, scales across multiple antennas and offers field-upgradeable software within a compact unit for frictionless deployment. Actiontec and EdgeQ Announced Flexible, and Scalable Small Cell Architecture Platform for 4G and 5G SA/NSA – Together with Actiontec, EdgeQ combines silicon ingenuity with modular design to help navigate through all the multiplicities and complexities of 4G and 5G in an elegant manner. And finally, MaxLinear partnered with EdgeQ on Converged 4G and 5G Small Cell Platform – Future-proofed to address evolving 5G requirements of enterprise, cloud and telco, both EdgeQ’s and MaxLinear’s products deliver high integration value with leading edge low-power.
Ericsson introduced new indoor solutions allow for CSPs, enterprises, and other hosts to better deploy and scale 5G networks across any building. With 80% of mobile data stemming from indoor use, developing hardware and software conducive to indoor use is vital. The new solutions include: IRU 8850 (Indoor Radio Unit), Ericsson Indoor Fusion Unit, and Ericsson 5G Precise Positioning. T-Mobile US has already shared plans to harness these new solutions to quickly scale and deliver 5G networks to customers.
Ericsson also announced today 10+ new radios and software solutions, including a full range of remote radios for 4G and 5G capacity, a new range of wideband Massive MIMO radios, mobile transport offerings, and more – all of which work to boost network capacity in conjunction with a reduction of energy usage by up to 94% during low traffic compared to peak consumption.
Finwave has a revolutionary 3DGaN architecture that is designed to dramatically enhance 5G devices with up to 10X higher power and higher linearity plus 80% less cost. Their patented approach for linearizing both PAs and LNAs at the device level allows more than 10 dB higher linearity than the conventional technologies. Finwave’s 3DGaN FinFET technology is built on 8” GaN on Si wafers using standard silicon foundry tools. 12” is on the horizon for even more aggressive device scaling. They are even looking at GaN PAs in the handset and 6G for the future. Jim Cable is now Executive Chairman and charging ahead with this technology into the market so will follow them closely.
Fraunhofer was demonstrating a terahertz communication system with greater than 100 Gbps capacity for backhaul/fronthaul, fixed wireless access and indoor short range in future 6G networks. The prototype used full-duplex operation, 300 GHz carrier, 20 GHz bandwidth and 32 GBd dual-polarized QPSK modulation to achieve 100 Gbps capacity at up to 1 km distance using a high gain reflector antenna.
Greenerwave showcased its beamforming antenna solutions addressing conventional 5G network infrastructure as well as new 5G NTN utilization cases. Greenerwave designs metasurfaces comprised of elements that shape electromagnetic waves. These metasurfaces consist in a group of centimetre-sized elements called pixels that operate as a collection of micromirrors. Each pixel can modify the sign of the reflected wave. Interactions between pixels and microwaves are managed by algorithms from the world of physics that direct waves after they are reflected on the surface. Passive and low cost, this technology aims to improve the use of electromagnetic waves to lower energy consumption and infrastructure costs. Their demo showed only about 1 dB loss in re-directing signals. See their video demo here.
Infineon’s focus was on 5G mMIMO applications (32T or 64T) in the mid-range frequency ranges. They have a complete portfolio of RF Front end components plus power supply components and NOR Flash. In the RF area, the are concentrating on PA module with integrated Doherty amplifiers using GaN on Si devices. Infineon believes that GaN on Si has the best cost/performance characteristics.
Infineon was also featuring their DC to DC converter technologies that offer better conversion efficiency. Using their latest SiC and GaN technology, conversion efficiency can be improved by about 10% using the latest Infineon devices versus traditional technology in a typical computing system. This would result in a huge energy cost savings.
Intel was featuring their 4th Gen Xeon Scalable processors provide outstanding energy efficient performance across networking use cases, including vRAN deployments. The platform delivers up to twice the capacity at the same power envelope for vRAN workloads versus the prior generation.1 It is optimized for high throughput and low latency, with built-in acceleration for packet and signal processing, load balancing and AI. It also provides higher memory bandwidth compared to the previous generation, with I/O capacity to meet the highest capacity requirements for next generation vRAN deployments. Building on that foundation, 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors with Intel vRAN Boost integrate vRAN acceleration directly into the CPU. By eliminating the need for external accelerator cards, this integration helps reduce the complexity and bill-of-materials cost of vRAN deployments for CoSPs. It is also power-efficient, providing approximately 20% additional compute power savings, beyond the 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors’ generational gains alone.
Keysight Technologies announced it signed a three-party agreement with NTT DOCOMO, Inc., and NTT to advance the development of key technologies expected to drive the innovation necessary for 6G. Under the agreement, Keysight, NTT DOCOMO, and NTT will combine their expertise and solutions to enable the industry to overcome technical challenges associated with the introduction of 6G use cases and applications. The first technical collaboration will focus on new spectrum technologies for sub-THz frequencies. The companies have agreed on a multi-year project that will focus on RF channel measurement and modelling for frequencies ranging from 92 GHz to 300 GHz.
Keysight Technologies also announced it has signed a MoU with Analog Devices to advance 6G technology design and development. Under the MoU, the companies will collaborate to develop innovative solutions in technology areas critical to multiple facets of wireless network performance including energy efficiency as well as resilient and secure wireless connectivity. Keysight and ADI demonstrated open RAN and mMIMO antenna design prototypes and measurement platforms addressing several challenging industry goals, including optimizing the design of O-RAN radio units (RU) to reduce overall network energy consumption and enhance the performance of O-RUs to support higher data rate throughput levels.
Keysight and Samsung Electronics' System LSI Business teamed up to demonstrate 5G NR NTN enabling satellite-to-smartphone data connections. The demonstration was conducted by emulating a constellation of satellites in LEO through the Keysight PROPSIM Channel Emulator and establishing a 5G connection between the Keysight E7515B UXM 5G Wireless Test Platform and Samsung's Exynos Modem platform. Despite being in lower altitude orbits, LEO satellites move at very high speeds creating high Doppler fluctuations and signal degradations that require compensation to achieve reliable connections and provide end-to-end quality of service.
Litepoint has developed the IQxel-MX test platform with industry-leading performance to ensure that each and every wireless device tested meets or exceeds the stringent 802.11be or Wi-Fi 7 requirements. The IQxel-MX signal generation and analysis combine high performance, simplicity of use and excellent test economics to cover the test requirements during the whole product development cycle from R&D to high-volume production. The IQxel-MX family is available in three configurations: 2 ports (2 VSA/VSG), 8 ports (2 VSA/VSG), and 16 ports (4 VSA/VSG). These support up to 2×2 and 4×4 true MIMO testing (extensible for higher order MIMO) and high efficiency multi-DUT parallel testing.
The IQxstream-5G is the first sub-6GHz 5G single-box tester with 200 MHz of bandwidth supporting the 3GPP NR 5G specification evolution, as well as the V5GTF pre-5G specification. With 200 MHz of continuous bandwidth, the IQxstream-5G provides a future-proof test solution investment as the 3GPP NR standards evolve and new sub-6GHz spectrum allocations for 5G are defined worldwide (for example, new spectrum in the 3.3 to 4.9 GHz range). In addition, 200 MHz of continuous bandwidth allows for much faster throughput when performing 5G NR carrier aggregation (CA) signal analysis. Litepoint has another single-box tester for FR2 mmWave frequencies.
MatSing has pioneered and advanced the Lens Antenna technology to provide an innovative way of delivering advanced coverage and capacity in mobile and fixed wireless networks. Over the past 17 years since introducing the world’s first lightweight multibeam lens antennas, our team has perfected the technology to now deliver the highest capacity and scalability with a single antenna supporting up to 48 radios in a multi-band environment. Deployed globally in outdoor macro and various indoor settings, our lens antennas are a game-changer delivering high-bandwidth connectivity with industry-leading data throughput. Their lens antennas outperform other antenna types, including phased-array (panel) and dish antennas, while being much more economical than under-the-seat antennas. Leveraging multiple layers of patented Dielectric meta-materials, RF Lens forms or bends electromagnetic waves through refraction. RF Lens refracts signals from a single cross-poll to create a narrow-shaped beam/sector. Multiple Individual, high isolation, broadband beams can be created using the same Lens.
Mavenir, the Network Software Provider building the future of networks with cloud-native solutions that run on any cloud, alongside Qualcomm Technologies announced the launch of its next generation OpenBeam™ massive MIMO (mMIMO) 32TRX Active Antenna Unit (AAU), featuring the Qualcomm QRU100 5G RAN Platform. The solution boasts industry-leading energy efficiency levels using AI based technology while boosting network performance to drive the transition toward modern networks by helping operators simplify and lower total cost of ownership of 5G deployments.
Menlo Microsystems introduced a new six-channel single-pole/single-throw (6x SPST) switch. The MM1200 provides the highest density AC/DC switching device with the lowest DC power consumption for applications that require highly repeatable and reliable switch operations in space-constrained medical, industrial, and test and measurement applications. Built on Menlo Micro’s market-proven Ideal Switch technology, the MM1200 switch provides a superior replacement for electromechanical signal relays (EMRs) and Reed relays in high-density switching applications. The MM1200 is capable of 1.0 A per channel steady state while delivering stable on-state contact resistance and high off-state isolation. With more than 3 billion switching cycles and ultra-fast switching times (below 10 µs), each MM1200 channel is normally open and individually controlled by a serial peripheral interface bus. The device is easily reconfigurable enabling multiple switch configurations, such as dual SP3T and triple 2P2T.
Murata and Skylo announced that they will be demonstrating the next generation of cellular and satellite services. By combining Skylo’s NTN with Murata’s Type 1SC module, an advanced ultra-small low-power cellular IoT solution, the companies’ collaboration enables seamless, ubiquitous connectivity. This allows device manufacturers to connect devices such as wearables, sensors, and trackers directly over satellite without requiring new hardware or specialized equipment. Murata’s Type 1SC solution is the smallest form factor LTE Cat M/NB-IoT module with global certification and satellite NTN. It supports GPS/GNSS, OpenMCU, and Integrated SIM to support the applications that are moving the market forward, such as dual-mode cellular IoT. Skylo enables compatible devices to connect over existing geostationary satellites. This allows users with compatible cellular devices to toggle between terrestrial and non-terrestrial connectivity as long as the user has access to the open sky. Its direct-to-device service is powered by its standards-based technology, including an NTN-capable RAN and core with a modem firmware update.
Narda Safety Test Solutions was featuring their SignalShark - 40 MHz Real-time spectrum analyzer. The 40 MHz real time measurement allows gapless, reliable detection of the smallest changes in the RF spectrum with the aid of the spectrogram view. SignalShark can also easily detect very weak signals, thanks to its high dynamic range. The combination of high sensitivity and a wide, intermodulation-free dynamic range makes this possible. DANL (pre-amplifier off / on): - 160 dBm/Hz / -167 dBm/Hz. Narda SignalShark derives its success in measurement from the interplay of its highly developed senses. Its 40 MHz real-time bandwidth captures the spectrum of even very short-pulsed signals > 3.125 µs with a POI of 100 %. This guarantees a consistent awareness of all spectrum events. Due to its distinguished analysis functions as real-time spectrum, spectrogram and persistence, measured signals are analyzed with a very high frequency and time resolution.
Nokia made a big splash with announcing a new brand and logo at the event. They are moving away from consumer products and aiming to be a B2B company. They announced the global launch of Habrok, their latest generation of AirScale massive MIMO radios for all mobile operator and enterprise networks. Habrok radios are powered by Nokia’s new generation of ReefShark System-on-Chip (SoC) and are available in both 32 TRX (Habrok 32) and 64 TRX (Habrok 64) versions, covering all massive MIMO use cases and deployment scenarios. This new generation of radios enables form factor improvements over earlier generations, with the Habrok 64 weighing only 24 kg. Habrok also has high output power for increased coverage while its lower power consumption improves energy efficiency dramatically. It’s optimized to deliver best-in-class capacity and network performance while enabling efficient deployments and operation. Nokia’s latest massive MIMO radio products will become available from late 2023. Designed for complete spectrum flexibility and network performance, initially supporting band n78, both Habrok 32 and Habrok 64 support high radio frequency bandwidth, 200 MHz occupied bandwidth and 400 MHz instantaneous bandwidth, enabling the use of fragmented spectrum allocations and network sharing cases. The sleek, lightweight Habrok 64 is approximately 30 percent lighter than its predecessors, making it easier to install and faster to deploy, accelerating 5G network deployment. The products also offer even higher energy efficiency by using 30 percent less energy, lowering the total cost of ownership.
Nokia Bell Labs, as part of a NASA initiative, is partnering with spacefaring startups Lunar Outpost and Intuitive Machines for the lunar mission IM-2 scheduled for launch late this year. One of the primary goals of IM-2 is prove that the same cellular technologies used to connect our smartphones on Earth can be used to provide communications and critical connectivity for future lunar missions. To that end we are deploying a 4G/LTE network on the Moon, which will provide the critical command-and-control and video streaming links to the Lunar Outpost rover and other lunar vehicles.
For the first time, Nokia had a live demonstration of 6G sensing capability using prototype radio equipment. Attendees could interact with the sensing network and see how it responds to stimuli. Bell Labs Core Research President Peter Vetter will be on hand to walk you through the demo and discuss the importance of these 6G technologies for applications like extended reality (XR) and the metaverse. Peter will also brief you on the other key technologies we foresee in future 6G networks.
Peraso discussed their latest mmWave products for the 60 GHz and 5G markets in their private meeting room. Peraso has been developing fully integrated, multi-gigabit solutions that are paving the way for the future of wireless, by delivering high-bandwidth connectivity with industry-leading efficiency. The Peraso 5G beamformer solution is highlighted by low cost, energy efficient, fully integrated dual band performance targeting the FWA and Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) markets. They lead the industry in unlicensed 60 GHz modules so trying to do the same in 5G mmWave bands.
Pivotal Commware introduced its next generation Pivot 5G network repeater with more than four times the power for increased range, optical extension, and other key improvements. The second-generation Pivot features a narrower beamwidth on the Donor unit and combines that with increased gain and a 7 dB power boost to the Service Unit. The result is a system that can deliver Gigabit service 50% farther from the gNB, at least 3,000 feet. These enhanced capabilities allow mobile network operators to expand the service area while greatly mitigating the impact of foliage. With the optical interface kit, Pivot’s range and utility can be significantly extended. This feature allows a Pivot’s donor unit to serve up to four service units via fiber optic cable. For outdoor installations, this can alleviate the need for line of sight for each location and facilitate robust deployments with fewer systems. Fiber optics also facilitates outdoor-to-indoor installations and large indoor venues like stadiums and other locations traditionally satisfied with DAS.
Qualcomm Technologies had a large number of announcements so here are a few. They announced its collaboration with Honor, Motorola, Nothing, OPPO, vivo and Xiaomi to develop smartphones with satellite communication capabilities leveraging the recently unveiled Snapdragon® Satellite. Snapdragon Satellite is the first satellite-based two-way capable messaging solution for smartphones. It offers truly global coverage from pole to pole and can support two-way messaging for emergency use, SMS texting and other messaging applications—for a variety of purposes such as emergencies or recreation in remote, rural and offshore locations. The solution is supported by the LEO and fully operational Iridium® satellite constellation, which enables low-power, low latency satellite connections utilizing weather-resilient L-Band spectrum.
Qualcomm also announced the latest addition to its growing Snapdragon® Digital Chassis™ connected car technology portfolio with its Snapdragon® Auto 5G Modem-RF Gen 2. As Qualcomm Technologies’ most advanced automotive modem-RF system available, it features high performance processing power and up to 200 MHz of network capacity to support reliable, low latency connectivity for safe, intelligent and immersive riding experiences. Equipped with the latest advancements in 5G, car owners will now have the broadband to enjoy the comfort and convenient experiences of a vehicle, home and office in one space. The Snapdragon Auto 5G Modem-RF Gen 2 also introduces a new form of communication to the automotive industry with support for satellite communications, helping to ensure connectivity is ubiquitously available for applications that utilize two-way messaging.
Qualcomm announced plans to collaborate with Dell Technologies to develop a next generation, 5G vDU, integrating the Qualcomm® X100 5G RAN Accelerator Card into Dell PowerEdge servers. The solution will help usher in the next wave of digital transformation and proliferate Open RAN deployments globally. The companies plan to simplify deployments and help lower total cost of ownership by delivering high performance, O-RAN compliant, energy efficient, virtualized, cloud-native 5G solutions.
Rohde & Schwarz announced that its R&S CMW100 communications manufacturing test set for non-signaling wireless device testing has been validated by Qualcomm Technologies for QDART to verify Iridium waveforms used for the new Snapdragon® Satellite solution. Rohde & Schwarz is the first to supply test and measurement equipment to support non-signaling R&D and production testing of this new feature. This will help enable the Android ecosystem to reliably offer the satellite-based global emergency and two-way messaging provided by Iridium Communications on next generation smartphones. The R&S CMW100 communications manufacturing test set is part of the Rohde & Schwarz single-box tester portfolio, which provides universal and efficient test instruments for all modern cellular and non-cellular standards. The flexible R&S CMW100 RF interface permits simultaneous testing of up to eight devices. It has a continuous frequency range up to 6 GHz and RF bandwidth up to 160 MHz.
R&S has added 3GPP NTN test capabilities to verify the first 5G satellite-to-mobile messaging smartphone from Bullitt, powered by MediaTek’s 3GPP NTN Rel.17 chipset. Bullitt and MediaTek have collaborated and added direct-to-satellite communications to the next generation of Bullitt-designed rugged 5G smartphones, making Bullitt the first company to integrate the MediaTek 3GPP NTN Rel 17 chipset in their device. Rohde & Schwarz has extended its NB-IoT solution with 3GPP Release 17 NTN features to provide an ecosystem with R&D, production, and conformance testing functions.
R&S and Broadcom collaborated to enable the market launch of the next generation of Wi-Fi products. The two companies successfully tested the latest Broadcom® 4x4 Wi-Fi 7 access point chipset with the R&S CMP180 radio communication tester. The R&S CMP180 supports Broadcom’s manufacturing test tools for access point terminals that integrate Broadcom Wi-Fi 7 chipsets in their products, including wireless LAN routers, residential gateways and enterprise access points. This is in addition to the recent announcement of a Rohde & Schwarz test solution for Broadcom® mobile handset Wi-Fi 7 chipsets.
R&S also showcased AI/ML-based neural receiver setup with the R&S SMW200A vector signal generator emulated two individual users transmitting an 80 MHz wide signal in the uplink direction with a MIMO 2x2 signal configuration. Each user is independently faded, and noise is applied to simulate realistic radio channel conditions. The R&S MSR4 multi-purpose satellite receiver acts as the receiver, capturing the signal transmitted at a carrier frequency of 3 GHz by using its four phase-coherent receive channels. The data is then provided via the real-time streaming interface to a server. There, the signal is pre-processed using the R&S Server-Based Testing framework including R&S VSE vector signal explorer (VSE) micro-services. The VSE signal analysis software synchronizes the signal and performs fast Fourier transforms (FFT). This post-FFT data set serves as input for a neural receiver implemented using NVIDIA Sionna.
R&S has optimized the R&S CMX500 OBT for IoT testing functionality. The enhancements on the R&S CMX500 OBT lite enable manufacturers of IoT chipsets, modems and end devices to verify the different aspects of 5G RedCap as defined in 3GPP Rel 17 in the R&D phase, pertaining to network access restrictions, bandwidth parts and bandwidth part switching, power saving and other 5G RedCap specific protocol signaling procedures, among others.
Sivers and PureSoftware have jointly developed an O-RAN-compliant base station reference design for the 5G millimeter wave market based on the NXP Layerscape processor platform. The O-RAN ecosystem enables open standardized interfaces to allow more vendors to serve the 5G infrastructure market, thus expanding the customer set and addressable market for this solution. Sivers demonstrated live the reference design with the highest level of RF integration on the market by combining NXP’s programmable baseband processor the Sivers 5G mmWave transceiver module and PureSoftware’s software stack.
Intel, WiSig, and Sivers are jointly developing the world’s first fully stand-alone 5G millimeter wave FR2 solution for CPE, which can also be utilized as an integrated backhaul terminal in Sub-6 GHz 5G radio access networks. This unique solution is based on the Intel Agilex FPGA portfolio, Sivers RF and antenna technology, and full-stack software developed by WiSig, and was demonstrated live at the event.
Soitec broke ground on the construction of its wafer fab extension at Singapore’s Pasir Ris Wafer Fab Park in Dec of last year. The fab extension will be dedicated to the production of 300mm SOI wafers, which are used to produce chips for smartphones, particularly in 5G communications, as well as vehicles and smart devices. Upon its completion in 2024, the extension will add 45,000 square meters of clean room and office space and enable Soitec to double its annual production capacity in Singapore to around two million 300mm SOI wafers.
TTP announced that it has integrated its satellite and systems design expertise with tools from Keysight Technologies to provide a 5G NTN ‘digital twin’ modelling and emulation environment. TTP is integrating its proprietary lab testing tools with Keysight’s PropSim Channel emulator and EXata network modelling suite, in addition to Ansys STK, a physics-based modelling environment. This enables TTP to offer a complete 5G NTN digital twin modelling, emulation and validation solution that satellite operators, device manufacturers, app developers, MNOs and network infrastructure providers can use to establish how their products and services will interoperate with the NTN network. They can then refine and optimize their offerings accordingly. The digital twin and lab emulation platform were demonstrated at the event. The testing environment can help validate solutions against 3GPP Release 17 NTN specifications. This includes end-to-end coverage of user terminal and antenna designs, satellite link budgets, regenerative payloads, ground stations and 5G core network components. The digital twin also includes full environmental modelling with detailed terrain analysis for real-time protocol measurements, real-time physics-based analysis, and user application modelling.
ZTE Corporation, in partnership with China Mobile and Qualcomm Technologies, successfully completed 5G sub-band full-duplex (SBFD) verification and compatibility test in Xi'an Joint Innovation Lab, achieving the industry's first sub-band full-duplex gNB, with higher uplink throughput over 1.47 Gbps and lower end-to-end latency of 3.9 ms simultaneously in TDD band with 100 MHz system bandwidth. This flexible frame structure was verified with Snapdragon® X65 Modem-RF System based reference device. As ZTE continues delivering enhanced mobile broadband experiences and extending 5G reach into new use cases, the company is seeing major breakthroughs in 5G technology, allowing for higher flexibility and efficiency on limited radio spectrums within a conventional TDD band.