Enables leading smartphone vendor to verify advanced 5G new radio features

Keysight Technologies, Inc., a leading technology company that delivers advanced design and validation solutions to help accelerate innovation to connect and secure the world, announced that vivo has expanded the use of Keysight’s 5G device test solutions to accelerate verification of designs that support 5G new radio (NR) 3GPP Release 16 (Rel-16) features.

Keysight collaborates with leading chipset makers to make early 3GPP Rel-16 design, test and conformance validation capabilities available via the company’s 5G network emulation solutions. vivo, one of the world’s top five smartphone vendors, relies on these capabilities to verify that new 5G designs comply to the latest specifications defined by 3GPP, the global standards organization. 3GPP completed 5G NR Rel-16 in July 2021 to improve efficiencies in transportation, logistics and manufacturing, in addition to providing improved cell coverage and connection speeds for consumers.


5G NR 3GPP standards

“Keysight is pleased to support vivo with 5G device test capabilities on common hardware and software platforms, enabling the leading smartphone brand to flexibly verify functionality and performance of its diverse product lineup,” said Cao Peng, vice president and general manager for Keysight's Wireless Test group. “By leveraging insights gained through close industry collaborations and contributions to the 5G NR 3GPP standards, we’re able to provide early support for advanced Rel-16 features, speeding the delivery of enhancements for industrial internet of things (IIoT) applications, enterprises and automotive use cases.”

Keysight’s Protocol R&D Toolset, based on the company’s UXM 5G Wireless Test Platform, offers vivo, an easy-to-use environment to develop and execute tests essential in verifying 5G NR and Long Term Evolution (LTE) signaling protocols. Keysight has established collaborations with top 5G modem makers and made significant contributions to the development of 3GPP standards. This has allowed Keysight to deliver key capabilities for early prototyping using the industry’s most mature 5G NR protocol stack from Release 15 through Release 16.
 
Keysight S8701A Protocol R&D Toolset for 5G
Keysight's S8701A Protocol R&D Toolset (image: Keysight Technologies)

5G market goals

“vivo’s collaboration with Keysight, initiated in 2018, has expanded to support our ambitious 5G market goals,” said Mingliang Xu, general manager of Hardware and Performance Testing at vivo. “Keysight’s 5G platforms, with access to early 5G Rel-16 test capabilities, enable us to quickly develop designs that support optimized power consumption, increased data speeds, as well as improved mobility and connection reliability.”

Keysight’s 5G platforms provide users with end-to-end repeatable performance test capabilities in a laboratory environment. In early 2021, vivo selected Keysight's PROPSIM channel emulation solutions to perform multiple input and multiple output (MIMO) over-the-air (OTA) testing under a diverse range of real-world mobility scenarios, including rural, city and indoor.