VIAVI Provides Benchmark and Validation Testing at Global O-RAN PlugFest, Demonstrating Technology Maturity, Performance and Security

VIAVI provides benchmark and validation testing for the global O-RAN PlugFest

Demonstrate technical maturity, performance and safety

Shanghai, China, July 15, 2022 – VIAVI Solutions (VIAVI) recently shared that the company participated in the O-RAN PlugFest organized by the O-RAN Alliance and hosted by industry leaders. The PlugFest conference was held in May and June 2022 and held a series of live demonstrations in multiple countries.

VIAVI provided benchmarking and validation for PlugFest testing and demonstrations around the world, including:

• Testing and demonstrations by AT&T and Dish Wireless at:

COSMOS Laboratory at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, USA

 Meta’s TIP Community Lab in Menlo Park, USA

Interoperability Laboratory, University of New Hampshire, Durham, United States

• Telefónica in Madrid, Spain

• Auray OTIC and Safety Lab in Taiwan

Dr. Ian Wong, Office of the CTO and Co-Chair of the O-RAN Alliance Test and Integration Task Force, VIAVI, commented: “The growing maturity of the O-RAN ecosystem was evident throughout PlugFest. The Open Radio Unit (O-RU) will complete fronthaul conformance certification and move beyond certification to performance testing. Interoperability in a multi-vendor environment beyond the O-RU was also in focus, with key combinations including O-RU and Open Distribution Unit (O-DU), O-DU and Open Central Unit (O-CU), and complete end-to-end networks on display. Vendors also demonstrated the RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) and its potential to bring AI/ML technologies to network optimization and service management. And as security in open networks becomes increasingly important, this PlugFest also included the running of O-RAN and 3GPP security test cases.”

VIAVI’s O-RAN standards test suite provides support for conformance, performance, interoperability, and end-to-end testing:

• O-RU: VIAVI and Rohde & Schwarz collaborated to conduct O-RAN fronthaul (OFH) conformance and 3GPP pre-conformance testing of Foxconn and other vendors’ O-RUs. The two companies also jointly verified an O-RU reference design using components from ADI and Intel. The joint test platform included the VIAVI TM500 O-RU tester and the Rohde & Schwarz SMW200A vector signal generator (VSG), FSW signal and spectrum analyzer, and VSE vector signal analysis software, with the O-RU Test Manager providing a seamless user experience. In addition, VIAVI supported conformance and performance testing of the C-band 64TRX Massive MIMO Fujitsu O-RU by providing the TM500 O-RU tester, TM500 UE emulator, and T-BERD/MTS-5800 PTP/SyncE master.

• Transport: VIAVI also provided the T-BERD/MTS-5800 for Xhaul transport and synchronization testing on ADVA’s FSP 150-XG418 as a base station gateway (CSG) and Ensemble Activator network operating system (NOS), on the Edgecore AS7316-26XB as a central station router (HSR), and verified compatibility of third-party optical plugs for Precision Optical Transceivers.

• End-to-end interoperability and security testing: VIAVI TM500 UE emulator and TeraVM core emulator were used for E2E and security testing of a combination of vendors, including: Foxconn’s O-RU and REIGN CORE; Pegatron’s O-RU, O-CU and O-DU; and ASKEY’s equipment.

• RIC: VIAVI demonstrated near real-time RIC platform performance benchmarks by integrating another vendor’s xApp with the VIAVI TeraVM RIC test. The two companies also collaborated to demonstrate near real-time RIC traffic steering in a multi-vendor, multi-technology environment in a fully automated, closed-loop manner by combining anomaly detection, quality prediction, and traffic steering xApps with the TeraVM RIC test.

“We have participated in several PlugFests throughout the year as interest in cross-industry collaboration on O-RAN has grown significantly,” said Stephen Hire, Vice President of Marketing, Wireless Business Unit, VIAVI. “In addition to the large number of participants, there is also complexity in terms of end-to-end interoperability, automation of assurance and optimization driven by artificial intelligence and machine learning, and security. VIAVI is able to help partners overcome this complexity by providing comprehensive and relevant test cases on our proven platforms that are simple to use and deliver fast results.”

VIAVI offers the most comprehensive test suite on the market for lab validation, field deployment, and service assurance of O-RAN networks. With extensive experience in validating network products for global operators and manufacturers, VIAVI enables any node including O-RU, O-DU, O-CU, RIC, and Core, as well as complete end-to-end testing, to be performed locally, in the cloud, or as a service.