Keysight Technologies Validated as Industry Leader in 5G NR Protocol Conformance Test Cases

Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: KEYS), a leading technology company that helps enterprises, service providers and governments accelerate innovation to connect and secure the world, announced today that its 5G Network Emulation Solution continues to rank first in the number of 5G NR protocol conformance test cases as validated by GCF (Global Certification Forum) and PTCRB (a certification forum comprised of leading U.S. mobile operators).

Keysight Technologies leads the way in the number of certified protocol test cases, which will drive the entire mobile ecosystem to accelerate the implementation of 5G NR device certification and ensure that the devices meet the specifications of 3GPP (the global mobile communications standards organization). By taking the lead in introducing comprehensive test cases, device manufacturers are expected to accelerate the completion of device verification around more application scenarios.

Keysight's 5G Protocol Conformance Toolset is part of Keysight's 5G Network Emulation Solution; it provides the largest number of GCF-certified 5G NR protocol test cases for frequency range 1 (FR1) and frequency range 2 (FR2) in non-standalone (NSA) mode. It also provides unique GCF- and PTCRB-certified protocol test cases for standalone (SA) mode. Standalone mode can fully utilize the latest 3GPP core network architecture - 5G Core (5GC, 5G Core Network) to realize the full potential of 5G NR, so new use cases with ultra-low latency and higher capacity are required for testing.

"By providing the industry's largest number of GCF- and PTCRB-certified RF and protocol conformance test cases on a single platform, we are enabling the global mobile ecosystem to efficiently accelerate 5G device certification and bring 5G commercial services to consumers around the world faster," said Kailash Narayanan, vice president and general manager of Keysight's Wireless Test Group. "We are pleased to lead the industry in accelerating the deployment of a wide range of 5G use cases, including enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) and ultra-low latency requirements for both consumer and vertical industry applications." 

Following the 59th CAG meeting in Malaga, Spain in July 2019, Keysight announced that the Keysight 5G Conformance Test Toolset (Test Platform 168) provides the broadest coverage of GCF-certified RF test cases. Also in July, Keysight announced that it had achieved industry-first GCF certification in collaboration with Qualcomm for 5G NR conformance test cases for RF demodulation and radio resource management (RRM) in non-standalone (NSA) mode in FR1 . Earlier this year, Keysight announced that it was the first to submit 5G NR test cases to PTCRB , including radio frequency (RF) test cases in non-standalone (NSA) mode in FR2 and protocol test cases in standalone mode in FR1.

Keysight's  5G Protocol Conformance Test Toolset enables mobile operators, chipset and device manufacturers, and test labs to validate new devices in sub-6 GHz (FR1) and mmWave (FR2) frequency bands across the entire workflow, from early design to acceptance and to manufacturing. This complete solution leverages the strengths of Keysight's  UXM 5G radio platform , giving testers early access to a wide range of test cases on a common platform.