Network equipment manufacturers (NEMs) employ beamforming technology in 5G NR base stations to improve reliability and efficiency in the mmWave frequency spectrum. Beamforming uses multiple antennas (phased arrays) to transmit the same signal, thereby increasing signal strength in and out of a particular direction to extend mobile coverage, providing higher data rates and an improved radio environment.
"Our close collaboration with Keysight allows us to validate that our 5G beamformers and other components provide the high performance and low power consumption essential for 5G network infrastructure equipment," said Naveen Yanduru, Vice President and General Manager of IDT's RF Products Division.
As the bandwidth of integrated circuits using 5G technology increases, it is important to characterize their performance over wider frequency ranges. For this reason, IDT uses Keysight's high-performance family of vector network analyzers (VNAs) to validate the performance of its beamformer ICs. Keysight's solutions enable IDT and other leading IC designers to measure key parameters such as scattering (S), 1dB compression point (P1dB), third-order intermodulation products (IM3), and error vector magnitude (EVM).
“Our long-standing collaboration with IDT demonstrates how Keysight’s 5G beamformer IC testing solutions enable designers to validate performance using high-precision simulation and measurement tools, ensuring reliable and efficient designs,” said Kailash Narayanan, Vice President and General Manager of Keysight’s wireless testing group.
Both companies will use Keysight's Streamline USB VNA to demonstrate IDT's active beamforming in the radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) for NR 5G at the 2019 IEEE International Symposium on Phased Array Systems and Technology (Array2019).
Earlier this year, at the world's largest microwave and RF industry trade show, the International Microwave Symposium (IMS) 2019, IDT showcased a 64-element phased array antenna comprised of its 5G NR beamformer and broadband microwave synthesizer. The demonstration leveraged Keysight's Signal Studio software for signal creation, the PXI vector signal generator for waveform generation, and the UXA signal analyzer for vector signal analysis, enabling validation of the signal fidelity performance of its beamforming IC.

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