The collaboration leverages Keysight's 5G network emulation solutions to accelerate the development of the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 5G modem-RF system to support DSS, an emerging technology included in 3GPP Release 15. Mobile operators are expected to begin deploying DSS technology in existing 4G LTE base stations in 2020, accelerating nationwide 5G service rollouts. DSS enables mobile operators to transform LTE base stations via a software update to create hybrid 4G/5G base stations. As a result, users of DSS-enabled 5G NR devices will be able to access 5G services in both rural and urban environments.
"Our ongoing collaboration with Keysight on 5G technology, which began in 2015, has enabled Qualcomm Technologies to accelerate the deployment of DSS, a critical feature that will help mobile operators in the rapid transition to 5G," said Jon Detra, Vice President, Engineering, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. "Keysight helps us develop and validate our Snapdragon 5G modem-RF system designs at a pace that will help us accelerate the commercialization of 5G.".
Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) allows mobile operators to flexibly utilize existing spectrum allocations across low, mid, and high frequency bands by dynamically switching between LTE and 5G NR coverage based on traffic demand. Mobile operators can leverage DSS to deliver the best possible performance and coverage for a mix of 4G and 5G devices.
“Our extensive collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies on 5G technology enables device manufacturers and mobile operators to build 5G coverage cost-effectively,” said Kailash Narayanan, Vice President and General Manager of Keysight’s Wireless Testing Group.
Keysight's 5G network emulation solutions enable users to cost-effectively validate multi-radio access technology (RAT) designs on a single platform. Earlier this year, Keysight announced that the company's 5G collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies led to significant industry advancements, including the industry's firstGlobal Certification Forum (GCF) validation of 5G NR conformance test cases for radio frequency (RF) demodulation and radio resource management (RRM); and the first announced 5G NR data call in Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) mode .
