As 5G services continue to expand across a wide variety of devices and deployment scenarios, maintaining reliable communication in challenging radio environments has become increasingly important, especially when uplink coverage is the limiting factor. The Ratio 17 coverage enhancements were introduced to address these conditions, enabling devices to maintain connectivity and transfer data more reliably at cell edges, deep indoors, and in other weak signal conditions, without requiring increased transmit power or additional network infrastructure.
The solution introduces several mechanisms that employ enhanced radio coverage procedures, such as Msg3 repeat, Type A enhanced PUSCH repeat, and multi-slot transport block processing (TBoMS), to improve uplink robustness and extend effective 5G coverage, from initial access to sustained data transfer at the cell edge.
Through this collaboration, Anritsu and MediaTek, Inc. support industry validation of compliance and interoperability for enhanced coverage, helping to accelerate the commercial implementation of 3GPP Release 17 features.
“By enabling accurate verification of coverage-oriented functionality, Anritsu helps operators and device manufacturers improve connection reliability and overall network efficiency, especially in situations with poor radio conditions,” said Yokoo Daizaburo, General Manager of Anritsu’s Mobile Solutions Division. “We are proud that our collaboration with MediaTek supports the rapid and confident deployment and validation by the industry of new 5G features, such as the Version 17 coverage enhancements.”.
The conformance tests are defined by 3GPP in specification TS 38.523-1. Anritsu has submitted these tests to 3GPP Radio Access Networks Working Group 5 (RAN WG5). They are available on the 3GPP RAN5 portal.
Product Description
The ME7834NR 5G NR Mobile Device Testing Platform is registered as test platform no. 251 with both the GCF and the PTCRB.
This platform supports 3GPP-based protocol conformance testing (PCT) and operator acceptance testing (CAT) for mobile devices incorporating multiple radio access technologies. It covers 5G NR in both standalone and non-standalone modes, along with LTE, LTE-Advanced, LTE-A Pro, W-CDMA, and NTN. When combined with MA8171A OTA and RF converters, the ME7834NR enables testing in 5G NR frequency bands below 6 GHz and in millimeter wave (mmWave) bands.
