Major mobile service providers are moving from laboratory verification of 5G technology to field testing and are now announcing full-scale deployments to support commercial service in 2018. As teams of technicians and suppliers begin installing and activating the radio access network (RAN), they must be equipped with portable, resource-rich, and easy-to-use instruments that require minimal training.
The CellAdvisor 5G was developed from the ground up with practical field deployment needs in mind. VIAVI leveraged the company’s 15-year history with this product line and the resulting relationships it has with its Tier 1 customers to develop the newest member of its analyzer family. Key features include: support for beamforming, massive MIMO, and carrier aggregation analysis; spectrum and interference analysis in Frequency Region 1 (FR1, sub-6 GHz) and Frequency Region 2 (FR2, millimeter wave); flexibility to support wider channel bandwidth configurations (5 MHz to 100 MHz in FR1 and 100 MHz to 400 MHz in FR2); touchscreen functionality; and cloud-based configuration and asset management via the StrataSync platform.
Main testing functions of the CellAdvisor 5G:
• Real-time spectrum and interference analysis with persistence visualization for FR1 and FR2
• 5G carrier scanner measuring carrier power for up to eight broadband carriers, as well as the strongest beam power level and its corresponding identifier (ID)
• 5G beam analyzer evaluating individual beam IDs, their power levels, and corresponding signal-to-noise ratios
• 5G route map for coverage verification by assigning, in real time, the physical cell identity (PCI) and its associated beam ID along with the beam strength, as well as providing coverage data for post-processing.
“VIAVI has taken the lead in 5G testing and continues to expand its investments,” said Kevin Oliver, Vice President and General Manager of Converged Instruments and Virtual Testing at VIAVI. “Virtually every 5G base station in the field today was verified in the lab using VIAVI instruments and systems. Now, as several leading operators are migrating from the lab to full-scale field deployments, the CellAdvisor 5G will be the critical tool that technicians and suppliers will need to install and maintain those 5G deployments.”.
VIAVI provides a range of 5G validation, deployment, and assurance solutions that accelerate testing, facilitate network evolution, and accelerate time to market. The 3GPP-compliant TM500 Network Tester, widely considered the de facto standard for wireless network testing, has seen significant market adoption for testing throughout the 5G R&D lifecycle and is also used to test network performance prior to the launch of new services. Together with the 5G Core Emulator, CellAdvisor 5G, and NITRO Mobile solutions, VIAVI delivers a powerful combination of end-to-end testing, validation, and assurance solutions that support the entire 5G network lifecycle, from lab to field.
