5G NR poses a new challenge for mobile phone device manufacturers with a huge impact on the development process. Advanced RF interfaces with antenna systems operating in the millimeter wave range make test setups and procedures even more challenging. With the return of the Mobile World Congress to Barcelona in the month of June 5, Rohde & Schwarz presents the most recent novelties of its catalog of test and measurement of mobile telephony devices that covers each and every one of the stages, from early design phases through to conformance testing and manufacturing of XNUMXG NR devices.
Test and measurement solutions for the "5G reality and evolution" are at the heart of Rohde & Schwarz's activities at Mobile World Congress 21 (MWCXNUMX). With regard to testing mobile phone devices, Rohde & Schwarz presents upcoming innovations at the premier event for this industry:
End-to-end testing for high-performance eMBBs
Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) is an application profile of 5G NR that accepts ever-expanding data transfer speeds and system capacities as these devices gradually incorporate more network-based services and applications. At MWC21, Rohde & Schwarz in cooperation with VIAVI is presenting the R&S CMX500 radio tester and the VIAVI TM500 network tester in an end-to-end test scenario for 5G NR eMBB in 5G SA (stand-alone) mode which it surpasses for the first time a data transfer rate of 5 Gbps. This demonstration paves the way for future data transfer speeds of up to ten Gbps. In this scenario, the instruments simulate an autonomous 8G network with integration of 1 carriers in the downlink with dual NR connectivity (NR-DC). It uses one carrier (1xCC) on FR7 and 7 carriers (2xCC) on FR256 with 500QAM modulation on each and every carrier. End-to-end tests assess the speed of data transfer from the simulated and also embedded server and base station to the device under test in a well-defined network environment. For this scenario the R&S CMXXNUMX has an integrated FTP server that allows measuring the data transfer speed on the uplink and downlink for file transfer protocols.
Audio quality test in VoNR
Even with 5G, voice services will continue to be essential for mobile network users. Rohde & Schwarz works together with HEAD acoustics to test the quality of voice services over 5G NR. At MWC21 the two companies are showing a solution based on the latest generation of the R&S CMX500 radio communication tester in conjunction with HEAD acoustics' labCORE hardware platform and its ACQUA measurement and analysis software. The configuration allows the simulation of a voice connection in 5G private company networks (VoNR) such as 5G NSA (VoLTE). This leaves manufacturers of 5G-capable mobile devices to review voice quality in the early stages before bringing them to market.
Conformity and Operator Acceptance Testing
Conformance testing is an essential step in bringing mobile devices to market. With the introduction of 5G NR, the number of test cases is growing exponentially due to the huge number of possible band combinations, application possibilities and constantly evolving standards. Major 5G network operators require additional operator acceptance tests to ensure that mobile devices function properly. With a test system based on the R&S CMX500, Rohde & Schwarz offers carrier acceptance tests such as Performance Quality Analysis (PQA), Network Protocol Test (NPT) and LBS in 5G FR2. In each and every application, the extremely robust CATR R&S ATS800R antenna test system is used to perform over-the-air (OTA) measurements. At MWC21 Rohde & Schwarz presents its own operator acceptance test case: heat dissipation of a mobile device depending on the data transfer speed.
CATR system with multiple reflectors
Devices for 5G NR equipped with millimeter wave antenna systems, each consisting of a transceiver, frontend, and phased array antenna, cannot be tested by cable. What's more, quirks like beamforming can only be tested over the air. Consequently, the 3GPP specification defines that any and all FR2 conformance tests must be performed over the air under direct or indirect near-field conditions. With the R&S ATS1800M, Rohde & Schwarz presents a camera based on the CATR system for testing in the millimeter wave range. It offers a multi-reflector configuration that takes up very little space to carry out measurements with minimal uncertainty. This solution is ideal for characterizing devices in the presence of multiple signals coming from different directions with a black box testing approach. This approach is common in Radio Resource Management (RRM) testing and is made possible by a total of 4 CATR reflectors fitted to the R&S ATS1800M, each providing a stealth zone of unrivaled size. thirty cm in diameter.
Millimeter wave test in production
The demand for test solutions for device manufacturing for 5G NR is increasing, and testing a myriad of devices operating in the millimeter wave range poses new challenges. Since these devices do not have RF connectors, device validation must be done over the air (OTA). For this, Rohde & Schwarz has developed the R&S CMPQ test platform. By assembling their production lines, manufacturers can freely configure the different components and the complete system to create tailored solutions for FR2 tests. The R&S CMPQ consists of an R&S CMP200 radio tester, R&S CMPHEAD30 remote radio heads (RRH) for the millimeter wave range, and an R&S CMQ200 shielded mini camera. The platform comes from a single vendor and also integrates each and every system component such as antennas, cables, interface connectors, and power sensors. This ensures unbeatable and stable system factors for the performance of reliable and reproducible FR2 production tests.
