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Understanding 5G RF Parameters for Testing and Measurement

5g rf testing test equipment network testing wireless communication

5G device development requires testing at various stages, from the design phase to final deployment. This involves tests at various protocol stack levels of the 5G device and 5G network level.

Some specific 5G RF parameters for testing 5G devices and networks according to the 5G New Radio (NR) standard specifications are as follows.

Key 5G RF Parameters

  • Frequency range: The device should support FR1 (Sub 6 GHz) and FR2 (mmwave) bands as per its design.
  • Bandwidth: The device should support different bandwidths as per FR1 and FR2 such as 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 20 MHz, 100 MHz, 400 MHz etc.
  • RSRP and RSRQ: These Signal strength and quality metrics are useful test parameters.
  • SNR and SINR: These parameters measure signal quality under different conditions.
  • Transmit power: This test ensures devices adhere to transmit power limits specified by regulatory authorities. It ensures devices comply with RF emission limits and other regulatory requirements.
  • Receiver sensitivity: It determines the minimum signal strength required for successful reception.
  • OTA performance: This conducts over-the-air testing to evaluate real-world device performance.
  • Interference and coexistence: It tests devices for resistance to interference and their ability to coexist with other wireless systems.
  • RF carrier aggregation: It verifies that devices can effectively aggregate multiple carriers for high data rates.

The following table lists the main test cases required to be done at various phases of the 5G product lifecycle.

5G test parametersTest Cases
TransmitterConformance testing: Power spectrum mask, transmit power vs time, CCDF, I/Q vs time
ReceiverConformance testing: EVM, channel response, spectral flatness
Interoperability testingThis tests ensures that 5G devices from one vendor will work with 5G devices from other vendors in the network without any issues.
Network stability tests5G system works without having any issues in the long run during handover and other tests.
Inter-RAT testsThis test ensures the 5G device works well across all the RATs (Radio Access Technologies) for which it has been designed.
MCS testsThe device should support QPSK, 16 QAM, 64 QAM, and 256 QAM modulation types.
Other 5G RF parametersPhase noise, 1dB compression, third order intercept points, harmonics, spurious, noise figure, image rejection etc. as per 5G device RF conformance test specifications.

One can read conformance documents and other test case documents published by respective 5G standard bodies for more details.

5G Test Equipments

Keysight 5G test equipments

The figure depicts a 5G testbed using 5G test equipment as mentioned in the table.

Keysight 5G test equipmentDescription
M8190AArbitrary Waveform Generator, which generates baseband IQ data
E8267D PSG signal generatorTakes IQ data as input and generates modulated IF output.
N5183 MXGUsed to generate an RF signal used as LO (Local Oscillator) input for both up-converter and down-converter
DSO-Z634A (63 GHz Oscilloscope)Used as Oscilloscope, it analyzes the 5G signal in the time domain
N9030A , N9040BUsed as Signal Analyzer, used to analyze the 5G signal in the frequency domain

In addition to the above tools, the 5G testbed requires Waveform Creation Application Software and VSA application. Waveform Creation allows users to configure 5G baseband and RF parameters (i.e., PHY and MAC frame-related).

The VSA application allows users to analyze various baseband-related parameters such as EVM, channel response, IQ impairments, power spectrum, CCDF, etc.

5G Test Equipment Companies

The following is a list of companies that offer 5G test equipment or tools other than Keysight Technologies:

  • Rohde & Schwarz: Offers 5G NR signal generation, signal analysis, and OTA test solutions.
  • Anritsu: Provides test solutions for RF/PHY testing, protocol testing, and conformance testing.
  • Viavi solutions: Offers test and measurement solutions for 5G network validation (Radio/protocol testing), network monitoring, and assurance.
  • Litepoint: Offers test solutions for 5G RF and protocol testing, manufacturing, and calibration.
  • Tektronix: Offers test solutions for 5G signal analysis including spectral and modulation analysis, and VSA (Vector signal analysis).
  • Other companies: Yokogawa, Xcerra, CETECOM, Spirent communications, National Instruments (NI), Cobham wireless etc.