Keysight Technologies has joined forces with Xilinx and Cisco to showcase fronthaul solutions that support a smooth migration path from traditional 4G LTE networks to 5G open radio access networks (O-RAN).
Multi-vendor radio access network (RAN) deployments based on open standard interfaces defined by the O-RAN Alliance require thorough end-to-end validation across radio frequency (RF) and protocol domains, as well as from the physical to the application layer. Keysight offers integrated hardware and software O-RAN solutions that enable a diverse ecosystem of vendors and mobile operators to quickly verify performance, interoperability and compliance to the O-RAN specification of each network element and end-to-end.
Keysight’s S5040A Open RAN Studio Player and Capture Appliance, is a hardware platform that constructs, plays, captures and measures O-RAN traffic over fronthaul Ethernet interfaces. During the recent Mobile World Congress (MWC 21), Keysight revealed a video demonstration, which combined this instrument-grade test and measurement tool with Keysight’s PathWave Signal Generation (Signal Studio), PathWave Vector Signal Analysis (89600 VSA) and Open RAN Studio software to emulate a distributed unit (O-DU), capture O-RAN uplink communications and validate an O-RU’s functional operation and performance.
Giampaolo Tardioli, vice president and general manager of Keysight's network access group
Our demonstration underscores the robustness of O-RAN specifications by bringing together Keysight Open RAN Architect solutions with Xilinx’s O-RAN compliant radio unit (O-RU) and Cisco’s fronthaul gateway, supporting both common public radio interface (CPRI) and O-RAN fronthaul interfaces.
Kishen Mangat, vice president of Business Development, ORAN at Cisco
Cisco is greatly invested in O-RAN standards because of the many benefits provided to the industry through open interfaces and a software-based system architecture.
