R&S ships first analysis firmware for 5G New Radio
Now, for the first time, developers of 5G radio technologies can validate 5G base stations and associated components such as power amplifiers. The firmware option for the R&S FSW signal and spectrum analyzer enables verification of signals for base stations, as well as component testing of 5G power amplifiers. As part of the early adopters program, Rohde & Schwarz can now provide the firmware option upon customer request before its official launch to support the industry in its efforts to bring new 5G products to market.
This is the first dedicated firmware option for 5G NR installed on the FSW signal and spectrum analyzer. It supports sub-6 GHz and mmWave signals with different subcarrier spacing and carrier bandwidths.
Developers can now begin testing according to the 3GPP standard, enabling them to validate 5G base stations in ways that cannot be achieved with general-purpose signal analysis software solutions on the market. This dedicated solution accelerates 5G testing by providing a powerful user interface. The new 5G firmware option for the R&S FSW supports analysis of all bandwidth parts to simplify demodulation of 5G NR signals with several different subcarrier spacings.
In June 2017, the company expanded the internal analysis bandwidth of its FSW high-end signal and spectrum analyzer up to 2 GHz by introducing the FSW-B2001 option that is now used for the 5G NR analysis and enables R&D users to investigate wideband signals in detail without the need for an external digitizer. The R&S SMW200A vector signal generator and the R&S FSW signal and spectrum analyzer have been tested with signals based on the Verizon 5G open trial specifications.