VIAVI Introduces First True 5G Base Station Analyzer for Large-Scale Deployments

VIAVI Solutions, today announced the launch of Cell Advisor 5G, the next-generation base station analyzer used by mobile service providers globally, which is capable of validating and troubleshooting 5G radio access. In addition to industry-first features addressing 5G TF and 5G NR standards requirements, CellAdvisor 5G includes usability enhancements, developed with customers, that further improve technician experience and deployment speed. The instrument was successfully used in the roll-out of the first commercially available 5G network in the United States.

Leading mobile service providers are moving from lab verification of 5G technology to field trials, and are now announcing scale deployments to support commercial service as early as 2018. As fleets of technicians and contractors begin to install and activate the radio access network (RAN), they need to be equipped with portable, feature-rich and easy-to-use instruments that require minimal training.

CellAdvisor 5G was built from the ground up with practical field deployment needs in mind. VIAVI leveraged the 15-year track record of this product line, and the resulting relationships the company has with its Tier-1 customers, to develop the newest member of this family of analyzers. Key features include: support for beamforming analysis, massive MIMO and carrier aggregation; 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 asset and configuration management via the StrataSync platform.

CellAdvisor 5G principal test functions:

·Real-time spectrum and interference analysis with persistence display for FR1 and FR2

·5G carrier scanner measuring carrier power up to eight wide-band carriers’ power as well as strongest beam power level and its corresponding identifier (ID)

·5G beam analyzer assessing individual beams’ IDs, their power levels and corresponding signal to noise ratios

·5G route map for coverage verification mapping, in real-time, the physical cell identity (PCI) and its associated beam ID together with beam strength, as well as making coverage data available for post-processing.

“VIAVI has taken an early lead in 5G testing, and continues to expand its investments,” said Kevin Oliver, Vice President and General Manager, Converged Instruments and Virtual Test, VIAVI. “Virtually every 5G base station in the field today has been verified in the lab using VIAVI instruments and systems. Now, as a number of leading carriers are moving from the lab to large-scale field deployments, CellAdvisor 5G will be the fundamental tool that technicians and contractors will need to install and maintain these 5G deployments.”

VIAVI offers a range of 5G validation, deployment and assurance solutions that accelerate testing, facilitate network evolution and speed time to market. The 3GPP-compliant TM500 Network Tester, largely regarded as the de facto standard for wireless network testing, has seen significant market adoption for testing throughout the 5G R&D lifecycle and also is used to stress-test network performance prior to launch of new services. Together with the 5G Core Emulator, CellAdvisor 5G and NITRO Mobile solutions, VIAVI offers a powerful combination of end-to-end testing, validation and assurance solutions that support the complete 5G network lifecycle from the lab to the field.