VIAVI Collaborates with Nokia to Successfully Validate Aerial Performance of Massive MIMO Radio

NIO from VIAVI Communications ® The Wireless testing product portfolio successfully validated the over the air (OTA) performance of Nokia’s massive multiple input multiple output (MIMO) radio in the high-frequency band above 6 GHz. This key frequency band will greatly expand the capacity of existing base stations and promote the development of 5G-A and 6G networks.

With the popularization of 5G applications, the currently allocated spectrum resources are facing enormous pressure. Therefore, for future wireless technologies, enabling new frequency bands with sufficient capacity, wide coverage, excellent performance, and high efficiency has become a key focus of industry development. Nokia’s research shows that in the next five years, operators urgently need to expand their holdings of time division duplex (TDD) mid band spectrum. It is worth noting that at the 2023 World Radiocommunication Conference, all parties reached an important consensus to allocate high-frequency spectrum above 6 GHz to the mobile services sector. This means that each operator may obtain up to 200 MHz of TDD mid band spectrum.
In order to simulate real-world scenarios and test the performance of the Nokia AirScale platform in the frequency band above 6 GHz, Nokia and Viaway collaborated to conduct a concept validation at the Nokia Otava laboratory in Oulu, Finland. The tested Nokia system uses a 128TRX massive MIMO radio based on the Nokia AirScale Habrok platform, configured in the higher part of the n104 frequency band (6425-7125 MHz).

ZERO Wireless testing solution provided by Weiyawei

TM500 Network Tester: As a flagship platform, this tester is widely used by global network equipment manufacturers for early functional testing, system integration debugging, capacity evaluation, performance optimization, and regression testing of base stations.

OneAdvisor 800 Spectrum and Signal Analyzer: This analyzer can accurately verify the signals transmitted in the downlink, conduct rigorous consistency testing, and conduct in-depth 5G channel analysis, covering multiple key aspects such as RF characteristics, beamforming, air timing, and synchronization, while comprehensively evaluating the overall wireless base station transmission performance.

Successful test cases

High precision spectrum analysis was conducted for the uplink and downlink carrier aggregation (CA) of one carrier (1 CC) and two carriers (2 CC), and peak throughput was verified.
The performance and capacity of the system were validated by using hundreds of simulated user equipment (UE) and combining them with real data traffic applications.

This concept validation was on the basis of laboratory and field experiments previously conducted by Nokia. It focuses on studying the aerial performance of Nokia’s massive MIMO radio in real high-frequency environments above 6 GHz, further confirming its strong capabilities in supporting 5G-A and 6G network development and deployment.
Weiyawei feels deeply honored to be deeply involved in this breakthrough milestone event in the field of wireless technology, “said Manuel Mato, Vice President and Regional General Manager for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa at VIAVI.” As the entire industry gradually transitions from 4G to 5G and steadily moves towards the more advanced 5G-A and 6G era, Weiyawei is fully prepared and will work closely with network equipment manufacturers and operators at every critical stage to move forward hand in hand.”