Aethertek Validates Performance of 5G Millimeter Wave Open RAN Radio Units

Aethertek develops 5G millimeter wave (mmWave) Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) radio units using radio frequency (RF) front-end modules and mmWave phased array antennas. To help ensure optimum performance in real-world use cases, Aethertek needed to test these designs against realistic, challenging conditions.

Aethertek selected Keysight Open RAN Studio to emulate the real-world traffic experienced by an O-RAN radio unit across RF and protocol domains. Using the solution, Aethertek reliably validated the performance of its RF front-end modules and mmWave phased array antennas as critical components of its 5G mmWave radio units.

5G millimeter wave (mmWave) technology can increase bandwidth and lower latency for use cases such as mission-critical communications and Industry 4.0 applications. Achieving optimum performance in these real-world environments requires mmWave designs to be tested against realistic, challenging conditions.

For Aethertek, radio frequency (RF) front-end modules and mmWave phased array antennas are critical components of its 5G Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) radio units. The company needed a way to validate the end-to-end performance of these designs during research and development, before they reached users.

Millimeter wave over-the-air testing adds complexity because validation must address both RF behavior and the protocol traffic experienced by an O-RAN radio unit. Aethertek needed a test environment that could reproduce those real-world conditions and provide reliable performance validation.

Aethertek selected Keysight Open RAN Studio to validate the end-to-end performance of its 5G mmWave O-RAN radio units. The solution provides tools in both RF and protocol domains to emulate the real-world traffic experienced by an O-RAN radio unit.