Scaling up to a massive MIMO network using emulation
Integrating MIMO infrastructure to successfully interoperate with other network equipment requires complex testing to replicate real-world scenarios. Massive MIMO testing using end-to-end emulation verifies full-stack operations and proper handling of network traffic. Testing network subsystems for a disaggregated network architecture like Open RAN validates that signal processing for an O-RAN distributed unit (O-DU) is capable of handling the MIMO signals from an O-RAN radio unit (O-RU) and spatially distributed user equipment in a lab test setup.
The setup for end-to-end massive MIMO testing requires three key elements: a user equipment simulator that emulates multiple users and their RF traffic, a core emulator that drives the radio access network elements and provides connectivity, and a MIMO-enabled RF front end to spatially separate the emulated users for MIMO communication to the base station. This setup will allow visualization of the MIMO beamforming and the users' network performance across complex interference scenarios.
End-to-end MIMO test solution
Ensuring the MIMO infrastructure interoperates seamlessly with other network equipment requires replicating real-world scenarios using emulation. The Keysight end-to-end MIMO test solution provides an emulation platform well-equipped to exercise complex multi-user interference scenarios with the right tools to load and performance test MIMO on your network.
CoreSIM is a 4G / 5G core simulator. Allowing wrap-around testing, it usually complements other Keysight simulation solutions to simplify and speed up Radio Access Network testing.
UeSIM enables infrastructure vendors, chipset providers and mobile operators to validate end-to-end Radio Access Network performance by emulating real network traffic over both radio and O-RAN fronthaul interfaces.
