Performing Advanced 3GPP Release 17 Signal Analysis and Visualization with 89600 VSA Software

This video demonstrates how to perform 3GPP Release 17 signal analysis using the Keysight PathWave Vector Signal Analysis (89600 VSA) software. The 89600 VSA software is a powerful tool that extends its 5G New Radio (NR) measurement application with each release of the 3GPP standard.

One of the significant enhancements in Release 17 is the NR spectrum expansion up to 71 GHz (FR2-2), allowing for more spectrum usage, including the 60 GHz unlicensed band for 5G deployments. The release introduces three new channel bandwidths up to 2 GHz and new subcarrier spacings of 480 kHz and 960 kHz to support the wide bandwidth.

For FR1, enhancements include new channel bandwidth of 35 and 45 MHz for both uplink and downlink and 1024 QAM modulation for downlink transmission. Release 17 also introduces non-terrestrial networks (NTN) to enable 5G NR-based satellite access, addressing challenges such as Doppler shift.

The release also introduces a new tier of reduced capability (RedCap) devices to support IoT use cases such as wireless sensors, video surveillance, and wearables. The existing 5G NR application of the 89600 VSA can be used to test these RedCap devices, covering Release 15, 16, and 17 specifications without requiring a new VSA option.

The video provides a comprehensive demo, starting with a downlink, 2 GHz wide signal at 60 GHz center frequency. It showcases successful demodulation of a 2 GHz wide signal, measuring an ideal signal with very low EVM. The software also provides a constellation diagram of the different channels and signals transmitted in this test model.

The 89600 VSA software’s 3D traces show EVM by power per symbol and per subcarrier. These traces are useful when verifying base station systems to ensure the power per each resource element is balanced. The software also allows for decoding of the signal and getting cyclic redundancy check (CRC) information if the transmitted signal has channel coding.

The 89600 VSA software provides robust support to 3GPP Release 17 features using its existing 5G NR measurement application. To see the 89600 VSA software in action, watch the demo.