S8803A Massive MIMO Base Station Fading Performance Toolset

Introduction

5G base station products are flexible to deploy and reconfigure, and most importantly, can deliver a huge capacity to end users. Massive multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) is the key technology in delivering the promises of 5G because of the drastic improvements it offers in throughput and efficiency.

The actual gain provided by massive MIMO is affected by many factors, such as the capability to perform successful beam precoding for multiple users in different directions (see Figure 1), and the way that the user equipment’s (UE) movement and interference is managed. Any issues in these factors can be observed as degraded and unstable data performance, which is why profound testing is essential.

Validate and optimize your base station designs prior to market launch with the S8803A Toolset:

•Emulate up- and downlink massive MIMO channels in real time

The toolset is extendable to:

•Measure SU/MU-MIMO downlink RF beams with an embedded multi-port signal analyzer

• Test SU/MU-MIMO uplink RF beams with an embedded multi-port signal generator 

•Analyze and debug up- and downlink SU/MUMIMO L1/L3 signaling with an integrated RF sniffer 

• Test key performance indicators, such as multiuser data throughput in an instant

What is the S8803A Massive MIMO Base Station Fading Performance Toolset?

The testing of massive MIMO base stations requires an advanced laboratory test setup that is capable of measuring and processing phase and time coherent RF signals across all transmit and receive antenna ports of the massive MIMO radio unit simultaneously and in real time. Keysight’s S8803A Massive MIMO Base Station Fading Performance Toolset fulfills these testing requirements, providing a fully integrated and automated turn-key testing solution for 5G base station and Open RAN (O-RAN) massive MIMO interoperability and performance verification and optimization. It integrates the base station, several real UEs, and channel emulation together with full test automation. 

The toolset supports single- and multi-user uplink/downlink (UL/DL) data performance testing and MIMO technologies, such as PMI feedback, uplink sounding reference signal (SRS), and open loop testing. It also enables network equipment manufacturers and mobile network operators to test and optimize the functionality of network equipment against ready- and custom-made test cases as well as field measurement -based scenarios in a lab environment.

For R&D and pre-conformance testing, the toolset optionally supports:

• Downlink (TX) and uplink (RX) in-band RF measurements with an embedded multi-channel signal analyzer and signal generators. 

• Uplink (RX) fading demodulation tests with an integrated multichannel signal generator.

• Massive MIMO uplink and downlink 2D and 3D beam measurements (from 8TR up to 64TR). 

• L1/L2 test implementation with an embedded multi-channel signal analyzer & signal generation. 

• Embedded RF sniffing and analysis tools for full-stack testing

Testing can be replayed in an automated 24/7 controlled laboratory environment with all testing tools. Both basic and advanced debugging is therefore possible, including channel parametrization.

The S8803A Massive MIMO Base Station Fading Performance Toolset is a part of Keysight’s comprehensive portfolio of base station testing solutions.