Test and Measurement: Nokia Bell Labs to use Keysight sub-terahertz testbed

Keysight Technologies said this week that Nokia Bell Labs will be using Keysight’s sub-Terahertz testbed to characterize and verify the performance of 5G-Advanced/6G transceiver modules using radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) technology that supports the “extreme data throughput and reliable backhaul transmission” that are expected to accompany the evolution of the 5G New Radio standard.

Nokia Bell Labs will be using the testbed to support its research and development work on 5G-Advanced and future 6G systems, related to the use of millimeter-wave and sub-THz frequencies in the E-Band (60 to 90 GHz) and D-Band (110 GHz to 170 GHz). Keysight said its testbed will be used to “verify, under both linear and nonlinear conditions, the performance of TRX modules, power amplifiers, and antennas.”

The two companies recently demonstrated the 6G testbed and Nokia RFIC and “radio-on-glass” technology at the Brooklyn 6G Summit, highlighting the testbed’s capability to confirm performance of an individual component or a series of them in an end-to-end system, Keysight noted in a release.

In other test news:

-Scottish firm Probe Test Solutions Ltd. (PTSL), which designs and produces probe cards for semiconductor testing, announced this week that it has acquired Dallas, Texas-based ThinkMEMS, a company that specializes in components and antennas for test equipment at frequencies up to and above 120 GHz.

PTSL noted that ThinkMEMS’ solutions are already shipping in test fixtures for automotive radar and other RF test solutions of “leading global test equipment OEMs.”

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. PTSL announced in mid-October that it had closed on a $30 million funding round from Tikehau Capital to help support the company’s growth.

“This acquisition follows quickly on our recently announced funding and supports our
ambitious strategic growth plans. We see the acquisition as highly complementary to
our existing probe card business and it will allow PTSL to address the adjacent high-frequency RF and fine pitch probe-card markets in a compelling way,” said Jordan Mackellar, CEO of PTSL, in a statement.

–Granite River Labs says its GRL-C3 Qi Wireless Charging tester will be an “integral component” of compliance testing and certification capabilities for wireless charging at test house CETECOM’s new facility in Essen, Germany.

-Chinese network equipment vendors CICT Mobile, Nokia Shanghai Bell and ZTE have tested the performance of mmWave 5G Standalone using devices equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon X65 5G Modem-RF System. Read more details in this piece.

–Viavi Solutions announced this week that it has signed a partnership agreement with VMware to develop a testbed as a service for RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) testing. Viavi said it hopes the new service will accelerate Open RAN adoption through the development of standardized frameworks and metrics for RIC testing. More on that story here.

-This year represents a “tipping point” for consumer 5G adoption and enthusiasm, according to recent research from network benchmarking and analysis company Global Wireless Solutions. 5G coverage is up, 5G device adoption has jumped markedly in the past year and people with 5G devices (even if they don’t have 5G access plans) spend 37 minutes more on their devices per day than users who don’t have 5G phones, says GWS CEO Paul Carter, summarizing a new look at consumer usage of and attitudes toward 5G. Full story is here.