Viavi Solutions has added the capability to emulate massive numbers of internet of things devices to its TeraVM offering, as the company continues to reap the benefits of its acquisition of Cobham’s test and measurement operations. The new offering enables operators to investigate how their cellular networks will be impacted by millions of IoT devices.
TeraVM was part of Cobham’s wireless testing portfolio. The new TeraVM virtual Radio Access Network cellular IoT module from Viavi “can emulate over 16 million IoT devices via narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) and CAT-M connections in a fully virtualized environment,” according to Viavi, enabling users to “test the ability of their networks to support the huge array of current and potential connected IoT end-points, while delivering consistent, reliable connectivity for ‘traditional’ mobile voice and data services.”
The CIoT module is part of Viavi’s RANtoCore end-to-end test platform and can emulate IoT scenarios in a lab, data center or cloud environment, Viavi said. One of the major motivators for Viavi’s Cobham purchase was to broaden its portfolio into end-to-end testing capabilities as the industry evolves toward 5G networks.
“This marks the next stage of network testing, and one which is crucial for a connected future built on smart cities and connected cars,” said Ultan Kelly, senior product director at Viavi, in a statement. “Using TeraVM, operators can now test their networks by simulating mobile and data traffic in a city like London or New York, plus the volume and diversity of traffic from millions of IoT end-points, which will stress a different part of their infrastructure in a wholly new way.”
Viavi said the CIoT module is already in use by an unspecified number of operators and major service providers. The module “can either be integrated into a current network design, or can recommend the point at which a new network slice should be introduced, in order to tailor quality of service and dedicate resources to a specific IoT use case,” Viavi added.
In other test news:
–Global Skills X-Change, or GSX, has introduced a certification program for mission-critical data centers. The company said that data center users including AT&T and Duke Energy contributed to its development of the program, which was developed with Department of Labor funding.
“An outage in a mission critical data center would have devastating consequences on the business operations of organizations housing data there,” said David Wilcox, president and CEO of GSX, in a statement. “To minimize these risks, the [Certified Mission Critical Operator] program was developed by data center experts to address the existing skills gap and ensure certified operators meet required standards.”
–TechNavio expects to see the global 5G test equipment market grow at at a compound annual growth rate of 4.54% through 2022. The firm identified Anritsu, Keysight Technologies, LitePoint, MACOM, Rohde & Schwarz and Viavi Solutions as key vendors in the space.
–Rohde & Schwarz unveiled a comprehensive cellular vehicle-to-everything test portfolio this week. Full story here. The test company also introduced two new compact, mid-range signal generators with a range up to 6 GHz. The R&S SMB100B analog RF signal generator and R&S SMBV100B vector signal generator have “maximum output power [that]tops all previous records,” according to Rohde & Schwarz, which highlighted the new instruments’ lightweight form factor as well as their signal purity and low phase noise.
–Texas Instruments introduced new, high-voltage amplifiers that are aimed at error-sensitive industrial uses including test and measurement equipment. The three new amplifier models “support more precise measurement and faster processing of a wide variety of input signals,” TI said, while noting improved power consumption, wider bandwidth and faster speed as additional features of the amplifiers.
–National Instruments is working with semiconductor company SkyWorks Solutions to test its 5G integrated offerings. SkyWorks has used NI’s software-defined PXI platform to verify its designs, and the two companies will be jointly demonstrating their offerings at next week’s GTI Summit in Shanghai.
“The imminent deployment of 5G NR networks in the 3.3 GHz to 5.0 GHz bands is driving rapid innovation across RF front-end architectures,” NI said. “Consumer demand for enhanced mobile broadband technology requires new 5G NR designs to support considerably wider bandwidths and new frequency bands while maintaining power budgets appropriate for mobile devices.” Skyworks, the company went on to add, “has developed fully integrated solutions that feature up to 200 MHz of bandwidth and are designed to support mobile architectures.”
–RootMetrics said that Verizon did particularly well in recent testing in the Kansas City metro area, taking top honors in the test company’s awards in various reliability and performance categories. Verizon’s median download speeds topped 40 Mbps, RootMetrics said, while “T-Mobile and Verizon are neck-[and]-neck for fastest median upload speeds at 18.5 Mbps and 18.2 Mbps, respectively.”
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