​How 5G Test Works: Building Fast & Reliable Devices

Overview

​​​The white paper provides an in-depth overview of the process and significance of 5G device testing to ensure performance, reliability, safety, and compliance of 5G-enabled devices. It covers the scope of 5G technology test, including RF validation, mmWave Over-the-Air (OTA) validation, and the importance of meeting consumer expectations and regulatory standards. We share information on different 5G technologies—5G LTE, 5G TF, and 5G NR—and their roles in the telecommunications ecosystem. Additionally, it outlines specific types of device tests and the specialized equipment and software used in testing, such as network and channel emulators. Learn about NI's role in simplifying the test and validation process. ​

Contents

NI Puts Wireless Technology Under the Microscope

5G device test is a process of verifying the performance, functionality, and safety of 5G-enabled devices such as smartphones, tablets, and IoT devices. It involves testing the devices under different network conditions to ensure that they meet the required standards and specifications. 5G technology significantly impacts various industries, including network management in telecommunications, real-time data transmission for autonomous driving in automotive, increased automation and efficiency within manufacturing, and many others. Therefore, test is pivotal when developing new connected products because it ensures that the products are safe, reliable, and in compliance with rules and regulations.

​Test provides a meticulous verification of the functionality, performance, and reliability of 5G devices and networks. 5G test encompasses a variety of tests including feature bring-up, functional testing, negative testing, regression testing, KPI testing, data throughput test, and overall device performance assessment.

​5G device testing hinges on several key factors:

  1. ​Performance—The promise of 5G technology lies in its capacity to offer faster data transfer speeds, reduced latency, and increased network capacity. To realize this potential, devices undergo rigorous testing.
  2. ​Reliability—It's pivotal that 5G devices consistently connect to the network and deliver optimum performance. Comprehensive testing assures this reliability.
  3. ​Safety and Compliance—Ensuring that 5G devices adhere to safety standards and regulatory requirements is another critical aspect of testing.
  4. ​Consumer Expectations—Today's consumers demand 5G devices that are not only faster but also more reliable. Testing plays a vital role in fulfilling these expectations by detecting and resolving issues before the devices are available to the public.

​NI offers comprehensive solutions for 5G device test, focusing on various aspects such as RF validation and characterization, wideband RF design validation, and mmWave Over-the-Air (OTA) validation. Our measurement-oriented software is adept at controlling multichannel DC, digital, analog, and wideband RF test instruments, which simplifies both interactive and automated design validation sequences for 5G devices. Solutions are especially tailored for engineers working on wideband 5G device designs, enabling them to validate performance across a broad spectrum of frequency bands. This includes both traditional cellular frequency ranges below 6 GHz (frequency range 1, FR1) and the more challenging millimeter-wave conditions above 24 GHz (frequency range 2, FR2).  

​Understanding 5G Frequency Standards

​5G LTE, 5G TF, and 5G NR are different technologies that make up the 5G ecosystem.

  • 5G LTE is an evolution of the existing 4G LTE technology. It uses the same infrastructure as 4G LTE and provides faster data transfer rates, lower latency, and higher reliability. 5G LTE uses 3GPP Release 15 standards, is currently in use, and is supported by test
  • 5G TF, Verizon’s 5G Technical Forum, is a pre-standard version of 5G developed by Verizon. It uses millimeter-wave frequencies to provide faster data transfer rates and lower latency. 5G TF is a pre-standard version of 5G developed by Verizon, is not in use, and is not supported by test.
  • 5G NR, 5G New Radio, is the official 5G standard developed by 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project). It uses both sub-6 GHz and millimeter-wave frequencies to provide faster data transfer rates, lower latency, and higher reliability. 5G NR is currently in use and is supported by test. 5G NR uses 3GPP Release 15 standards, is currently in use, and is supported by test.

11 Types of 5G Device Testing

​Test is key in the device development lifecycle, from early chipset development, device integration, and optimization through to conformance, regulatory, and carrier acceptance testing. The different tests below help identify and rectify any potential issues to ensure that 5G devices meet the necessary standards and perform optimally under various conditions.  

  1. ​5G UE—Essential for ensuring that 5G devices can effectively communicate with the network, it involves emulating a 5G User Equipment (UE). This provides real-time performance information when connected to a gNodeB. The test is fully compliant with 3GPP Release 15 and can test components, subsystems, and/or full base station equipment at every 5G band. This helps manufacturers ensure that their devices are compatible with 5G networks and can deliver the expected performance.
  2. ​Path Loss—Path loss refers to the reduction in power density (attenuation) of an electromagnetic wave as it propagates through space from transmitter to receiver. Testing path loss involves measuring this reduction in signal strength during transmission. It’s important for understanding how well a device can maintain a strong and reliable connection in various environments.
  3. ​Antenna—Antennas are a critical component of any wireless device. Testing them measures various attributes such as radiation patterns, antenna efficiency, and antenna gain. These tests ensure that the antennas provide optimal signal reception and transmission.
  4. ​Over-the-Air (OTA)—OTA is used to measure the wireless performance and reliability of wireless devices that include embedded antennas. It simulates use cases in real-life conditions, ensuring better wireless connections for wireless devices.
  5. ​Power Validation—Power validation involves checking whether the power delivered to the device is within the specified range. This helps to identify and rectify any power-related issues in the device, ensuring that the device operates efficiently and safely.
  6. ​Wireless Standards Validation—This test ensures that the device complies with the appropriate wireless standards, checking whether the device can operate effectively under them. This ensures interoperability with other devices and networks.
  7. ​Protocol—Protocol testing checks the structure of packets sent over a network. It ensures that the device can communicate effectively using the specified protocols. This creates reliable and efficient data transmission.
  8. ​Real-Time Spectrum Analysis—This involves using overlapping FFTs on a continuous stream of input data to produce a real-time representation of an active frequency spectrum. This enables the effective sensing and processing of the most complicated modern communications techniques, helping to optimize network performance and reliability.
  9. ​Fixed Wireless Access (FWA)—FWA is a rapidly growing technology that provides fast data connections to areas previously without broadband service. Many fixed-location devices use 5G and WLAN for connectivity.
  10. ​5G New Radio (NR) Capabilities—Adding 5G NR capabilities to existing test systems for LTE and legacy standards provides a seamless evolution to new technology. This helps manufacturers ensure that their devices are ready for the latest 5G technologies.
  11. ​Protocol Conformance—This test requires access to the latest 3GPP-defined 5G, Long Term Evolution (LTE), and cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) test cases. It also needs frequency range 1 (FR1, sub-6 GHz) and frequency range 2 (FR2, millimeter-wave, or mmWave) support for both 5G non-standalone (NSA) and standalone (SA) modes. Protocol conformance test facilitates devices conforming to the latest communication protocols and can operate effectively in various network configurations.

Test Equipment & Software

​Specialized hardware and software tools enable engineers to verify compliance with standards and optimize performance. These tools assess critical functions such as power management, antenna efficiency, protocol adherence, and spectrum analysis. Utilizing these resources, engineers can detect and resolve potential problems.

​Network Emulators

​Network emulators simulate real-world network conditions within a controlled environment. They are critical for validating, performance, and interoperability testing of 5G devices. This hardware allows for thorough testing by offering robust profile configuration for line-rate packet capture and precise reproduction of issues that may arise in the field. Network emulators accurately replicate network conditions found in live LAN/WAN networks, facilitating a comprehensive suite of tests—including feature bring-up, functional, negative, and regression testing, as well as KPI, data throughput, and overall device performance assessments—in a lab setting. This ensures that new devices, protocols, and applications are rigorously evaluated before deployment.

Channel Emulator

​A channel emulator is an indispensable tool for simulating real-world radio frequency (RF) conditions. They evaluate the performance of wireless devices within a lab setting. This tool tests a wide range of devices, from network infrastructure equipment to WLAN access points. Its capabilities include advanced performance testing, emulation of numerous impairments like delay, Doppler effects, attenuation, and multipath fading, as well as dynamic propagation and blocking scenarios.

​The channel emulator stands out in the industry with its broad signal bandwidth and a substantial number of fading channels. It supports various technologies including 5G NR, LTE Advanced, and the latest WLAN standards. In the sphere of 5G device testing, the channel emulator is pivotal, allowing for comprehensive testing sequences such as feature bring-up and functional, negative, regression, KPI, data throughput, and overall device performance tests. It plays a key role in accurately mimicking the network conditions encountered in live networks, thus enabling the thorough validation and testing of new 5G hardware, protocols, and applications before they enter the market.

​Network Scanner

​A network scanner streamlines the scanning process across networks by automating the detection of devices, thereby enhancing network transparency. It is great at discovering both UDP and TCP services on networked devices. Network scanners identify the operating systems they run, recognizing any filtering systems in place, and taking detailed network inventories. Additionally, they can pinpoint vulnerabilities and misconfigurations necessary for maintaining network integrity.

​With features like notifications and reporting, a network scanner significantly improves monitoring processes. Its role becomes increasingly important in 5G device testing, where it is essential for validating and testing the performance of new hardware and applications. By identifying devices that carry the latest 5G chipsets, a network scanner facilitates a range of tests necessary for 5G device readiness, including feature bring-up, functional, negative, regression, KPI, and data throughput testing, ensuring the devices’ performance is optimized before market release.

​Browser-Based Test Environments

​A browser-based test environment is a platform that uses web technologies to streamline the test process. It offers a intuitive and interactive approach, particularly beneficial for 5G device testing, because it provides an interactive mode for manual, hands-on testing that allows engineers to make on-the-fly adjustments. It also facilitates automated testing with sequencer-driven scenarios, optimizing time efficiency and test consistency. The interface is tailored to support a variety of tests such as RF parameter measurements, protocol tests, performance analysis, and extensive validation. 

Simplifying Device Test & Validation with NI

​NI offers an array of solutions for 5G device test and validation. For wideband 5G device design, NI enables engineers to validate device performance across a broad spectrum, including both the sub-6 GHz frequency range (FR1) and the millimeter wave spectrum above 24 GHz (FR2). Such devices are designed to handle complex requirements like carrier aggregation, dense modulation, tight time-division duplex configurations, and high-precision beamforming.

​To keep pace with the expanding scope and complexity of 5G test cases, NI creates software connected test systems that enable greater engineering efficiency. This method integrates fast, accurate, and flexible measurement software with a suite of synchronized instruments capable of covering from precision DC to wideband RF. Additionally, NI has launched a stand-alone version of its 5G New Radio (NR) Test User Equipment (UE) to aid infrastructure providers and operators in testing and evaluating performance under real-world conditions. Moreover, NI's mmWave PXI Vector Signal Transducer (VST) is at the core of Over-the-Air (OTA) validation, essential for assessing the radiation patterns and beam characteristics of devices.

​NI’s contributions in 5G device test help hasten the progress and implementation of 5G technologies to enable faster networks and better-connected devices.