By Steve Rumsby, Spirent Communications When is a standard not a standard? This is a technical rather than metaphysical question, though the answer has implications well beyond technology. In the communications business, waiting for a formal technical standard to publish can seem like forever. As a result, industry groups develop their own interim standards to…
What are 5G’s, the different types, and how are they used?
5G is much more than cell phones. IoT devices, medical devices, and industrial devices can connect to networks using technologies such as TDD, network slicing, and beamforming. 5G New Radio (NR) made its long-awaited commercial debut in late 2018. Offering significantly faster speeds and greater capacity compared to 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE), 5G NR…
Open RAN: Interoperability is not plug-and-play
EE World spoke with Adam Smith of LitePoint about the progress and challenges of Open RAN interoperability and testing.
How do SFP, SFP+, and QSFP compare?
Pluggable modules come in many variants, each designed for a specific purpose. Small form factor pluggable (SPF) technology was developed to support high-speed interconnects between servers, storage, and communications equipment in data centers and similar environments. Over time, the multi-source agreement (MSA) that specifies SPF has evolved to include new formats, including SFP, SFP+, SFP28,…
6G promises to bring sustainability to telecom
Sustainability is at the heart of 6G research, not just in telecom networks and equipment, but throughout the supply chain. If you perform an internet search on “what is 6G?”, you’ll surely see sustainability. The number of companies with goals to be carbon neutral grows daily; they recognize our collective industry actions can not only…
THz gets real: ETSI starts industry specification group
Engineers at university and industry labs perform research into frequencies that could become part of 6G. Now it’s time for use cases.
6G: A tale from two conferences
October 2022 featured two conferences looking at 6G. The metaverse topped both, but engineering and sustainability were featured, too.
Software automates high-speed Ethernet cable testing
ZNrun software from Rohde & Schwarz automates Ethernet cable testing in combination with a VNA and switch.
The CBRS band depends on spectrum management
Spectrum sharing prevents cellular communications from interfering with existing military communications.
Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces: Video interview with standards group chair
Dr. Arman Shojaeifard of Interdigital Europe explains the concept behind reconfigurable intelligent surfaces and how the standards group he leads will develop those standards.