Keysight expands is wireless test offerings, moving into monitoring of RF and low-layer protocols.

This week, Keysight Technologies announced its acquisition of Sanjole. Based in Honolulu, Sanjole specializes in wireless physical layer and data-link layer testing. The acquisition adds over-the air (OTA)testing of base stations and wireless equipment to its wireless test portfolio. Sanjole’s WaveJudge 5000 (LTE) and WaveJudge 5G let engineers monitor and analyze base stations and how they interact with user equipment.

The WaveJudge is a modular system where you add RF modules as needed. Engineers and network operators can use the WaveJudge for LTE and 5G networks these and other protocol tests:

• DL assignment and UL grant analysis
• Scheduling errors
• DL/UL timing offsets
• Resource block assignments
• Subcarrier energy usage
• L1–L3 usage
• MIMO type and rank comparison
• MIMO decodes
• Handover issues
• Synchronization and reference signal errors

For physical-layer testing, the WaveJudge generates RF profiles by producing constellation diagrams and measurements of time-domain power, EVM vs. subcarrier and EVM vs. symbol time, spectral flatness (frequency domain), amplitude flatness (time domain), and spectral power, among others. The 5G modules support 5G New Radio (OFDMA/SC-FDMA with BPSK, QPSK,16QAM, 64QAM, 256QAM, and 1024QAM) for both standalone and non-standalone 5G flavors. It supports sub 6 GHz and mmWave frequencies. A receiver module supports mmWave frequencies through an interface to a remote mmWave receiver. The receiver can analyze up to 800 MHz within a 1.4 GHz channel’s bandwidth.

The Sanjole acquisition complements Keysight’s other wireless test products that include base station testers, OTA test equipment, network emulators, and network analyzers. By adding the Sanjole product line, Keysight bridges the test gap between the RF engineering lab and the field. Keysight’s 2017 acquisition of Ixia brought the company into testing wired network protocols, which includes 5G.