The CMX500 from Rohde & Schwarz let’s you perform 5G NR tests from basic RF measurements to end-to-end application tests.

Rohde & Schwarz has upgraded its CMX500 Radio Communication Tester to include support for all 5G NR deployments: LTE, 5G NR FR1 and FR2 in non-standalone (NSA) and standalone (SA) mode, for both FDD and TDD. The modular tester lets you perform tests from RF though end-to-end application tests on cellular radios. Use cases include throughput testing, audio/video testing, protocol testing, and battery-life testing.

As part of the upgrade, Rohde & Schwarz has integrated sub 8 GHz RF units for FR1 into the R&S CMX500. Its modular design lets you install features as needed. Such functions include an RF signal generator, RF analyzer, network emulator, remote radio head, and protocol analyzer.

RF tests include modulation, RF power, and spectral parameters such as adjacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR). Receiver tests include block-error rate (BLER), a measure of receiver sensitivity. These RF tests let you comply with 3GPP transmitter and receiver specifcations TS38.521 sections 6 and 7.

The CMX500 one-box tester can operate using the R&S CMsquares control center software. When you need to run rests repeatedly, you can use Python scripts for automation. With the software and upgraded hardware, you can now perform tests using carrier aggregation across the 5G FR1 and FR2 frequency bands. Remote radio heads now cover frequencies to 50 GHz.

The CMX500 will be on display at Mobile World Congress 2022 in Barcelona. Rohde & Schwarz also offers a free webinar Introduction to R&S CMX500 5G NR Radio Communication Tester (registration required), which also covers the CMsquares software.