NI Test UE

NI has announced a real-time 5G New Radio (NR) test UE offering. The NI Test UE offering features a fully 3GPP Release 15 non-standalone (NSA) compliant system capable of emulating the full operation of end-user devices or user equipment (UE).

Based on the rugged PXI Express platform, the offering helps users test 5G NR prototypes in the lab and in the field to evaluate them on service operators’ networks. In addition, customers can perform interoperability device testing (IoDT), which is a critical part of the commercialisation process to ensure that network equipment works with UE from any vendor and vice versa. The offering can also be used to perform benchmark testing to evaluate the full capabilities of commercial and pre-commercial micro-cell, small-cell and macro-cell 5G NR gNodeB equipment.

The offering provides a flexible system for evaluating 5G technology. Users can use the SDR front ends to select the sub-6 GHz frequency of their choice. The system scales up to one 100 MHz bandwidth component carrier and can be configured for up to 4x2 MIMO to achieve a maximum throughput of 2.3 Gbps.

5G NR Release 15 software includes complete protocol stack software that can connect with a 5G gNodeB while providing real-time diagnostic information. Users can log diagnostic information to a disk for post-test analysis and debugging and can view it on the software front panel for a real-time visualisation of the link’s performance.

NI is leveraging its first-to-market 5G software suite as the engine for its Test UE offering. The company’s complete 5G source code solution for UE, gNB and 5GCN represents an end-to-end enabling technology for users to build 5G NR solutions.