The Government wants 5G Technology to be explored by everyone and reap the benefits of the technology for the nation’s benefit. In line with the same, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) under the Ministry of Communications has announced a 5G Test Bed free of cost to Startups and MSMEs recognised by the Government of India up to January 2024. All 5G stakeholders, including Industry, Academia, Service Providers, R&D Institutions, Govt. Bodies, Equipment Manufacturers etc., can avail of this facility at a very nominal rate.
The announcement aims to promote the utilisation of the Test Bed and bolster the advancement of native technologies and products in alignment with the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative. Many startups and businesses have already taken advantage of the Test Bed for testing their offerings.
Indigenous 5G Test Bed
With India’s unique needs and the goal of leading in 5G deployment, the Department of Telecommunications granted funding for a multi-institute collaborative project to establish the ‘Indigenous 5G Test Bed’ in March 2018, at a total cost of Rs. 224 Crore. Eight institutes participated in the project, including IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) Madras, IIT Delhi, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Bombay, IIT Kanpur, IISc Bangalore, Society for Applied Microwave Electronics Engineering & Research (SAMEER), and Centre of Excellence in Wireless Technology (CEWiT).
The Indigenous 5G Test Bed was dedicated to the nation by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, on May 17, 2022. A web-based portal (https://user.cewit.org.in/5gtb/index.jsp) has also been designed to access and use the Test Bed.
5G Test Bed Locations
The 5G Test Bed is accessible at five different locations, including the Integrated Test Bed at CEWiT/IIT Madras and other Test Beds located at IIT Delhi, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Kanpur, and IISc Bangalore. CEWiT/IIT Madras provides an end-to-end Test Bed with a range of testing services for RAN Level, PHY Level, and other testing equipment. IIT Hyderabad offers facilities for gNB Testing, UE Testing, end-to-end interoperability testing, and NB-IoT testing. Meanwhile, IISc Bangalore hosts the V2X and 5G open-source Test Bed, IIT Kanpur hosts the base-band Test Bed, and IIT Delhi hosts the NB-IoT and VLC Test Bed.
5G Test Bed Compliant with Global 3GPP standard and the ORAN standard
The end-to-end Test Bed complies with the global 3GPP standard and the ORAN standard. The Indigenous 5G Test Bed offers an open platform for 5G testing, allowing research and development teams from Indian academia and industry to validate their products, prototypes, and algorithms and showcase various services. Additionally, it provides full access for research teams to explore innovative concepts and ideas with the potential for standardisation both in India and globally. Furthermore, the Test Bed offers 5G network facilities to experiment and demonstrate applications and use cases that are important to Indian society, such as rural broadband, smart city applications, and intelligent transport systems (ITS). Furthermore, it will assist Indian operators in comprehending the workings of 5G technologies and planning their future networks.
The development of the Indigenous Test Bed marks a significant milestone for India’s journey towards self-reliance in the 5G technology domain, advancing the country’s 5G Aatmanirbhar Bharat vision. The Test Bed provides an indigenous capability for testing and validating 5G products developed and manufactured by Indian startups, MSMEs, R&D, academia, and industry users, resulting in significant cost efficiencies and reduced design time. As a result, Indian 5G products are expected to become globally competitive.
Moreover, the development of the Test Bed has led to the creation of several 5G technologies/IPs, which are available for technology transfer to industry players, facilitating smooth and speedy 5G deployment in India.
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