Viavi Solutions has announced its selection of ETS-Lindgren to provide an RF-shielded anechoic chamber for Massive MIMO over-the-air (OTA) performance testing of Open Radio Units (O-RUs) at the Viavi Automated Lab-as-a-Service for Open RAN (VALOR). This initiative aims to support radio manufacturers vying for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund (PWSCIF) Second Notice of Funding Opportunity, the company said in a statement.
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Advantages of OTA Testing for O-RUs
Viavi explained that traditional testing of wireless network equipment involves electrical cabling between test instruments and the device under test (DUT). In contrast, OTA testing places the DUT in a sealed chamber with a free space vacuum to shield it from external interference and uses wireless signals to emulate real-world scenarios.
Features of the New RF-Shielded Anechoic Chamber
The new chamber will enable VALOR to conduct Massive MIMO and beamforming OTA validation, including system-level testing for up to 16 parallel spatial layers. VALOR offers an on-demand test suite covering O-RU conformance, performance, security, and interoperability, equipped with a full set of golden O-RAN compliant O-RUs, O-DUs, and O-CUs from various partners, according to the company.
Open RAN Certification and Innovation
Funded by a USD 21.7 million grant from the first PWSCIF Notice of Funding Opportunity, VALOR provides automated, open, and impartial testing and integration for Open RAN, facilitating US certification for new entrants, startups, and academic institutions. Access to VALOR is free for academic institutions and NTIA co-grantees, subject to availability, the official statement added.
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"In order to truly accelerate O-RU commercialisation and innovation, VALOR is advancing testing and certification beyond legacy methodologies," said Sameh Yamany, CTO of Viavi. "OTA testing is the latest step forward, building on the groundbreaking foundation of a fully automated, cooperative, open, and impartial Lab-as-a-Service offering dedicated to Open RAN interoperability, performance, and security."
"We are proud to support the Viavi team with this state-of-the-art facility enabling OTA testing of base stations. The recent evolution in base stations and their testing has been tremendous. We look forward to seeing further innovation enabled by this OTA testing facility," said Andy Warner, President of ETS-Lindgren.
ETS-Lindgren's wireless OTA performance testing complements Viavi's Open RAN Test Suite, particularly in OTA testing of O-RUs and end-to-end testing of Open RAN base stations.
